Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

Exploring the Hispanic culture through our assigned textbook, Aventuras Primer Curso De Lengua Española, Fifth Edition, José Blanco/ Philip Redwine Donley, late, was intriguing. It was interesting learning, listening, and watching the interactions between family and friends, as they spoke fluent Spanish, which I aim to learn more in the future. VHL Central | Home

By practicing and going through the tutorials of our lessons, it helped me gain a better understanding of how important it is to know the different words, as it related to whether it was a feminine or masculine word, as well as learning the verbiage of the words and how to use them, as well as pronounce them. The videos and lessons were instrumental in my study of Spanish because it was set up to allow you chances to understand and receive the correct information; therefore preparing for future quizzes, exams, discussion boards, and Spanish speaking interviews.

Engaging in Communities

Learning Spanish has given me more confidence to engage in a conversation with my neighbors when that time is presented. As I continue to learn Spanish, I will feel more comfortable having a conversation in Spanish. It feels good knowing that I now understand more and can pick up on some of the languages. One of the challenges I had while learning Spanish is the pronunciation of some of the words.

I had the pleasure and opportunity to meet and become friends with a nice young lady who is Puerto Rican. She shared some of her rich histories with me. One beautiful matter she shared with me was Puerto Rico’s National Anthem. When she sang her National Anthem, I could see and hear how happy and majestic she felt. It was enchanting, and the lyrics gave a sense of peace. Please find and enjoy the Youtube video of Puerto Rico’s National Anthem below.

Interpersonal Communication

As a part of our Spanish curriculum, we were assigned student partners for interviews. In our first interview, we had detailed conversations in Spanish about who we are, where we live and activities we enjoy. We also had interviews with our Spanish Professor; in our first interview, our professor asked questions about our families. We had to respond in complete sentences, only speaking Spanish.

In the beginning, my biggest challenge with the presentational speaking activities was nervousness. The student partner interview exercise was great because we had a chance to go over our materials until we felt comfortable enough to record. The great part of the exercise was that our professor started off with words of encouragement, which allowed some of the nervousness to dissipate. I excelled at becoming more confident with the tools that I learned from my professor, other students, and the teaching materials. For future interviews, I will do my best not to overthink or second guess myself and practice more. Please request a copy of my student interview video.

Presentational Speaking

As a part of our Spanish classwork and homework assignments, we were given many opportunities to present our Spanish-speaking abilities to our classmates and professor.

During the presentational speaking exercises, we introduced ourselves to one another by given our names, ages, where we are from, and some of our likes and dislikes.

Presentational Writing

We had several writing presentational assignments. One of our first Spanish written assignments was to list our classes, the days and times of our classes, and our professor’s names. We also were given the task of responding to an email, that asked about our families; we had to utilize our chapter on Spanish adjectives to describe our family members in the email.

When the assignment was given about listing our classes, the days of the week, and the times of each class, it was challenging, although we practiced during class, doing it alone took effort but our professor was there to assist and made sure our finished products were successful. By doing the homework assignments, practicing in class, and taking quizzes, allowed me to overcome some of the difficulties that I started off with. I believe repetition allowed me to excel at recognizing certain words by following the rules of their placements in order to make sentences flow correctly. To do better next time, I will consider studying the material more until I have it memorized.

Here is the assignment of listing our classes, the days of the week that we attend the classes, and the times that our classes start in Spanish.

Interpretive Listening

Our weekly homework assignments included interpretive listening lessons that included tutorials, story telling about the Spanish culture, as well as recordings of pronunciation the Spanish language.

The listening tools that we used can be found on VHL Central | Home The most challenging part of the listening assignment was trying to keep up with the speakers; at times the speakers spoke quickly. I overcame this difficulty by listening to the speakers a few times until I understood what they were saying. The most interesting part of the listening assignments was the storytelling about the families and how they interacted with one another. My takeaway from the listening experience is that you must listen and practice repeatedly until you comprehend to the best of your ability. I believe I am still growing with each activity.

Interpretive Reading

In class, we were given weekly questions in Spanish; we had to answer the questions in complete sentences. We were then put into groups, taking turns reading and answering the questions… we also were given weekly reading homework assignments through VHL Central | Home. https//m3a.vhlcentral.com/sections/1035146/activities/117171

Here is one of the assigned readings and learning activities about irregular verbs. www.https//m3a.vhlcentral.com/sections/1035146/activities/117171

Learning to read Spanish was challenging and fascinating. My challenge with interpretive reading assignments was the pronunciation of the words correctly. I am still learning and hope to one day speak Spanish more fluently. My takeaway from the readings is to continue practicing. I am still learning and growing with each assignment.