Spanish
Date: January 2018 – May 2018
Competencies: Self-Awareness lv. 3&4, Knowledge & Understanding lv. 2,3&4, Communication lv. 2,3&4
Competencies: Self-Awareness lv. 3&4, Knowledge & Understanding lv. 2,3&4, Communication lv. 2,3&4
Summary
During my second semester at Minnesota State University, Mankato, I took an Intermediate Spanish class to build on the knowledge I’d gained taking Spanish classes in High School. Throughout the semester, I was able to develop my knowledge of the Spanish language and grammar, work on my conversational Spanish skills, and learn about different Spanish countries and cultures.
During my second semester at Minnesota State University, Mankato, I took an Intermediate Spanish class to build on the knowledge I’d gained taking Spanish classes in High School. Throughout the semester, I was able to develop my knowledge of the Spanish language and grammar, work on my conversational Spanish skills, and learn about different Spanish countries and cultures.
Reflection
The first day of class, my professor came in and started introducing herself by speaking in Spanish. I was thrown off by how hard it was to try to understand what she was speaking, though I was able to grasp enough Spanish to understand the idea of each sentence (Communication lv. 2). Thankfully, our professor would switch between Spanish and English when she saw we weren’t comprehending enough Spanish to understand concepts and ideas. Having to learn in a language I was not even close to fluent in gave me a much greater respect for those who are learning English as a second language (Awareness lv. 3). I was also able to reflect on how much the United States looks down on people who speak broken English, even if they are very intelligent in their native tongue, and how that unconscious prejudice can unfairly affect my initial first impression of somebody (Awareness lv. 4).
Within a few class periods, we were introduced to our big, semester-long project: La Guia del Ocio (The Leisure Guide), which included researching a Spanish-speaking city and creating a travel brochure on why someone would want to visit there. Since one of my good friends was studying abroad in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, that semester, I decided I wanted to learn more about the culture and city of Buenos Aires (Knowledge lv. 2). Getting to speak with my friend about her first-hand experience of the city helped me get a personal and research-based view of the city’s culture and history (Knowledge lv. 3).
As the semester progressed, I got more comfortable with learning in the Spanish language, as well as speaking it, regardless of how rusty I still was at speaking and comprehending in Spanish. Learning in such a drastically different way helped me feel much more connected to the different cultures we learned about, since I was experiencing it through more than just words on a page (Communication lv. 3). As I got closer to presenting my final project, I got to learn more about the different cultural festivals, neighborhoods, and historic monuments in Buenos Aires. One festival that stood out to me as unique and cool was Ciudanza, an urban dance festival that happened in Buenos Aires every year. As someone who loves to dance, it stood out to me as such an amazing aspect of their culture; a festival that brings people together for music and dancing, one of the few universal languages that all people can relate to, regardless of creed or religion (Knowledge lv. 4). After putting together my brochure and script, I was ready to give my presentation. As I spoke about my researched project in Spanish, I felt very connected to Buenos Aires. Even though I’d never been there, I’d learned so much about how cool it was through my various sources and hoped I could go there one day to experience it first-hand (Communication lv. 4).
Taking a second language throughout High School and College has given me much greater exposure to different parts of the world, their culture, and the struggle that people trying to integrate into a society and learn the language of the land face. Speaking another language, however poorly, has helped me reflect that language amply reflects the world the speaker lives in, and, sometimes, the very fabric of their soul.
The first day of class, my professor came in and started introducing herself by speaking in Spanish. I was thrown off by how hard it was to try to understand what she was speaking, though I was able to grasp enough Spanish to understand the idea of each sentence (Communication lv. 2). Thankfully, our professor would switch between Spanish and English when she saw we weren’t comprehending enough Spanish to understand concepts and ideas. Having to learn in a language I was not even close to fluent in gave me a much greater respect for those who are learning English as a second language (Awareness lv. 3). I was also able to reflect on how much the United States looks down on people who speak broken English, even if they are very intelligent in their native tongue, and how that unconscious prejudice can unfairly affect my initial first impression of somebody (Awareness lv. 4).
Within a few class periods, we were introduced to our big, semester-long project: La Guia del Ocio (The Leisure Guide), which included researching a Spanish-speaking city and creating a travel brochure on why someone would want to visit there. Since one of my good friends was studying abroad in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, that semester, I decided I wanted to learn more about the culture and city of Buenos Aires (Knowledge lv. 2). Getting to speak with my friend about her first-hand experience of the city helped me get a personal and research-based view of the city’s culture and history (Knowledge lv. 3).
As the semester progressed, I got more comfortable with learning in the Spanish language, as well as speaking it, regardless of how rusty I still was at speaking and comprehending in Spanish. Learning in such a drastically different way helped me feel much more connected to the different cultures we learned about, since I was experiencing it through more than just words on a page (Communication lv. 3). As I got closer to presenting my final project, I got to learn more about the different cultural festivals, neighborhoods, and historic monuments in Buenos Aires. One festival that stood out to me as unique and cool was Ciudanza, an urban dance festival that happened in Buenos Aires every year. As someone who loves to dance, it stood out to me as such an amazing aspect of their culture; a festival that brings people together for music and dancing, one of the few universal languages that all people can relate to, regardless of creed or religion (Knowledge lv. 4). After putting together my brochure and script, I was ready to give my presentation. As I spoke about my researched project in Spanish, I felt very connected to Buenos Aires. Even though I’d never been there, I’d learned so much about how cool it was through my various sources and hoped I could go there one day to experience it first-hand (Communication lv. 4).
Taking a second language throughout High School and College has given me much greater exposure to different parts of the world, their culture, and the struggle that people trying to integrate into a society and learn the language of the land face. Speaking another language, however poorly, has helped me reflect that language amply reflects the world the speaker lives in, and, sometimes, the very fabric of their soul.
Artifact
Attached is a brochure I created about a trip to Buenos Aires for my final class project, as well as a script of the presentation I gave about that brochure in Spanish.
Attached is a brochure I created about a trip to Buenos Aires for my final class project, as well as a script of the presentation I gave about that brochure in Spanish.
|
|