Overall Integrative Narrative
Spanish has always been an interest of mine and it took me three years of college to realize how much I needed and wanted it my life. I decided to be a Spanish major because ultimately I wanted to be bilingual, to help me in my personal and professional life. Right before I headed to Chile to study abroad I was only a Spanish minor but had the urge to change it to a major because I knew by being in a Spanish speaking country I would and could use it to my benefit.
My initial goals when starting Spanish as a major was to become bilingual, to be able not to stumble over my words when speaking, and to develop a non-American accent. All of these goals were very important to me especially being able to speak without an accent because I am aware of the stereotypes us Americans hold in other countries and I am glad to say at the end of this program I did succeed. Native Spanish speakers notice that I have a different kind of accent but never know that I am American. During my time in Chile I always was asked if I was Chilean because my accent was so good. I’m happy to say that it’s easy for me to fit into all types of Hispanic cultures with my accent. By being in all of these classes at CSUMB and abroad I have been able to learn how to not trip over my words, work on my accent, and becoming bilingual overall. I am glad that most of the classes here at CSUMB are taught in Spanish because it forces me to understand and speak in class to practice every day.
The areas that I am most proud of learning through this program are being able to understand Spanish no matter the pace or accent, developing my vocabulary, and speaking clearly. It has taken me a while to get to this point but I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish in these last few years here at CSUMB and during my time abroad.
Some areas I would like to develop in the future are my understanding of Spanish readings and movies without subtitles. Even though I have studied Spanish over seven years it has been hard for me to understand certain types of literature and the vocabulary within. I would like to continue reading and be able to analyze stories on my own without any help from a native speaker or professor. Another area I would like to work on is watching movies or television in Spanish without the help of Spanish subtitles. When reading subtitles it is much easier to understand but harder when watching a movie when you can’t ask the person to repeat themselves. When without the option to pause and/or repeat it’s hard to not concentrate on what I didn’t understand and then continue with the rest of the movie. Even though I consider myself a person that understands Spanish extremely well, I notice that there is always room for improvement.
Spanish has always been an interest of mine and it took me three years of college to realize how much I needed and wanted it my life. I decided to be a Spanish major because ultimately I wanted to be bilingual, to help me in my personal and professional life. Right before I headed to Chile to study abroad I was only a Spanish minor but had the urge to change it to a major because I knew by being in a Spanish speaking country I would and could use it to my benefit.
My initial goals when starting Spanish as a major was to become bilingual, to be able not to stumble over my words when speaking, and to develop a non-American accent. All of these goals were very important to me especially being able to speak without an accent because I am aware of the stereotypes us Americans hold in other countries and I am glad to say at the end of this program I did succeed. Native Spanish speakers notice that I have a different kind of accent but never know that I am American. During my time in Chile I always was asked if I was Chilean because my accent was so good. I’m happy to say that it’s easy for me to fit into all types of Hispanic cultures with my accent. By being in all of these classes at CSUMB and abroad I have been able to learn how to not trip over my words, work on my accent, and becoming bilingual overall. I am glad that most of the classes here at CSUMB are taught in Spanish because it forces me to understand and speak in class to practice every day.
The areas that I am most proud of learning through this program are being able to understand Spanish no matter the pace or accent, developing my vocabulary, and speaking clearly. It has taken me a while to get to this point but I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish in these last few years here at CSUMB and during my time abroad.
Some areas I would like to develop in the future are my understanding of Spanish readings and movies without subtitles. Even though I have studied Spanish over seven years it has been hard for me to understand certain types of literature and the vocabulary within. I would like to continue reading and be able to analyze stories on my own without any help from a native speaker or professor. Another area I would like to work on is watching movies or television in Spanish without the help of Spanish subtitles. When reading subtitles it is much easier to understand but harder when watching a movie when you can’t ask the person to repeat themselves. When without the option to pause and/or repeat it’s hard to not concentrate on what I didn’t understand and then continue with the rest of the movie. Even though I consider myself a person that understands Spanish extremely well, I notice that there is always room for improvement.