{"id":429,"date":"2022-12-07T17:21:44","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T17:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/basicspanishdraft2\/?page_id=429"},"modified":"2022-12-08T17:45:59","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T17:45:59","slug":"201-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/parishspan2\/201-2\/","title":{"rendered":"SPAN 201"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exploring Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had many cultural experiences despite being an online class that truly gave me a full cultural experience of the Spanish speaking world. One experience that we had that stood out to me was when we were required to do our talking abroad conversations. These were conversations that we had were with Spanish speaking people in Spanish countries of origin. The first conversation we had to have was about our families and getting to know one another. This was my first time speaking with someone who could not speak English in a full conversation. I was very nervous. The worksheet we had to fill out helped me get my thoughts and help formulate a plan to help me guide the conversation. I was very nervous as the first conversation started. My partner was very friendly and to my surprise, I understood what he was saying for the most part. There were things I could not understand however, I could pick out words and vocabulary that I knew and could generalize what he was speaking about overall. We spoke on our families and what we did with them. There were a lot of similarities between his family and mines. He came from a big family like me and they loved to have family dinners and gatherings like mines. It really opened my view on the culture of Spanish speaking countries and that we are more alike than we would like to believe when it comes to family. As a black man from the South we are all about family and big extended families. My partner was describing how his was the same way. I have attached the workbook to show what we did and the process to ensure the conversations went smoothly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

workbook<\/a>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We did Activities in our Discussion boards where we had to watch videos and read articles about things like healthcare in America compared to Spanish speaking cultures. They described their universal healthcare service and explained the pros and cons of it while also describing how they had options to maintain private insurance. It was different compared to what we have in America where all we have is private insurance options unless you are on government medical care. As a veteran I was able to understand a lot of the services they described with their healthcare services because we have free healthcare while we are in the military. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taking part in the talk abroad was helpful in expanding my knowledge about the values and attitudes in Hispanic culture. It was a direct conversation with someone that lived in a Spanish speaking nation. I got to speak directly with several people about their lives and what they do in the countries they lived in. I got first hand the differences and the similarities that we share between cultures. Being able to have an actual conversation with a person was very helpful in giving a worldview to better understand other cultures. It was nerve wrecking at first, but the experience gave me confidence and out of my comfort zone to experience a realtime conversation with someone of the Spanish speaking countries. The discussion boards helped me discuss with my classmates about what we thought. It allowed me to see that I was not the only person nervous or uncomfortable. We were able to open up about somethings we may have thought that were stereotypes and be honest with each other about them. People think these other places are just the rundown images you see on movies, but just like in America you have bad places and good places and in those good places, they share the same lifestyles, if not better, than we do. It felt good to do these things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We shared our thoughts on the matter in our discussion boards which gave different perspectives of what we saw when reading about healthcare in Spain. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Engaging in Communities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it is one thing that this class has taught me is the importance of engaging in our communities. Whether it be locally or globally. It is important to connect and talk to each other. When people are isolated or in their own bubbles we develop stereotypes and rob ourselves of wonderful experiences that can be had when we engage with one another. In this class engaging amongst my peers allowed me to learn about their experiences and lives that gave me a connection. Engaging globally is just as important. In the age of social media and technology we have the ability to use things like video chat to speak with and engage on a global level instantly. It allows us to understand and see what other people across the globe share. People are more alike than we are different and engaging with one another can help towards making the world a better place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is a photo of me in Cancun last week. I was speaking with my butler and we spoke in Spanish. I chose to speak in Spanish because I felt so comfortable and wanted to immerse myself in the culture to get an authentic experience. The fact that this class prepared me for something like this is what it is all about. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Interpersonal Communication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TalkAborad was an experience that at first glance on the syllabus I was confused. Having to pay money to talk to someone from another country seemed wild to me. However after experiencing it I can say that it was worth the money for the experience. Discussing in real time with someone from a Spanish speaking country is a wonderful and eye opening experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our flip grid conversations was something that prepares you to have to do something like TalkAbroad. Having our professor kind of pre-stage a conversation allows you to build up confidence and simulate a real time conversation in Spanish. It allowed me to get the feel of how a real conversation would go. Having to then go and make and ask questions to our classmates allowed me to build the confidence to do something like TalkAbroad. By the time we got to the second conversation my confidence grew and the difficulty in which speaking and understanding the language lessened. I was able to feel comfortable with the language enough to speak exclusively in Spanish with someone who was fluent in the language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1mbvqEM2dxlpFOSdilGiRhj-kL_p-jkkv\/view?usp=share_link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a link to my first talk abroad conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presentational Speaking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1wYhWveUaAIUdSCVDy5uln9xiSxct_57Q\/view?usp=share_link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a link to my FlipGrid conversation in class. It is when the professor leads a prerecorded conversation and you respond to her questions and answers. It gave me an introduction into how conversations can go when speaking Spanish with someone who is fluent in the language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FlipGrids were a great way to get someone comfortable with having a conversation. Though it was prerecorded, it still simulated a live conversation. It was weird on my first one doing something like that. Being in an online setting things can get dull however this exercise was a creative way to keep things interesting and allow us to still enjoy and have fun with it. It was a bit challenging to get on camera because it was one of the first big things we had to do. Recording yourself speaking a language you don’t know can be nerve wrecking. As the semester went on I grew more comfortable and was able to gain confidence to make videos and ask more in depth questions when responding to my peers. I excelled at talking. Even though it was another language I am still a people person so being engaged and talking with people will be natural to me. I think next time I would learn to be more patient and let the conversation come to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presentational Writing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This was a section in Lingro where we had to read about different cultural dishes in Spanish countries and how they associate those dishes with their homes. I then had to research my own articles about dishes in a country of my choice. The articles showed what those dishes were and then write about them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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26 platos de comida t\u00edpica venezolana<\/a><\/blockquote>