Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

I have never been out of the United States but I think it would be very cool to travel to a different country to see the amazing differences. I gained my understanding of cultural perspectives mainly in Spanish class but also on the internet and watching Tiktok videos of people from different cultures.

I grew up in an area where not many people come from Spanish speaking countries but I did have one friend who was from the Dominican Republic so I learned a little bit from her. I remember going to her house and trying Spanish food for the first time, it was very good. She also only spoke Spanish in her house so it was very interesting being in another environment and hearing full conversations in another language. I also remember her house having decorations that an American culture house would’ve have and they were things I have never seen before. This was cool because it almost felt like I was in a completely different world and it was interesting seeing how her families culture is different from my families.

Engaging in Communities

It is important to engage in the community when you are trying to learn a new language so you can get more practice and better knowledge. Getting practice outside of class and homework can help you understand the language better and it is perfect practice. Also you can benefit from the community because you are not only getting practice on the language but you are also gaining knowledge on Spanish cultures. I do not have that much first hand experience with the Spanish communities but I am interested to get more experience so I can better understand how their culture is different from the traditional American culture.

Interpersonal Communication

TalkAbroad is a online interview learning method used in Spanish classes all over the country. For my first TalkAbroad conversation I talked to a lady from the Dominican Republic and my second one I talked to a lady from Spain. Assignments I completed both inside and outside of class were reading and listening assignments located in lingrohub. I personally like the little videos they have in the beginning of each section and I constantly found myself going back to them while I was completing the homework.

In my first TalkAbroad conversation I learned that I should’ve asked my interviewer more questions so I made sure I did that in the second one. I was good at answering the questions that were about me and my family because I feel like I understood that unit the most and practiced it the most. The hardest part of TalkAbroad was not being nervous and I was definitely more nervous for my first one than my second one. I did not find anything difficult about the discussion board posts that we did all semester. I excelled at giving people nice meaningful comments. I learned that nice comments mean a lot so I always took my time and made sure I was comfortable with what my comment was about.

Presentational Speaking

For our presentational speaking portion of class we completed a video of us talking about and showing our class how we make our favorite food. In my presentation, I explained how to make a salad and all the ingredients that go into it.

The thing that challenged me in this presentation was using the correct grammar terms for what I was trying to say. I spent a lot of time looking at the grammar trying to understand when and how to use all of the grammar correctly. I overcame these challenges by asking others for help and paying close attention in class when we went over the grammar. I excelled in the pronunciation part of my video. Next time I would like to memorize what I want to say better so I don’t have to do a bunch of different clips and merge them together in the end.

Presentational Writing

In Spanish this semester we wrote many essay assignments. One assignment I really enjoyed completing was an ad about starting a club with a sport we enjoy doing.

In this assignment I had to talk about a sport I enjoy I chose to talk about walking. I then had to convince the person reading my paper why they should sign up for my walking club. I also talked about the benefits that walking can have on your body. Spelling started to become easier but the grammar was still a little difficult. To overcome these difficulties I made sure I go back to the videos that are on Lingrohub.

spanish-ad1

spanish-ad2

Interpretive Listening

We had many different listening assignments this semester both in class and online. One that I remember helping me out a lot was in chapter 8.

The video I remember was about a meal-kit delivery service. This video taught me how to talk about food and eating habits. It also talked about ingredients and meal preparation. The most interesting thing about this video was hearing how food is talked about in Spanish compared to english.

Interpretive Reading

We did many different readings all throughout the semester. One reading we did was on mental and physical health.

This reading had words and pictures on it so to me that was extra helpful. The reading taught us how to talk about different body parts, illnesses, and symptoms. It also taught us how to stay in good health. We learned to use formal commands to make recommendations on staying healthy. This reading was very interesting and useful for me because I am a nursing major.

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