This semester we utilized the Talk Abroad website to connect with native Spanish speakers from around the world. In the first Talk Abroad session I talked with a woman from Ecuador about our families. In the second Talk Abroad session I talked to man from Honduras that now lives in Mexico about our favorite foods and what we do to keep up our health. I also engaged with my classmates in discussion board posts on a variety of topics, including health and healthcare systems, culture, family, and food from the US and the Spanish speaking world.

The Talk Abroad assignments were the most challenging for me as I was not as prepared as I could have been and I was nervous when speaking with my collaborators. I do feel I did better on the second one than the first, which they are in proper order above, and I feel I am becoming more comfortable speaking Spanish.

In the discussion posts I got to learn about how my classmates interpreted the reading and why they did so based on their responses, and the class has a very diverse set of ideas, opinions, and backgrounds which helped a lot in learning more about how different people view the world. I am better at writing in Spanish than I am speaking Spanish, as for the reasons noted before. After completing these activities and other discussions with my classmates I know that I am not the only one having difficulties which makes me feel like I am not alone in my learning experience.