Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Exploring Culture
While studying this semester we learned many different social practices in Spanish speaking countries, such as greetings with a kiss on the cheek as well as the significance of family gatherings. When considering a kiss on the cheek, the change from a typical handshake surprised many of the people in class but after learning more, the appeal of familiarity and physical contact in the greeting was seen as an interesting alternative to the typical handshake in the United States. It really challenged how we view our social norms while giving us an idea how others around the world interact.
Engaging in Communities
Through out the semester our class had frequent discussions and recorded conversations that allowed us to get used to hearing and speaking Spanish as well as learning more about our fellow classmates. Getting to know each other sparked more conversations and more opportunities to practice our Spanish and helped build our confidence when speaking.
Interpersonal Communication
During the semester I had many recorded conversations with the professor that helped expand my communication skills with the Spanish language. Responding to a prepared conversation allowed me to get comfortable speaking without checking my notes or textbooks and made me focus on the communication aspect of conversation. There were also plenty of live conversations that forced me to rely on what I learned as I didn’t know what exactly we would be speaking about beforehand. I found that when dropped into a situation where I could only communicate with Spanish I was much more competent than I ever thought I would be as all the studying began to pay off. Initially, I was very nervous to have an unrehearsed conversation but after doing so several times I became much more confident in my speaking and comprehension. In the future, engaging in more of these types of conversations will only help to make me feel more comfortable and capable.
Presentational Speaking
I had several speaking opportunities, from talking about my weekly schedule, to describing a person I most admire. While I was able to write out these presentations beforehand, when speaking I relied solely on my memorization and having a full comprehension of what I was saying during my presentations was very important. Towards the end of the semester I was able to focus more on my speaking and communicate what I was thinking without needing much time beforehand to prepare a script. Speaking what I was thinking in that moment was a big step in becoming more fluent in Spanish.
Presentational Writing
Writing in our discussion posts and responding to classmates in both English and Spanish helped introduce Spanish conversation into my daily life and made me think how to express myself while still giving me plenty of time to write a response. Weekly topics varied from social media to our favorite festivals and really helped us get to know our fellow classmates.
Interpretive Listening
Looking back, I had many opportunities to improve my listening comprehension and since I am primarily an auditory learner it helped immensely when learning Spanish. Listening to the pronunciation of new vocabulary words or listening to different sentences and interpreting what they meant was a big part of the semester for me. Getting to hear the way certain words or letters were pronounced help with my conversational speaking and when I needed to do a Spanish presentation.
Interpretive Reading
The professor provided many different links to Spanish text and the most helpful to me was Spanish speaking newspaper and magazines. Reading through current events I was familiar with better helped me comprehend the Spanish I was reading and while I wasn’t able to understand every word of it, by the end of the semester I could usual make out what each news story was saying pretty confidently.