Alycia Holwerda

               During the spring semester of my freshman year, I began learning the Spanish language and culture by completing Spanish 101: Elementary Spanish I. Throughout the class, I completed weekly journal entries exemplifying the vocab words I learned that week. Also, I completed various activities where I heard, saw, spoke, and wrote in Spanish. At the end of the semester I completed a cultural project about the running on the bulls in Spain. In the summer of 2017, I completed Spanish 102: Elementary Spanish II. During a 5-week period, I learned six chapters covering various different aspects such as trips, food, cities, services, biographies, medical terminology, and various other topics. Throughout this course, I learned many different verb forms such as present, preterit, imperfect, imperative affirmative, imperative negative, and perfect. As well as learning the language and grammar, I learned about various other Spanish-speaking countries around the world such as Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico. I watched many documentary videos on each country and its language, population, culture, traditions, climate, people, and many other topics. I did complete many tests, writing assignments, online activities, videos, oral conversations, and discussions. After completing this class, I not only have a better ability to speaking the Spanish language but a better understanding of the Spanish and Hispanic culture. In Fall of 2019, I completed the next level of Spanish: Spanish 201: Intermediate Spanish. Through many of the same activities as other Spanish classes, I learned various vocabulary pertaining to entertainment, personality traits, technology, history, businesses, opinions, and sentiments. I also continued to learn more grammar rules. At the end of the class, I completed a cultural project on San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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          Through SPAN101 I was able to demonstrate an emerging level of understanding of cultural differences in verbal and nonverbal communication as well as communicate in familiar everyday situations using memorized vocabulary and structures (Global Citizenship Communication: Level 1). In both introductory Spanish classes I learned basic verbal and nonverbal communication skills and cultural perspectives of Spanish-speaking countries. I learned basic vocab such as family, numbers, places, activities, and professions. I learned phrases and questions on how to carry out basic conversations such as introductions, feelings, the weather, and how people are doing. When I began learning the Spanish language and culture, I noticed how the Spanish language has many words similar to English, which made Spanish an easier language to learn. However, Spanish verbs have different endings depending on the situation, and Spanish adjectives have different endings depending on gender. Besides learning the language, I learned about the Spanish culture and how it varies between countries and how it compares to my culture. The cuisine, music, holidays, celebration, and activities are different to mine. My final assignment was to analyze some aspect to the Spanish culture. I chose to research more on “El Encierro,” Running of the bulls. This is part of a historical, holiday celebration that dates back centuries.

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               After completing Spanish 102: Introduction to Spanish II, I was able to identify basic cultural similarities and differences by demonstrating verbal and nonverbal communication in the Spanish language as well as communicate in appropriate ways with some accuracy in familiar situations and identifies the connection between language and culture (Global Citizenship Communication: Level 2). As I continued to learn Spanish, I learned more on how the Spanish language shapes the Spanish culture and vice versa.  The Spanish language puts more stress on who is talking or who is being talked about through verbs and adjective endings. Spanish speaking countries put more emphasis on respecting superiors such as professors, bosses, and elders. They achieve this through having a separate “you” to refer to them: “usted” or “ustedes”.

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               Even though Spanish is closely related to English, I was having a tougher time learning the second language. When I was first learning an object when I was a toddler, I learned the English word for it. Instead of learning what an object was by the Spanish word, I was thinking of what English word relates to that word. Learning a second language was tougher than learning my first language.

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               In Spanish 201: Intermediate Spanish, I was able to demonstrate a deepening awareness of connections between language and culture to articulate an understanding of them (Global Citizenship Communications: Level 3). I continued to learn Spanish with more grammar context. Many of these grammar rules are not present in my first language of English. Language helps people identify themselves. Different practices, grammar usages, and customs are present in the language that relate to the culture. For example, in the Spanish language sentences are directed more towards objects than who is speaking. For example, instead of saying, I am interested in sharks, the translation is “sharks interest me”. I created a cultural project on the Running of the bulls in Spain and a video on how to make snickers salad. Through these I was able to learn more about the Hispanic culture and the role of language.

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               Also, through SPAN201, I was able to converse with Spanish speakers in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar situations as well as construct a thoughtful summary about how learning about and analyzing connections between language and culture has informed one’s own worldview and the complexity of relationships between people from different cultures (Global Citizenship Communication: Level 4). I learned how to connect language and culture through a final project related to San Juan, Puerto Rico. As I continued to learn Spanish, I learned more about the impact of language at the individual, group, and global levels. Language is very important to every culture; language is how people communicate. However, if you do not know the language, then you can not communicate with others and thus learn more about the culture. My global citizenship experiences have altered my viewpoint of the world significantly. I now understand more about different cultural customs such as those pertaining to relationships, language, arts, activities, and opinions.

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               After completing three college level Spanish classes, I have a basic foundation to the Spanish language and culture. I hope to continue to grow my knowledge of Spanish. I can now communicate in basic conversations, but I hope to grow my knowledge to communicate at deeper depth in Spanish. Traveling is a huge passion of mine, and I hope to travel to many Spanish-speaking countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Spain, Costa Rica, and many more. Through these trips I will continue to learn more on how to communicate verbally and nonverbally in Spanish. To prepare for these trips I can continue learning through various programs and apps such as Duolingo and Rosetta Stone. I am excited to continue learning Spanish to strengthen my ability to communicate with Spanish speakers.