Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

In the cultural collaborators section, we learned many of the values that are held within the Spanish speaking community. One of these values was food and how it not only provides nourishment for our bodies, but food is a thing that brings both communities and families together. Food is an expression of how we live with each other, how we love each other, and how we are willing to share space with someone that may hold ideologies that differ.

Engaging in Communities

Engaging in our communities helps us learn about each other while learning about the environment we live in. Engaging with communities is how we acknowledge differences while respecting identities. The more I engage with my Spanish community I see the issues that they may encounter in a perspective that helps me understand their lives. By creating greater understanding, we are able to help each other.

Interpersonal Communication

This semester we participated in two TalkAbroad assignments that were approximately 15 minutes long. During these conversations I was challenged to actively understand what my partner was saying rather than listening to illicit a response. My partner would ask me questions that I couldn’t answer through memorization but had to respond thoroughly to what my partner was saying instinctually. This helped me become a better Spanish speaker with my classmates as we had to engage with each other after each one of our projects. The projects were dynamic and required us to involve our personality in them as well. 

Presentational Speaking

This semester we were asked to present about our families and create a video about meals we enjoy cooking. The family video was a bit more intricate as it required us to think deeply about our families. This helped me get a better understanding of descriptive language within Spanish. Next, we had to do a video in which we prepared a meal. This video I found to be very fun as it was something in which we were able to be a bit more playful with. The instructional video was great for learning how to present steps as well as the process of doing a task.

Presentational Writing

To learn how to inform the public we were asked to create a community brochure. This was challenging as it required the combined skills of telling time with informal commands. To properly direct the public is critical skill and without learning, it is hard to communicate what you need from people.

Interpretive Listening

This semester we engaged with multiple media that required us to be attentive listeners. Many of the recordings in our homework would require us to pick out particular words or phrases. These phrases were spoken at a natural speed, so it often required being listened to multiple times. During the class our professor suggested immersing ourselves more into the language through various mediums. I chose to listen to music from many countries and was introduced to a new band that I quickly was able to understand the meaning of their songs without translation. By also listening to the content of sentences I was able to understand the meaning of sentences when I may not know all the words that were said.

Interpretive Reading

Throughout the semester our homework required us to read a paragraph and then choose as well as conjugate the correct tense of the word. These paragraphs showed a deep importance for understanding context of words. Often there would be a gendered word that would assist but I found it difficult to determine which word was needed without reading the entire sentence. In this aspect English and Spanish are much alike.