Integrative Narrative
I originally chose to major in Spanish Language and Culture major in hopes of bettering my conversation skills with my mother, as her first and primary language is Spanish. But after the cultural classes I fell in love with the indigenous civilizations of Latin America and their contributions to todays world. I grew a passion to learn more about these peoples and eventually just fell in love with the culture overall culture. In specific the poetry, narratives, and plays of various authors.
After starting the major courses, I have learned so much. Especially when it came to linguistics. SPAN 345 and SPAN 313 have given me a better understanding of the different branches of linguistics. For example Syntax, Phonology, Morphology and Semantics. I really grew a liking to phonology. I learned that the "v" and "b" in Spanish are pronounced the same. Phonetically speaking, their sound is represented as [b]. With these courses I was able to meet Major Learning Outcome 2 (Linguistics). In addition SPAN 301 really helped me with my accents. This is something that I have struggled with since high school. I learned that words that end in a vowel, N or S have a spoken accent in the second to last syllable of the word. If the word doesn't follow that rule, then one must mark a written accent over the vowel that is stressed in the word. SPAN 301 helped me meet Major Learning Outcome 1 (Language proficiency). When it came to literary and cultural knowledge (MLO 3), SPAN 304 and SPAN 306 really taught me a lot. In SPAN 304 I learned about the different literary movements pertaining to Latin America and Spain. It was amazing to see how different authors and poets used their works to talk about social and political issues occurring in their country. One of the things that was interesting while coursing through the major was meeting MLO 4 (Secondary Culture other than Hispanic Culture). I was able to do this by taking JAPN 308. Here I learned about Japans popular culture. I learned about Akihabara and Otaku. I didn't think as a SLHC major I would take a Japanese class. But I am glad that I did because I was able to compare and contrast Japanese and Hispanic culture. It was also great to be immersed into the local community. By meeting MLO 5 (Cultural Internalization & Language Immersion). By serving in the community I was able to apply what I learned in the classroom. Lastly, with WLC 300, SPAN 300 and SPAN 400 I was able to meet MLO 6 (Research and Technology). In each of these course we used the libraries free database to conduct research on various subjects. In addition we began using Weebly in WLX 300. After taking these courses I was able to learn how to use the free resources CSUMB offers. Lastly, I was able to do my capstone project by using the articles and databases the school offers, which made life easier when conducting research.
The areas that I am most proud of that I learned are writing and speaking in the target language. At first I really had a hard time marking accents on words. This was one part that I have noticed that has improved substantially. Now that I understand the different accent rules, I am now able to mark them. When it came to speaking, I had a hard time using academic vocabulary in the classroom when having discussion with other students about various topics. After listening to the different words my peers and professors would use, I learned new vocabulary and phrases. Reading in Spanish also helped with speaking.
An area I would like to continue to develop in the future is speaking in an informal setting. I noticed I think too much about the words I want to say and lose track of the conversation. I also notice that I often times repeat the same words or phrases due to the limited vocabulary I know in an informal setting. I think I can improve this aspect by going abroad to a Spanish speaking country. Another area I would like to develop is my knowledge about the different authors pertaining to Latin American as I feel it is an important part of the culture.
After starting the major courses, I have learned so much. Especially when it came to linguistics. SPAN 345 and SPAN 313 have given me a better understanding of the different branches of linguistics. For example Syntax, Phonology, Morphology and Semantics. I really grew a liking to phonology. I learned that the "v" and "b" in Spanish are pronounced the same. Phonetically speaking, their sound is represented as [b]. With these courses I was able to meet Major Learning Outcome 2 (Linguistics). In addition SPAN 301 really helped me with my accents. This is something that I have struggled with since high school. I learned that words that end in a vowel, N or S have a spoken accent in the second to last syllable of the word. If the word doesn't follow that rule, then one must mark a written accent over the vowel that is stressed in the word. SPAN 301 helped me meet Major Learning Outcome 1 (Language proficiency). When it came to literary and cultural knowledge (MLO 3), SPAN 304 and SPAN 306 really taught me a lot. In SPAN 304 I learned about the different literary movements pertaining to Latin America and Spain. It was amazing to see how different authors and poets used their works to talk about social and political issues occurring in their country. One of the things that was interesting while coursing through the major was meeting MLO 4 (Secondary Culture other than Hispanic Culture). I was able to do this by taking JAPN 308. Here I learned about Japans popular culture. I learned about Akihabara and Otaku. I didn't think as a SLHC major I would take a Japanese class. But I am glad that I did because I was able to compare and contrast Japanese and Hispanic culture. It was also great to be immersed into the local community. By meeting MLO 5 (Cultural Internalization & Language Immersion). By serving in the community I was able to apply what I learned in the classroom. Lastly, with WLC 300, SPAN 300 and SPAN 400 I was able to meet MLO 6 (Research and Technology). In each of these course we used the libraries free database to conduct research on various subjects. In addition we began using Weebly in WLX 300. After taking these courses I was able to learn how to use the free resources CSUMB offers. Lastly, I was able to do my capstone project by using the articles and databases the school offers, which made life easier when conducting research.
The areas that I am most proud of that I learned are writing and speaking in the target language. At first I really had a hard time marking accents on words. This was one part that I have noticed that has improved substantially. Now that I understand the different accent rules, I am now able to mark them. When it came to speaking, I had a hard time using academic vocabulary in the classroom when having discussion with other students about various topics. After listening to the different words my peers and professors would use, I learned new vocabulary and phrases. Reading in Spanish also helped with speaking.
An area I would like to continue to develop in the future is speaking in an informal setting. I noticed I think too much about the words I want to say and lose track of the conversation. I also notice that I often times repeat the same words or phrases due to the limited vocabulary I know in an informal setting. I think I can improve this aspect by going abroad to a Spanish speaking country. Another area I would like to develop is my knowledge about the different authors pertaining to Latin American as I feel it is an important part of the culture.