Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Artifacts
For this artifacts piece; I will be putting down below one of my writing assignments we were required to do during the semester:
‘La descripción’
https://docs.google.com/document/d/162WAr_CR3nS5mzWZhmax9Vp68MuSuYR2LnfSgqZT-lI/edit
Instructions
Exploring Culture
Looking back on my time in general taking the many levels of college level Spanish courses, all have excited me but also left me pondering on what obstacles I might come across while doing so; “Is this going to be as easy as the previous levels of Spanish? Or will it be harder to point where I’ll struggle and fail the course?” I hope to someday become a Spanish teacher to help others learn the Spanish language. Granted, even after completing both beginning Spanish 101 & 102 alongside Intermediate Spanish 201 & 202 I was able to gain more than just a decent amount of Spanish under my belt, even after finishing this course; sure it became seriously challenging but it pushed me to keep going and learn other languages! I knew that I had a lot to learn in order to understand the Spanish language and culture, it excited me to the point I was eager to learn new vocabulary, phrases, and to boost my confidence when it comes to speaking said language to others. However, there were times where I struggled with Spanish assignments. It’s honestly true of what they say about doing anything in general; whether trying something new or gaining an experience, it’s not going to be easy and that’s what makes it a challenge. And even with those times where I felt giving up and quitting altogether, I continued to push through and kept trying. For me, that helped with understanding cultural perspectives was completing assignments in VHL and just taking the course in general. Yes, the website/textbook was there to help keep tabs on our Spanish skills but there would also be times where we have discussion boards about real world issues where we would state our thoughts and opinions in Spanish.
An example of this is one of our discussion assignments; ‘La refutation’
Where we talk and discuss our opinions about immigration in the United States; Do we think it’s a good thing or bad thing.
Engaging in Communities
Because this was an asynchronous course and more of an online writing course; where we learn how to write and type in Spanish. There were never times where we did TalkAbroad or met in person but the only times were when we have ‘Entrevista con la profesora; where we would meet on Zoom with the teacher and chat in Spanish about assignments and or questions, comments, or concerns relating to the course
Interpersonal Communication
As previously mentioned, this was an asynchronous course and more of an online writing course; where we learn how to write and type in Spanish. There were never times where we did TalkAbroad but instead we would have ‘Entrevista con la profesora’ where we would meet on Zoom with the teacher; chat in Spanish about assignments and or questions, comments, or concerns about the course. However I will put down one of my writing assignments; ‘La carta de recomendación’ where we are required to write a letter of recommendation in Spanish! I’ll admit when I saw that was the assignment, I was a little nervous about writing a letter in a different language than in English but looking back on everything I was taught in my previous Spanish classes really helped in completing the letter. The challenging part was deciding on a topic and sticking with it because even if you are writing in a different language, it is easy to confuse yourself if you’re not focused on your chosen topic.
Presentational Speaking
As previously mentioned, this was an asynchronous course and more of a writing course where we learn how to write and type in Spanish. There were never times where we did TalkAbroad but instead we would have ‘Entrevista con la profesora’ where we would meet on Zoom with the teacher; chat in Spanish about assignments and or questions, comments, or concerns about the course. While this wasn’t a speaking assignment and more of a written assignment; I will, again put down one of my writing assignments; ‘La descripción’ with assignments like this the teacher first assigns it as a rough draft but then later assigns it as the final outcome; to add or fix any errors to our ‘Escrituras’. I think the only problem I had with this assignment was being more specific on location in the picture of what and where is in it.
Presentational Writing
For this writing piece, I’m putting down below one of typed discussion board post; Where in this case is relating to Alice from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ but we had to describe everything we saw in the video and or picture. I can honestly say without a shout of doubt writing down any new phrases/vocabulary has and will always keep me on my toes with Spanish; memory wise. And I hope it’ll apply for when I continue my path of learning other languages.
Interpretive Listening
I feel like with any language whether it be in Spanish, French, German, Italian, or whatever the case maybe you’re pretty much guessing what that other person is either saying, feeling, or thinking. Throughout the course, there would be times where we had to listen to what the speaker would say based on their tone and mood you could get an idea of what they’re saying, same thing applied for class interviews with the instructor, what I always kept in mind was paying attention to the following; tone of voice, body language, and just listening in general especially if a question is being asked.
I feel like what was challenging was overcoming the fear of saying something wrong or just getting embarrassed. But after experiencing it a couple of times, I’m not as anxious as I was. In fact, I feel a lot more confident and sure of myself.
Interpretive Reading
I truly stand by this description, with that being said I feel like this is what helped me to push myself and excel in learning Spanish. While learning any language is a thrilling experience, keep in mind that practice, patience, dedication, and confidence are all essential whether reading, writing, or speaking. The thought of reading in Spanish sounded extremely difficult versus reading in English, the same as if it were a song or anything else that was in a different language. But after taking Spanish for as long as I have and continue to do, I’ve grown to like reading in Spanish, it kind of reminds me of a puzzle when reading something new like “Can I guess what this means?” I can honestly say what helps me improve on reading in Spanish, is practice by reading aloud the words to the best of my ability. Granted, over the course of time, I’ve struggled with reading in Spanish from time to time but what really helps is hearing how the words are properly pronounced and practicing saying them. You’re not going to know or get everything right the first time but as long as you give it your all and keep trying, you’ll be just fine.