Fall 2021
SPAN 301: ORAL/ COMPOSITION
Continues to build proficiency as defined by the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. Content-based instruction develops communicative language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing through readings and discussions of authentic Hispanic cultural and literary texts. For students with two or more years of Spanish or an intermediate level of Spanish language proficiency.
SPAN 301S: SERVICE LEARNING IN THE LATINO COMMUNITY
This course is part of your Spanish language learning experience, and offers you the opportunity to interact in a personal way with members of the local Latino community, thereby enriching your understanding of Hispanic cultures and the Spanish language. As a community-based learning experience, the course provides students with career-related experience working collaboratively with community agencies to address community concerns / issues.
SPAN 336: LGBTQ HISPANIC EXPERIENCES
Students develop a reasonable understanding of the ways of thinking (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, philosophies), the behavioral practices (patterns of social interactions), and the cultural products – both tangible and intangible (for example, art, history, literature, music) — of Hispanic societies.
Continues to build proficiency as defined by the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. Content-based instruction develops communicative language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing through readings and discussions of authentic Hispanic cultural and literary texts. For students with two or more years of Spanish or an intermediate level of Spanish language proficiency.
- In the Fall 0f 2021 I had taken the course of Spanish 301: oral/ composition with Professor Oiva which fulfills MLO 1: Language proficiency requirement. Through this course I had learned to communicate effectively in Spanish in three modes: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational. The course materials were based on narrative, argumentative, descriptive, or persuasive writing. It helped me improve my writing skills. In class we read, “La camisa de Margarita,” the narrative takes place in Lima Peru. Don Raimundo had a daughter named Margarita. Luis de Alcazar is the nephew of Don Honrato. Margarita and Luis met and instantly fell in love. Luis, therefore, went to ask for Margarita's hand but Don Raimundo did not give him permission to marry Margarita stating that she was young. Don Raimundo thought Luis was very little. Margarita could not marry Luis, she fell ill and threatened to become a nun if she was not allowed to marry Luis. The father quickly went to Don Honorato's house and asked him to allow Luis to marry Margarita, but Don Honorato refused. But then decided they shall get married with one condition: Don Raimundo should not give her money. Margarita would only keep the hood and a shirt that his father would give her. In the narrative I had to analyze the names of what they meant and relate what was going on that year in Peru and Spain. I enjoyed reading “La camisa de Margarita,” and the moral of the story.
SPAN 301S: SERVICE LEARNING IN THE LATINO COMMUNITY
This course is part of your Spanish language learning experience, and offers you the opportunity to interact in a personal way with members of the local Latino community, thereby enriching your understanding of Hispanic cultures and the Spanish language. As a community-based learning experience, the course provides students with career-related experience working collaboratively with community agencies to address community concerns / issues.
- In the Fall 0f 2021 I took the course Spanish 301S: Service Learning in the Latino community with Professor Fernandez which fulfills MLO 5: Cultural Internalization and Language Immersion requirement. Through this course I learned about the importance and relevance of engaging in community matters that invoke justice, compassion, diversity and social responsibility, and help the community to become effective multicultural builders. Through the course, I was able to engage and offer my services to the community, especially in the Mixteco indigenous community as a translator through the Alisal Family Resource Center (AFRC) on the East side of Salinas. The East side is known to have a diverse community from migrant farmworkers from all ethnicities of Latin America to indigenous farmworkers. The inequality between all ethnicities in our communities like the indigenous people that have less resources due to the language barrier they face is not discussed enough. As we know Spanish is the majority language within the minority groups, therefore, Spanish-speakers have more access to resources. The Alisal Family Resource Center helps low-income families find resources. In addition to the AFRC, it's one of the few organizations that acknowledges the presence of indigenous communities in Salinas. Through the pandemic, many families that were from indigenous communities faced a lot of certainties but were not helped in aspects such as the transition to distance learning. As a translator for the AFRC, I translated between English, Spanish and Mixteco regarding educational matters. In the future, hopefully there will be more access to available resources for all minority groups who are not represented.
SPAN 336: LGBTQ HISPANIC EXPERIENCES
Students develop a reasonable understanding of the ways of thinking (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, philosophies), the behavioral practices (patterns of social interactions), and the cultural products – both tangible and intangible (for example, art, history, literature, music) — of Hispanic societies.
- In the Fall 0f 2021 I took Spanish 336: LGBTQ Hispanic Experience with Professor Fernandez, which fulfills MLO 3: literacy and cultural knowledge. The course materials were based on understanding of the ways of thinking, the behavioral practices, and the cultural products such as art, history, literature and music in the LGBTQ Hispanic community. Through the course I really enjoyed the topic of the Muxes, a third gender from the community Zapotecos who are located in Juchitan in the region of Istmo, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Although, both my parents belong to an indigenous community, my parents and I have never heard of Muxes. What surprised me the most is that my aunt, who belongs to the Zapoteco community, has never heard of Muxes. Historically speaking, before the conquest of MesoAmerica by the Spanish conquistadors, there were plenty of indigenous communities spread throughout MesoAmerica. Many of this community practiced two spirits, which is a person who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit. Sometimes indigenous people used the term two spirits to refer to sexually, gender and/or spiritual identity. After the conquest, the Spaniards saw that within the indigenous community, being two spirit was against the Catholic church’s beliefs; therefore, the Spaniards educated the indigenous people accordingly, and converted them into straight and monogamist people. This caused many communities to not preach about two spirits or polygamorous relationships because it was viewed as immoral. Nowadays there are few people who practice two spirits, among them the Muxes, who are constantly harassed or discriminated against.