Reflection
In Spanish 102, I was able to enhance what I had to relearn in Spanish 101. I gave myself goals like having more conversations with Spanish speaking people, working on comprehension, and studying more of my vocabulary, greetings, time, and basic greetings so that I could be able to answer questions and understand others. At the beginning of the class, I was extremely overwhelmed because the class is a 6 week class which means that I had to be a quick learner and I had to be on top of my assignments. However, this class wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I used my time-management skills, accountability, and curiosity to get through the class while being able to retain the information.
Thankfully, this class wasn’t as stressful as my Spanish 101 101 class because I was able to use what I have learned and applied it to this class. I also worked on my Spanish outside of class in order to help me become stronger. I may not be where I want to be but I know for sure that I have been able to get back into it. I kept beating myself up for not understanding since I took so many years of Spanish in high school but then I had to give myself grace. When doing that, I was able to be more interested in class and retain as much as I could in the past 6 weeks. My main goal has been to be able to work on hearing and responding. I have learned that I can read and write Spanish but it is hearing and understanding native/ proficient speakers that has really been challenging. Although my goal hasn’t really been met, I have been able to pick up more words and phrases that allows me to use context clues that has been helpful through the process. Since Spanish 101, I have been working on my Spanish dialect and I feel like being challenged but accepting in this class has been able to help me grow in my speaking. Now I feel as if I have improved. I am still not where I want to be but I feel like if I keep working hard and studying, I’ll get there. I have been working through these challenges by constantly speaking to others, just going for it in the aspect of not being scared to mess up but being proud that I tried, studying outside of classes, and having my boyfriend practice Spanish with me also.
This was extremely difficult because everyone speaks so fast that it is hard to actually hear the words being said but with more practice, I feel like I can grow. Another challenge I have been struggling with is comprehending the entire sentence. As of right now, I have been listening for key words and using context clues to understand the sentence. I feel like I am the most weakest in my comprehension during the dialect and my response time. To overcome these weaknesses, I will continue to practice with different Spanish speakers so that I can get experience from multiple voices, not just one. In order to grow and try to achieve my goals, I repeat words, conversations, etc over consistently.
Learning and knowing Spanish has been helpful to my career which is professional dancing. By learning this language, it allows my skills to be broaden and it adds to things I can bring to the table. In the dance world, the best dancers are versatile and that doesn’t just pertain to dancing. By being able to know at least a little Spanish puts me in positions that others cannot be in. It also helps with certain styles such as tango because not only can I understand the teachers but I can also understand the culture as well. As the semester comes to an end, I look forward to taking the knowledge that I have learned and using it in my next Spanish class. I hope that when I graduate in December, I can be able to comprehend and conversate more!
Artifacts
The audio below is a great example of what was said in my reflection. In the audio, I am speaking to my TalkAbroad partner. During the conversation, it can be heard that I struggled to understand what she was saying due to her dialect. I did my best and I was able to learn from this experience. I learned that words are not always pronounced the same with different people and with different countries. I have listened to this recording so much to focus on where my weaknesses are and to be able to strengthen them. By doing so, it has helped me grow in my abilities. Although the growth isn’t tremendous, it is a start.
Instructions
Exploring Culture
Throughout this class, I had opportunities to learn more about Spanish culture. I’ve tried different foods, been to different Spanish speaking areas, taken dance classes, have been to Hispanic get togethers, and more. Within each experience, I learned something different and each experience offered a different feel. Visiting a Spanish speaking community in Houston, Texas was a culture shock but a great experience. I was able to learn by being there, trying to conversate, observing, and connecting. It was great being able to broaden my horizons and learn first hand. Although the area isn’t Mexico, Spain, Chile, etc, I was still able to learn about the culture. I learned that Hispanic communities work together and that it is similar to a village. I was able to go into a bodega and I had Hispanic cookies which were amazing. Although it was something that can be as so simple, this helped me understand more about the culture because I got to learn from native Spanish speakers and I got to be in their environment. The feel was definitely different that other communities in the US. Honestly, the community I was able to visit reminded me of my own home. I am from a very urban area in Indiana but the community I stayed in (even with the flaws), you can see the unity. When I went to visit back home in Indiana, my boyfriend and I got to eat at a Hispanic family owned diner called Delicias Jalisco. We got to try many different ice cream tastes and I got to eat one of my favorite Hispanic foods, Elotes. It was a challenge trying to understand and communicate what I would like to try but with time and the patience of the family, I was able to understand the menu completely! During these experiences, I learned that it is better to be in the moment and take in as many memories as I could. With that being said, I wasn’t able to get many pictures. My plan is to go back and visit or write a letter to receive the few photos the family took.
Engaging in Communities
With being able to experience a Hispanic community in person, I learned that family, community, and unity are extremely important in the Hispanic communities. I learned from a lady called Abuela Mina that everyone in the area tries to help each other. It was nice to see other families that aren’t even related checking in on the others. I really wanted to bring that concept back home so I did. Soon I realized that not everyone sees how beneficial that it is to help others in the area I am in now. It was actually very eye- opening but it made me value Hispanic culture a little more.
Interpersonal Communication
In this class, we were assigned manu discussion boards which were extremely helpful in learning the language. My classmates and I worked really hard and we helped build each other’s vocabulary with every discussion board. In our discussion boards, we were able to discuss harder topics rather than just our favorite foods or colors. I appreciated that because it gave us more expansion in the language. The most recent discussion board we had spoke on gender stereotypes in careers/professions which gave me another topic to try with other people. It was interesting to see my classmates’ progress as well as my own. Above in the artifacts section is my TalkAbroad audio. The conversation was extremely interesting and my partner was extremely helpful. The conversation made me realize that I needed to be having more conversations in Spanish so that I don’t butcher so many responses like I did in the audio. When preparing, I knew that the conversation was going to be about family, but I didn’t know what to expect. I was so nervous and I felt unprepared even though I prepared for days. In the conversation, I used physical movements and facial expressions to help me with comprehension also which is not always the best way to learn. However, the experience allowed me to practice and I learned that many Spanish speakers won’t be mad at you for trying to learn their language. They are actually quite happy and willing to help. Next time, I wish to be more prepared and not scared so that I can communicate better.
Presentational Speaking
During this semester, we had a handful of speaking assignments, especially in LingroHub. In Canvas we had conversations with our professor and out TalkAbroad partner. Speaking and listening have been two concepts that I have struggled with for years. I struggle with speaking due to my dialect and pronunciation. I have worked on it hard for numerous years but I feel like I am not even halfway to sounding semi-decent. I have been told that I have a very heavy accent and that affects how I speak in Spanish just like it affects how I speak in English. To work on this obstacle, I practice with my boyfriend since he speaks Spanish. He helps break down syllables so that I can hear them and repeat them. When I slow down and get a chance to practice, I can excel with speaking afterwards. As I continue taking classes and learning Spanish, I will practice more and more. I will practice as I go. For example, if I am in the store and I see an item that I know in Spanish, I will practice saying it until I get it right. I have and will continue to use apps such as DuoLingo or SpanishDict to help with my speaking also. Below is a link to one of my speaking assignments from LingroHub. From the recording, you can hear that I struggle with pronunciation with certain words and that I struggle with sounding more ‘Spanish Sounding’. My goal is to be speaking correctly by the end of the year.
Presentational Writing
Over the years as I have learned Spanish, I have always been strong in writing. We have had many assignments in which I can demonstrate those skills. Below I have attached some evidence of such. During this course, I do feel as if my experience was able to push me to be better than I was. Each activity gave a sample of what we can write on but the hard part of the assignment is the prompt. Each prompt required us to write more on the topic and to use our Spanish knowledge to answer the questions. The directions only gave a small amount of help and there is no guidance or limits to these assignments. Which made it harder to me because I wasn’t just writing a sentence or two. I had to write paragraphs, some using directions, some using vocabulary words, and some using specific grammar. This was the most difficult part to me. Before I could write, I had to brainstorm and develop a plan to answer such questions so that I didn’t get lost as I was writing. This was the best strategy to help me get through this process and it allowed writing to become more easier. I excel in writing because I have a strong background in writing and since I am decent in Spanish grammar, it makes it much easier to write paragraphs in Spanish. I do struggle but I keep pushing myself until I get it.
Interpretive Listening
This semester we had various listening assignments through LingroHub and through our exams/ quizzes. Each one was extremely challenging for me because I struggle with listening comprehension.
Each prompt was different which gave me more challenges in different areas. I learned from listening that I am good at catching certain words but when the sentences are spoken fast, that’s where I mess up. Especially of they are speaking fast and they have an accent. The video below was the most helpful because it had the words on the bottom of the screen but I tried not to look at them but to listen and see if I understood what was being said. I was not as successful as I would like to be. In all the aspects there is of learning the Spanish language, listening is the most challenging for me. I find it interesting how people can be understood when spoken so fast and I have made it my goal to be better in it. The video below was a good start for me because everything was in a speed in which I can catch on. There was an exam that had a speaker that was speaking so fast that I couldn’t understand her no matter how hard I tried so I guessed. My overall takeaway from this learning experience is that I need a lot more practice and help in this area. Although I have struggled tremendously with the listening assignments, I feel as if I have grown with each assignment because each time I get a little bit better. It may not be huge growth but every step counts.
Interpretive Reading
In this class, we read a few articles. The one that stood out to me was the one about the traditional Hispanic family (pictures of the attached discussion board in previous section). Many of our reading was for discussion boards or LingroHub. Each article was informational and each article gave me a better understanding of Hispanic culture.
The article above wasn’t as difficult because it was in English, however the articles on LingroHub were challenging because they were in Spanish. Each article was different. For example, there was an article that was similar to a pamphlet for a sports club. The activity with it was for us to comprehend it so that we can help four people with their schedules so they could play the sport they wanted. I found this challenging at first because the words started to get jumbled in my brain and look like nonsense. I had to take my time to understand the words and I had to take it sentence by sentence to be able to translate it correctly. In doing so, I was able to overcome the struggle of not being able to read it or understand it because I slowed it down and took my time to make connections with the words so that I could understand better. With all of the articles read, I found that the culture and wording behind it was the most interesting because when a lot of the sentences were translated in my head, it would seem backwards so it challenged me to think more and to use clues as to what the words are saying. For example, in English we would say ‘the brown dog is sleepy’ as for Spanish, it would be ‘El perro marrón tiene sueño’ which translates directly to ‘the dog brown he/she has sleepy’. It is confusing this way, but it makes the language more intriguing because people conjugate these sentences without any thought to it. With each assignment, I feel as if I have grown in my reading comprehension and these assignments have also helped me with pronunciation.
Clark, J. M. (2019, March 11). Importance of family structure in Hispanic families. Our Everyday Life. https://oureverydaylife.com/importance-of-family-structure-in-hispanic-families-9890197.html
Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication