{"id":425,"date":"2021-01-29T17:33:59","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T17:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/basicspanishdraft2\/?page_id=425"},"modified":"2022-12-10T00:50:46","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T00:50:46","slug":"102-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/slaughter\/102-2\/","title":{"rendered":"SPAN 102"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exploring Culture<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some of the products that helped me gain understanding of cultural perspectives were TalkAbroad, Lingro Learning, and the material provided by the Professor for discussion boards, and general assignments. TalkAbroad allowed me to connect to someone from a Spanish speaking country and have conversations with them about their culture and some of their practices. Lingro Learning provided material that was taken from citizens of different Spanish countries, and helped to understand some of the differences between them. The discussion boards for our class gave us information about certain topics, and allowed us to form our own opinions and discuss them amongst our peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest reflection I could make from these products is that they gave me a different view on how people in other places live compared to where I live. TalkAbroad was the most personal, allowing me to speak directly to someone from another country, and to be able to learn about their country from their own perspective. LingroLearning and the Professor provided material both helped me understand different values and views of many different countries through testimonials from those who lived there. They also gave me opportunities to research certain topics and learn more about them on my own. I was able to learn about how some cultures differ from other countries based on location, but I was also able to draw comparisons between my own country and the places I was researching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Where I live, the community is a big part of day to day life for most people. Our downtown area has opened many shops and restaurants in the past few years, and without a community to support them, they would not have made it very far. Most people I know enjoy going to the local shops so that they can support those members of the community and keep growing as a whole. Global community however is a hard thing to be a part of it seems, Being so far apart from some places, or just being so different from others make it very difficult to be involved in the global community compared to local communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was interesting to learn about some of the cultures and communities we learned about this semester in class, and to see how different some of them are compared to my community. It was also interesting to see some similarities that exist even when they are so far apart from each other. Sometimes when we think something is extremely different, we just need to take a closer look to see it might not be so different after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Talkabroad was a useful tool for having an actual conversation with a native Spanish speaker. Lucky for me, I was able to have both of my conversations with the same person, which made the second conversation seem much easier to get into, as opposed to being nervous like the first time! Being able to speak to someone and learn directly from conversations is a good opportunity to be more involved with the language and the conversation itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to the conversations that I had with my professor, Talkabroad seemed less formal, and almost more laid back in a way. I was able to relax a little bit because I knew I was talking to someone just like me, although in a different language! In my opinion, taking online classes for a language course is very limiting in terms of having others to practice with. It\u2019s much easier to talk to someone studying the same language as you are then it is to try and get someone to help you study flashcards that they don\u2019t know what the words mean either! I think after studying and these different discussions I was able to have, I am able to understand a good amount of Spanish, but due to lack of verbal practice with others, it made it difficult to respond sometimes. Saying things out loud forms a repetition that saying things in your head sometimes can\u2019t form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interpretive Listening<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of listening activities were a part of Lingro Learning, and allowed me to listen to the language from many different people, and to be able to draw comparisons between them all based on how they spoke. Comparable to accents in the USA, such as northern or southern, different people also had different accents based on their country. There were also some videos that we watched for our discussion topics, that allowed me to listen and learn about certain topics, and how some locals felt about them in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think these listening activities gave a good idea of how the culture can be in a specific country or area. For example the Coffee Break Spanish \u201c\u00bfCu\u00e1l es tu deporte preferido?\u201d Video showed just how important Futbol is to the Spanish culture as a whole, as many people who were asked in that area answered with futbol. Another good video was  \u201cY tu, \u00bfque quieres ser de mayor?\u201d. This video showed that even in different countries, kids can strive to be the same things when they get older, as opposed to being limited in their opportunities based on location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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