Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Exploring Culture
Through discussion boards within this class, and also within the website LingroLearning, I was able to research and see videos on different countries and their cultures and beliefs. I learned how kids in Spain view careers and the stereotypes they have even when they are children about who should have what career and who shouldn’t which is almost similar to how it is here in the US. I also learned about different national foods in the countries of Latin America like the Gallo Pinto in Costa Rica and the Ceviche in Ecuador. Through various discussion boards, I also learned about my classmate’s culture and how important their family is to them, what kind of foods they prefer, and how they even view gender stereotypes.
Through learning about how different cultures have different healthcare plans, different views on gender, and even how they view family, I was able to understand how in different areas everything may be totally different from how the US runs things. In most areas in Latin America family is a big thing to them and their family alone runs very big and they are very close to them and even live in the same area, whereas I have a pretty small family and when I do see the other side of my bigger family it’s only once a year at a family gathering. I thought that in some areas there may be a less egotistical view on gender stereotypes but I see through looking at different countries in Latin America that their ideals are the same and in a way rather worse than it is here in the US. I realized through this that the whole world may take decades to become truly progressive and understanding when it comes to gender.
Engaging in Communities
Participating in discussion boards, as well as conversations with people in my classes and through TalkAbroad I engaged with various people throughout my community as a college student and through other communities across the world. With other people in my community, I’ve learned things about my classmates, professor, and people who are born Spanish-speaking natives. By engaging in my community while learning Spanish in the process I was able to learn a new language and learn things about new people.
Interpersonal Communication
Through TalkAbroad I really got to see what it was like talking to a native Spanish speaker in an entire different country from me. I learned about certain traditions they do, how they keep up their health, and even what kind of shows they love to watch! Even though it was pretty stressful at the start I feel it really broadened my insight on the aspects of Spanish speaking countries.
My first TalkAbroad conversation with Adriana was one that I will never forget. Before jumping into the conversation I had with her I looked on her profile and saw that she had a love for kdramas much like I have one. Learning that I was really excited to talk to her not only about that, but about our family traditions and culture. I learned a lot of things like how she celebrates her birthdays, how she has numerous sisters but no brothers, and most importantly how she loves the Kdrama What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim!
In my second conversation I talked with Mariam about how she keeps up with not only her physical health but her mental health in stressful situations. I found out that when we’re stressed or need to unwind that we both listen to music. This conversation was also a great learning experience, because even though it didn’t go as smooth as my first conversation I learned that I have to keep the conversation going much like a regular one in English by asking questions back and forth.
Both of these TalkAbroad conversations helped me with my verbal speaking as I am continuing to learn more and more about Spanish.
Presentational Speaking
In my Spanish 102 class I had to create numerous videos for projects almost every week where I had to present/showcase what I learned that module through a video with no outside notes. Having to do these various videos I expanded and showed my knowledge of my vocabulary and grammar I learned that specific module.
Through each one of the presentational videos I felt as if each one got easier as I went on. I had no ability to use my notes and with that I actually go to speak off my mind what I had to say in order to get my presentation done. I revised a simple script I can go by to hit the key points and it really felt like a regular English presentation I was suppose to give in class!
Presentational Writing
Through my presentational writing projects I had to create a flyer for a sports event and also another a flyer on how to protect your physical and mental health. Using my writing abilities to create both of these projects helped me improved on my grammar and sentence structure.
Maria-Toombs-Una-infografia-1In this presentational writing I got to discuss something as important as physical and mental health in Spanish! I showcased my grammar of things relating health and attributes of the body. Not only did I show that I can make a pretty good flyer, but I also showed I know how to adapt this new language I’m learning into something very informative. In my second presentational writing I discussed the sport of volleyball and how to sign up in a situation where you may want to play it. I also inserted a video on how to play the sport and incorporated how and where the try outs were taking place, using my known vocabulary along the way.
Interpretive Listening
In the website of LingroLearning I came across numerous listening activities where I had to decipher what they were saying in Spanish and sometimes translate it to English, but also use that to conjugate various verbs correctly. I listened closely and chose the correct answers correlating to the recorded message. I also listened to videos for discussion boards where I then wrote things about that video to discuss with my class.
In my LingroLearning assignments not only was there the difficulty of listening and comprehending at the same time but also looking for the correct answer within that recording to make progress in the lesson. I conjugated many verbs, listened to conversations between different speakers, and listened to pronunciations of different words. In my discussion boards I watched YouTube videos where they talked In Spanish completely. Even though I had the subtitles on to follow along to this video I still used my listening skills to comprehend the video. From then after I watched the video I answered the questions my professor asked about it and also gave my opinion on what the video was like and what kind of sports I preferred.
Interpretive Reading
In one particular discussion board I had to complete I had to read on the healthcare of Spain and how they dealt with healthcare issues in that country. I also looked up different Spanish articles within LingroLearning fully in Spanish as I read and comprehended much as I could.
It was very difficult to read the text I researched in Spanish as I tried to translate for myself what it was trying to convey. I used context clues most of the time while reading, looking at the words I did recognize and looking up the one’s I didn’t. Overall I think reading Spanish text, articles, and passages is fundamental, even when learning different languages.