Referencia de Supervivencia
For our last project of the year, we chose a country to study. My partner and I, Gordon Gianniny, chose to study Peru and we specifically wrote our travel guide about the city, Arequipa. We were given guidelines for researching our country, to help focus our search terms. During my research process, I tried to find a variety of different sources instead of just relying on one source for all of my information. With the research, we crafted a survival guide. My partner and I divided the research and the different sections of the survival guide. Then we each wrote our own sections and put it all together to form our final survival guide. One of our requirements for our survival guide was to write short scenarios of a conversation with a local and a tourist for each piece of information, such as the transportation in Arequipa, dining and accommodations. Then, with that small scenario, we were required to expand upon on of them with a partner. We chose to expand on the sight seeing in Arequipa. We practiced our skit and memorized lines and then performed the skit for exhibition. The scariest thing about performing was worrying about forgetting my lines and having a Spanish speaker in the audience. However, I worked through the fear and my partner and I had a great time throughout this project.
Through this project, I learned tons of things about Spanish as well as Peru. One of the most interesting things to me was the Plaza de Armas. This is a large plaza in Arequipa that hosts many vendors and booths. Both my partner and I reference this in our written scenarios, signifying the importance of the plaza. I liked learning about the plaza because it made me think of farmers markets or flea markets in Durango. Imagining it like this made it easier to picture. Also, my friend traveled to Kenya last year and he spoke of the "brokers" who helped guide tourists through the markets. After researching the Plaza de Armas, I started wondering if there were chaperons for the market like in Kenya. The other thing that I found interesting was the lack of unique dialect to Peru. Part of the requirements for writing the introduction were to write about the specific speaking styles of the country. When I researched this, I read that they speak a very traditional form of Spanish with very little slang.
When reflecting on this project, I think that I learned a lot. Working on my writing skills also helped my reading skills when I had to proof read my sections of the survival guide. While this was valuable, I think the most valuable part of this whole project was working on memorizing my lines. During class, I worked with my partner to memorize my lines and asked for help from Janae on pronunciation. Then, at home I got extra practice working on my lines with my mom. This speaking practice is really impactful because speaking and practicing a language in a real context is the only way any one learns a language. As a beginner Spanish speaker, I believe that reading and writing are not nearly as important as the skill to understand other Spanish speakers and communicate with them through speaking, so this speaking practice was really beneficial to my linguistic skills.
Through this project, I learned tons of things about Spanish as well as Peru. One of the most interesting things to me was the Plaza de Armas. This is a large plaza in Arequipa that hosts many vendors and booths. Both my partner and I reference this in our written scenarios, signifying the importance of the plaza. I liked learning about the plaza because it made me think of farmers markets or flea markets in Durango. Imagining it like this made it easier to picture. Also, my friend traveled to Kenya last year and he spoke of the "brokers" who helped guide tourists through the markets. After researching the Plaza de Armas, I started wondering if there were chaperons for the market like in Kenya. The other thing that I found interesting was the lack of unique dialect to Peru. Part of the requirements for writing the introduction were to write about the specific speaking styles of the country. When I researched this, I read that they speak a very traditional form of Spanish with very little slang.
When reflecting on this project, I think that I learned a lot. Working on my writing skills also helped my reading skills when I had to proof read my sections of the survival guide. While this was valuable, I think the most valuable part of this whole project was working on memorizing my lines. During class, I worked with my partner to memorize my lines and asked for help from Janae on pronunciation. Then, at home I got extra practice working on my lines with my mom. This speaking practice is really impactful because speaking and practicing a language in a real context is the only way any one learns a language. As a beginner Spanish speaker, I believe that reading and writing are not nearly as important as the skill to understand other Spanish speakers and communicate with them through speaking, so this speaking practice was really beneficial to my linguistic skills.
El Periodismo Proyecto
As a Spanish 2 class, we dove straight into a project that was designed to allow us to learn more about the culture of a Spanish speaking culture as well as getting writing experience with the language. We had the task of writing either a news paper article or a newscaster script to be put into a movie. Based on what we selected, we were put into groups that we would work with to create a final product of a news show or a news paper. Before the final product, we wrote our articles. Each group was assigned a country of their interest and each person was assigned a segment of news, like the current events pop culture, or a commercial. In the first semester we did independent research on the segment we were assigned for our country and my group, a video group, wrote newscaster scripts. In the second semester, we filmed and edited the segments to produce an entire news report. I was in a group with two other participants, Josh Davoust and Perrin Kileen. We were assigned Mexico as our country to report on. Josh completed our commercial segment, Perrin was the current events and news anchor and I was the pop culture anchor.
In this project, I connected to the language and the country we were studying. When I found out that we would be writing articles or reporting through a news cast report, I was really excited to dive in. The part that I enjoyed the most was being able to speak Spanish in the actual video. I wanted to make a video so I could get more experience with speaking the language. In this project, I felt really strong about the part that I had written for the presentation and then I took one solid take for the video with little to no mistakes which was an impressive accomplishment. Overall, my best moment was probably the editing of the video because the Spanish was fairly simple and straight forward, but the video editing was where I really had to persevere and get work done.
Like stated above, the most difficult part of this project was the video editing. Yes, getting the correct takes and making the teleprompter was hard, but when it came down to the end and I had to put everything into a video I really had challenges. At first, I had to find a program that I could use that allowed a back ground to be over layed on the clip. After learning how to use this program, I had to start over because the original file had too many strange overlaps to fix. I eventually learned how to use all the tools I needed in the program, and finished the video. Then I tried saving the file, but it wouldn't let me save without purchasing the program that had claimed it was free. On top of that, there were still strange gaps and transition that I had to fix and the fight scene was too short for the audio clip. I finally sat down and focused, pushing away the panic, and finished the video to the expectations I had for myself.
Through this project, we were required to work in a group and collaborate with the group members to produce a final product. Previously, I had dreaded group work because I usually ended up pulling the majority of the weight of the work and making up for my partners not putting forth effort. However, through this project I learned that I am learning how to collaborate better with my peers because I am more able to trust them. I quickly realized that I would not be able to do anything without my group, so I stepped into the leadership position and brought my group together. Then we all worked together to film the video and all I had to do was put it together, which I assumed would be a lot easier than it was. In all aspects of this project, I learned about myself as a leader as well as a collaborater.
In a Spanish class, there is no way for the students to get complete immersion, but studying the culture is part of the necessary experience for language. When we communicate as Spanish speakers with native Spanish speakers in other countries, it is important to know what is going on in their culture and how their country reacts to the events taking place. Additionally, it is important for the students to know where the language originates from and to understand the people that speak the language every single day. Without this understanding of the culture, we are not getting the full experience of learning a language and we are missing an important part of speaking Spanish. This is also one of the reasons we did the Dia de Los Muertos project because we were learning about the Spanish speaking cultures.
Watch our video below!
In this project, I connected to the language and the country we were studying. When I found out that we would be writing articles or reporting through a news cast report, I was really excited to dive in. The part that I enjoyed the most was being able to speak Spanish in the actual video. I wanted to make a video so I could get more experience with speaking the language. In this project, I felt really strong about the part that I had written for the presentation and then I took one solid take for the video with little to no mistakes which was an impressive accomplishment. Overall, my best moment was probably the editing of the video because the Spanish was fairly simple and straight forward, but the video editing was where I really had to persevere and get work done.
Like stated above, the most difficult part of this project was the video editing. Yes, getting the correct takes and making the teleprompter was hard, but when it came down to the end and I had to put everything into a video I really had challenges. At first, I had to find a program that I could use that allowed a back ground to be over layed on the clip. After learning how to use this program, I had to start over because the original file had too many strange overlaps to fix. I eventually learned how to use all the tools I needed in the program, and finished the video. Then I tried saving the file, but it wouldn't let me save without purchasing the program that had claimed it was free. On top of that, there were still strange gaps and transition that I had to fix and the fight scene was too short for the audio clip. I finally sat down and focused, pushing away the panic, and finished the video to the expectations I had for myself.
Through this project, we were required to work in a group and collaborate with the group members to produce a final product. Previously, I had dreaded group work because I usually ended up pulling the majority of the weight of the work and making up for my partners not putting forth effort. However, through this project I learned that I am learning how to collaborate better with my peers because I am more able to trust them. I quickly realized that I would not be able to do anything without my group, so I stepped into the leadership position and brought my group together. Then we all worked together to film the video and all I had to do was put it together, which I assumed would be a lot easier than it was. In all aspects of this project, I learned about myself as a leader as well as a collaborater.
In a Spanish class, there is no way for the students to get complete immersion, but studying the culture is part of the necessary experience for language. When we communicate as Spanish speakers with native Spanish speakers in other countries, it is important to know what is going on in their culture and how their country reacts to the events taking place. Additionally, it is important for the students to know where the language originates from and to understand the people that speak the language every single day. Without this understanding of the culture, we are not getting the full experience of learning a language and we are missing an important part of speaking Spanish. This is also one of the reasons we did the Dia de Los Muertos project because we were learning about the Spanish speaking cultures.
Watch our video below!
Dia de los Muertos
As a Spanish class, it is important to experience Mexican culture. One of the ways we did this is through a celebration of the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. We spent our class time learning about the traditions and the origin of the holiday. I learned that the tradition is a mix of the Catholic and Aztec cultures because they were merged at the time of the conquerors. Then we were tasking with finding a person to remember through writing and a piece of art that encompassed the Dia de los Muertos style of artwork. I don't know any person that has passed away besides my dog, but I wanted to do an art piece focusing on a person, so I wrote about my great-grandmother. Finding information about her was a challenge because I never actually knew her. I wrote to my grandmother, Betty Jo's daughter, to get information about her. The other thing that was challenging for me was identifying when to use the imperfect of the preterite verb tense.
I had a lot of help from my cross country coach who is also a Spanish teacher at DHS. I think if I was going to do this project again I would have spent more time trying to work through the writing on my own. I started writing, and then would ask him for help and he would guide me in the right direction. Next time, I would like to write the majority of the writing and then have him edit it and walk through the corrections with me after I had most of it written. One of the most important things I learned about the celebration is that when people die, they are still with us. This is a time of year for us to remember them and celebrate the life that they lived instead of dwelling on the sadness that their death brings. This project really taught us the lesson of how to be happy that it happened instead of sad that it ended!
I had a lot of help from my cross country coach who is also a Spanish teacher at DHS. I think if I was going to do this project again I would have spent more time trying to work through the writing on my own. I started writing, and then would ask him for help and he would guide me in the right direction. Next time, I would like to write the majority of the writing and then have him edit it and walk through the corrections with me after I had most of it written. One of the most important things I learned about the celebration is that when people die, they are still with us. This is a time of year for us to remember them and celebrate the life that they lived instead of dwelling on the sadness that their death brings. This project really taught us the lesson of how to be happy that it happened instead of sad that it ended!
Mi Bisabuela Betty Jo
En Fort Worth Texas, nació una bebé. La bebé fue Betty Jo Molloy y nació en 1923. Ella dejó los estudios y la escuela para el amor de un hombre. Cuando ella tenía dieciséis años casó con Eugene Ashmore. Ellos escaparon juntos a su ceremonia. Su esposo trabajaba como un entrenador de fútbol y baloncesto. ¡Al partido de baloncesto, ella obtuvo una úlcera de estresado! Betty Jo ayudaba su esposo completar sus estudios de educación aunque ella nunca graduó esquela secundaría. En 1941 ellos tuvieron una bebe que se llamaba Sandra. Betty Jo tenía 17 años cuando Sandra nació. Ella estaba enferma con cáncer de mamás y después ella murió a la edad de 47 años. Ella murió un año antes de su nieto David nació. Ella se llamaba el ángel guardia del David.
Betty Jo era tímida por la mayoría pero muy graciosa con su familia. Ella era energética y amable con su familia. También, ella era muy bonita y menuda. Betty Jo siempre se vestía bien. Ella le gustaba muchos tipos de arte. Betty Jo tocaba el piano, tejía y pintaba. En el verano, ella le gustaba pescar y acampar. Dentro de la sala de juegos, Betty Jo le gustaba boliche. Eugene y Betty Jo jugaron juntos en un equipo de boliche. En la tarde, Betty Jo cantaba mientras su esposo tocaba el piano. Aunque era joven cuando ella murió, Betty Jo Molloy Ashmore vivía una vida llena.
Betty Jo era tímida por la mayoría pero muy graciosa con su familia. Ella era energética y amable con su familia. También, ella era muy bonita y menuda. Betty Jo siempre se vestía bien. Ella le gustaba muchos tipos de arte. Betty Jo tocaba el piano, tejía y pintaba. En el verano, ella le gustaba pescar y acampar. Dentro de la sala de juegos, Betty Jo le gustaba boliche. Eugene y Betty Jo jugaron juntos en un equipo de boliche. En la tarde, Betty Jo cantaba mientras su esposo tocaba el piano. Aunque era joven cuando ella murió, Betty Jo Molloy Ashmore vivía una vida llena.