I got the privilege to talk to a native Spanish-Speaker in the ESL class named Adrinna. She was fun to talk to and very sympathetic with my spanish speaking skills. I think I improved asking more follow-up classes than I did in the first conversation. I was very pleased with how the conversation went and I would love to speak with her again soon. I felt like we had an actual intelligent conversation and I did just ask random questions like “Cuantos anos tienes?” out of no where.
Reflection Expectations:
Reflection
1. Cultural Learning
a. Adrinna shared a little bit with me about her home country of Mexico. She told me that she still has family living there. Her cousins, aunts, and uncles live there, but a lot of her family currently resides in the United States. She didn’t tell me much about her native country because she seemed very accustom and exciting about her life in the United States. However, she did tell me that she may be going back there for the holidays or spring break.
2. Personal Learning
a. One of my goals was to find out more about soccer or “futbol” in Spanish-speaking countries. Adrinna told me that soccer is what the people in Mexico are all about. She continued to tell me that her entire family, including herself, plays soccer. Her favorite team is the Mexican National team, but she doesn’t have a favorite team in the United States. She plays soccer non-competitively at Lenape Park in Flemington.
3. Linguistic Performance
a. One thing I tried to do well in this conversation was to develop the conversation. I really tried to focus on asking relevant questions about the information that Adrinna told me. I wanted her to know that I had a real interest in what she was saying by asking her follow-up questions. When she told me that she liked soccer I asked her, “Cual es tu equipo favorito?” to ask her what her favorite team was. When she said she went out with her friends on the weekend, I asked her who her friends were by saying, “Como se llamas tu amigos?”
b. To improve I think I still have a lot to improve when it comes to becoming more specific with the conversation. I think I could learn a lot more vocabulary and questions to have an even more intelligent conversation. I’m definitely working hard to get there, but I still have a lot more to learn.
kristen s