Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

In Spanish 102, the materials that I used to help me finish the class were Contraseña and LingroLearning.  This digital book provides extensive information about Spanish cultures. This semester of Spanish taught me about families, fruits and vegetables, and other foods, as well as activities and occupations. To replenish the information, we also had coursework on Canvas throughout the class that required us to do research on Spanish culture and apply what we learned.

Learning about food and national dishes was my favorite! I have included two videos that I watched about the food in Latin America, and everything looks so good. It makes me realize how different Food in Spain in from the food here in the United States. Food is not just an essential in most Spanish countries; it is also a gesture of love, community, care, and other qualities. Food is a crucial part of family life, and having a meal with near and dear ones is a kind deed.

The study that was assigned to us peaked my interest and captivated me. We explored and discussed families, activites, cuisine, and careers. Learning about this makes me eager to experience it one day! The Spanish culture and traditions are quite distinct, distinguishing them from many other countries. From the way that people greet one other  to the various foods and customs they embrace. Learning about Spanish culture showed me how different it was from the United states, it also shows me how diverse the world is.

Engaging in Communities

Engaging with my classmates gave me a wonderful opportunity to connect with them on the various topics in Spanish. We were given 5 discussion board topics on Canvas. Connecting with others students in the class creates personal development, which in turn helps us achieve our objectives, especially when learning a new language!

I enjoyed each and every one of these discussions. The topics were interesting and it was nice to also know what my classmates thought about the topics as well. The discussion boards were quite useful as I learnt new words. I was able to take my time reading or listening and acquire new language. This was also an excellent opportunity to practice accents, grammar, and sentence construction.

Interpersonal Communication

During the course, I had to complete two TalkAbroads. TalkAbroad is a website that gives a well-trained conversation companion in different languages for conversation practice. To start off, you must select a partner of your choice, and you also get to read some information about them such as their background and hobbies to see if you have anything in common with them!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rpnKUcj7_yaB2rzpz9W7QZbj_DQIdggg/view?usp=sharing

For starters, I can say I was extremely nervous to do this. I have never had a full conversation in Spanish and I instantly thought that I would fail this assignment. The partner I had was around my age, and she was very patient and kind. She made me comfortable during the whole conversation and it wasn’t bad at all! I did take me a few moments to understand what she was saying and I did stumble over some words, but she helped me with it. We talked about our favorite things to do, our family, and other fun topics! I am proud to say I overcame this fear of having a conversation in Spanish and it made me more confident for the next TalkAbroad. I also understand how important this was, I was able to listen to the conversation and listen to my grammar and how I pronounced words. I was able to learn and enhance my fluency in Spanish. The greatest method to acquire a second language is via practice, and having regular, ordinary conversations in the language is one of the best ways to do so. I was able to converse with a native speaker through TalkAbroad who was skilled at working with students, which helped me gain more confidence. The links that I provided are my TalkAbroad conversations. The top link is my first conversation, and the bottom link is my last conversation.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14EoXrKJTVgcCOkeMWziMVNrpswTT9hs8/view?usp=sharing

Presentational Speaking

Most of our presentational speaking activities were on LingroLearning. We would have sections in our modules called “Aplicar: Expansión,” where we would have to speak on grammar or vocabulary that we learned in the Module.

These activites helped me a lot throughout the course and they were also good practice. I do with there was some feedback for these assignments. Receiving comments aids in solidifying my learning process and improving my memory. These activities also helped me communicate better with Spanish. Some of the topics that we had to talk about were fun, like in the first image I attached. I also struggled a lot with the Grammar in Spanish, so practicing these and reading them with sentences did help me understand it better.

Presentational Writing

In this course, we also had a lot of writing assignments in LingroLearning. These were called “Aplicars.” We would have to write questions, answers, and sentences in Spanish. These assignments helped me practice my spelling in Spanish vocabulary and to use context clues.

I notice my growth with these assignments. I always struggled with typing in Spanish because I didn’t understand when to use accent keys or I would spell words wrong. With practice from these assignments and careful reading, I could see myself improving and getting better with my comprehension. I learned how to clearly express my personal viewpoint on the writing I did for this class while displaying a great deal of knowledge. I still have flaws when typing in Spanish, but I believe I can improve with more practice!

Interpretive Listening

There were plenty of listening assignments throughout the course. We watched videos for our discussion boards, or we listened to out vocabulary lessons, and LingroLearning had multiple listening assignments.

I also took advantage of multiple tools outside of class. I downloaded an app called Duolingo and listened to the Spanish podcast everyday. To get more familiar with the comprehension of Spanish, I listen to videos on youtube so I could recognize words and sentences better. I also love listening to Spanish music, Selena is my favorite! I would often challenge myself to see if I understand what she is singing about without looking at the lyrics. I did catch myself struggling with listening sometimes and it would take me a while to understand or complete assignments. I am happy to say that I can listen to things in Spanish and put pieces together to understand what is being said.

Interpretive Reading

I can say the top thing we did in Spanish class was Read, which was important. Learning a new language requires a lot of reading, and all of my assignments required me to read. Most reading assignments were on LingroLearning. Most of the assignments required us to read notes, emails, messages, and conversations. Some of them included photos, and others required us to use our context clues.

Although I did have some trouble with understanding the reading assignments, I honestly enjoyed doing them. If there was a word I didn’t understand, I would think about what it sounds like or what the topic of the reading is about before looking at my notes. It did frustrate me a lot when I couldn’t understand something, but I knew not to give up on it. I would keep trying and I remained patient, and practiced the words I didn’t understand. I can say learning to read in Spanish makes me feel confident. Reading in a different language is not easy, but I continued to practice so I could gain understanding of the vocabulary. I see a huge improvement with my reading and I am very proud that I could accomplish this. Reading in Spanish not only enhanced my language abilities but also gave me a fantastic sense of self. It increased my knowledge while also assisting me in learning new words in the language I already knew.