Course Reflection:
Throughout this course, I have gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Spanish language and its culture. The course was challenging, yet rewarding, and I feel that I have made significant progress in my language proficiency.
One of the key aspects of the course that I appreciated was the focus on practical communication skills. We were given numerous opportunities to engage in conversations with our classmates and the teacher, which helped me to feel more confident and comfortable using Spanish in real-life situations. The class also incorporated a variety of interactive activities. Below you will find that I have included multiple artifacts of projects or assignments that I submitted throughout the semester. I have included a description of each assignment that I included. I then go on to explain my growth and development in each learning category of this course.
- U11: For this project, students were required to select items of clothing for a client based on their reported body type, style preferences, local weather, and other criteria. We were to provide a list of the 5 items selected, along with images to show the items. Lastly, students were to write a 200-word descriptive paragraph that explains why the items were chosen, how they could be mixed and matched to create great outfits, why each item fits the client’s style, and what the outfit will say about the client’s personality. I chose a client named Raquel. The clothing items I chose for her were great for multiple different occasions and matched the criteria on her profile.
- U12: The instruction for this project was to create a 3-minute video describing a trip to an ecotourism site. Students were o include a description of the places, activities they did there, how they felt while they were there, one comparison of inequality, a concluding statement about the experience, and at least 3 images to support the narration. I chose to present my experience in Jamaica. I traveled to Jamaica in May 2022 and stayed for about a week. It was a fantastic vacation destination that had a lot of opportunities for ecotourism.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KRguE3PMKwogRPTwDiIPR6Xzw50FtqVihYpuuI_Lvus/edit?usp=sharing
- U15: For this project, students were to write a 150-word short story based on historical events. We were required to include a title and use verbs in the present, preterite, imperfect, and present and past perfect. Then, we were to finish our short story with a 75-word analysis of key aspects and literary elements included in our short story. We were to explain how our short story helps the reader reinterpret the historical event from a different perspective. I chose to write a short story about 9/11. I wrote from a first-person point of view as if I were a police officer on duty that fateful morning.
- U16: For this final project, students were required to write a cellphone text dialogue between 2 people with a misunderstanding that is resolved in a positive way. We were to include 10 abbreviations for text messaging and 5 verbs in the future tense and 5 verbs in the conditional tense. I presented my dialogue in front of the class, with my peer.
Instructions
Exploring Culture
I found that watching documentaries and films helped me gain a deeper understanding of the experiences and perspectives of Hispanic communities. These products helped me better understand the values and attitudes in the Hispanic culture by allowing me to see the world from their perspective. I was able to gain a greater appreciation for the importance of community. In class, and at home for homework, reviewed many short films and artwork by famous Hispanic artists. The artwork presented ideas and perspectives from the artist’s point of view One challenge that these perspectives revealed to me was the prevalence of stereotypes and misconceptions about Hispanic communities in mainstream society. By exposing me to the lived experiences of Hispanic individuals, these products and practices helped me work through my own stereotypes and misconceptions and caused me to view the world from a different perspective. Overall, the films and art helped me become a more culturally competent individual, and a more informed.
Interpersonal Communication
For this assignment, students were asked to speak on the topic of Ecotourism, responding to and asking questions. I spoke with a native speaker from Chile, her name was Valentina. Listen to the audio below!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g5nf0q15t5xhP_ILYpd5bdPMbQD-Zf6R/view?usp=share_link
One of the challenges I faced during this interview was being nervous. There were a few moments when I needed to stop and think of a response, or process what Valentina was saying to me because I did not quite understand all the words that were being said to me. This made me realize that I need to spend more time practicing learning new vocabulary words in order to be able to chat with others in greater detail. Overall, I feel like I did a good job continuing the conversation with my partner. I was able to respond to her questions and ask her some myself.
Presentational Speaking
While I am speaking, I do a good job at pronunciation, however, I tend to stumble when I cannot think of a word or the correct conjugation for the verb I want to use. I had the same struggles throughout the entirety of the semester, but I am glad I am able to recognize where I struggle so that I can improve in my personal practice time. Next time, I will be more prepared by practicing reviewing vocabulary words so that I can feel more confident in my sentences because I will have a wider vocabulary.
Presentational Writing
I have included many examples of my writing from this semester. We wrote short stories, text messaging dialogues, and letters that provided great practice and feedback for our writing. I performed well on each project this semester. The most common mistake I made was grammatical errors. For me, it is easier to produce sentences when writing because I can see the words I am writing on my paper. Sometimes I can tell when I have made a mistake because some words will simply look incorrect. When I am able to reread my work I am able to avoid more of the errors that I experience when I am speaking, on the spot. Practicing my grammar in Spanish and memorizing different conjugation tenses will help me do better next time.
Interpretive Reading
During unit 15, we read a few short stories in class that help give us a good understanding of what short stories were like in the Spanish language. I learned that it is important to be dramatic and expressive in my writing and speaking. Throughout the course, we were given multiple homework assignments on our online learning platform that required us to read many short stories in Spanish. The most challenging part of these reading exurbs was understanding the vocabulary. I have come to realize that I do not have a very wide vocabulary, so when I am reading new short stories I find that there are many words that I don’t know. This made it very difficult for me to understand the stories that I was reading, however, I was able to utilize the footnotes in the stories that clarified some vocabulary words, and I used a Spanish-to-English dictionary for other words that I do not understand. I will leave that with repetition I will be able to slowly add more and more words to my vocabulary which I would then be able to use in real-life situations, speaking or writing.
Modes of Communication:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eemz_Rr-GzU5VS9zA1AZtI1MTbztESIg/view?usp=sharing