Integrative Narrative
I chose Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture as my major to learn the language my maternal side of my family knows. Growing up, I always felt sad that my immediate family was in the United States when the rest of our family was in Panamá. I also felt left-out because I didn't speak Spanish well enough to communicate and out of touch with a culture which was so important to my mother. While we visited our family and practiced our Spanish, it wasn't until taking classes at CSUMB that I felt comfortable speaking my second language. Not only did I learn a new language but I also found a love for poetry and writing.
At CSUMB I learned so much in my short two years of major courses. In Span 301 I learned all things related to Spanish composition. I am grateful for the new knowledge I have in regards to accents and tenses as those two specifically were a struggle for me beforehand. Span 301 satisfied MLO 1 of Language Proficiency. I learned the basics of linguistics from Span 313 and Ling 392. My professors for both of these clases were so excited about the subject while teaching, which made me excited to learn in turn. I learned all about syntax, phonology, morphology and semantics. My favorite of the four is morphology, I love understanding the form of a word and the reasoning behind it. These two course allowed me to meet MLO 2 of Linguistics. From Span 304, Span 309 and Span 322, I gained both Literary and Cultural Knowledge. These classes gave me an insight to both influences and impacts throughout Latin American in relation to Literature and History. In taking the three classes mentioned above, I met the MLO 3 of Literary and Cultural Knowledge. I learned about a culture other than that of Hispanic's in taking HCOM 346. While this class was emotional and at times difficult to stomach, the material was so incredibly important to me. Understanding the unfair treatment of African Americans was eye-opening to say the least. I am thankful for the opportunity I had in expanding my knowledge and awareness in regards to unequality. This class met the MLO 4 of Secondary Culture other than Hispanic Culture. By serving in a Chicano/Latino community I met MLO 5 of Cultural Internalization & Language Immersion. In the past two years at CSUMB, I have grown so much more confident in my Spanish speaking abilities due to the amount of social situations that I've had the opportunity to partake in. Lastly, I met MLO 6 of Research and Technology by taking WLC 300, SPAN 300 and WLC 400. I further show the satisfaction of this MLO in accomplishing my research project on Greek Mythology in Latin America Literature: An analysis of the poetry of Rubén Darío and in the completion of this e-portfolio.
I am most proud of my ability to communicate in Spanish. In the beginning, I felt so shy and embarrassed to speak Spanish as I knew my English accent was noticeable. I realized it was more important for me to practice Spanish to improve then it was to hide from the embarrassment. I am proud to communicate in Spanish now, and understand that as this is my second language it will not be perfect. I am also proud of my ability to comprehend Spanish. I feel so happy when I can hear my tía tell me stories over the phone without the need of a translation from my mother.
An area which I would like to develop even more would be my confidence in speaking Spanish in a professional setting. I have less problems speaking Spanish in an informal setting surrounded by friends or family. I love Spanish Language and Culture and aspire to be a kindergarten teacher at our local Dual-Immersion school. I hope to improve my Spanish speaking skills to a level where I feel most confident in the bilingual influence I could hold on such impressionable minds. I hope to enhance my Spanish Language by completing immersing in a Latin American country, such as Panamá.
At CSUMB I learned so much in my short two years of major courses. In Span 301 I learned all things related to Spanish composition. I am grateful for the new knowledge I have in regards to accents and tenses as those two specifically were a struggle for me beforehand. Span 301 satisfied MLO 1 of Language Proficiency. I learned the basics of linguistics from Span 313 and Ling 392. My professors for both of these clases were so excited about the subject while teaching, which made me excited to learn in turn. I learned all about syntax, phonology, morphology and semantics. My favorite of the four is morphology, I love understanding the form of a word and the reasoning behind it. These two course allowed me to meet MLO 2 of Linguistics. From Span 304, Span 309 and Span 322, I gained both Literary and Cultural Knowledge. These classes gave me an insight to both influences and impacts throughout Latin American in relation to Literature and History. In taking the three classes mentioned above, I met the MLO 3 of Literary and Cultural Knowledge. I learned about a culture other than that of Hispanic's in taking HCOM 346. While this class was emotional and at times difficult to stomach, the material was so incredibly important to me. Understanding the unfair treatment of African Americans was eye-opening to say the least. I am thankful for the opportunity I had in expanding my knowledge and awareness in regards to unequality. This class met the MLO 4 of Secondary Culture other than Hispanic Culture. By serving in a Chicano/Latino community I met MLO 5 of Cultural Internalization & Language Immersion. In the past two years at CSUMB, I have grown so much more confident in my Spanish speaking abilities due to the amount of social situations that I've had the opportunity to partake in. Lastly, I met MLO 6 of Research and Technology by taking WLC 300, SPAN 300 and WLC 400. I further show the satisfaction of this MLO in accomplishing my research project on Greek Mythology in Latin America Literature: An analysis of the poetry of Rubén Darío and in the completion of this e-portfolio.
I am most proud of my ability to communicate in Spanish. In the beginning, I felt so shy and embarrassed to speak Spanish as I knew my English accent was noticeable. I realized it was more important for me to practice Spanish to improve then it was to hide from the embarrassment. I am proud to communicate in Spanish now, and understand that as this is my second language it will not be perfect. I am also proud of my ability to comprehend Spanish. I feel so happy when I can hear my tía tell me stories over the phone without the need of a translation from my mother.
An area which I would like to develop even more would be my confidence in speaking Spanish in a professional setting. I have less problems speaking Spanish in an informal setting surrounded by friends or family. I love Spanish Language and Culture and aspire to be a kindergarten teacher at our local Dual-Immersion school. I hope to improve my Spanish speaking skills to a level where I feel most confident in the bilingual influence I could hold on such impressionable minds. I hope to enhance my Spanish Language by completing immersing in a Latin American country, such as Panamá.