Dellinger and Co

05/05/2018

450 Burma Road Lexington, VA, 24450

Reader,

I can use native Spanish on local paperwork, make connections between Spanish culture and my own, and learn and use cultural practices, products, and practices. This is all possible through my enrollment in SP204X at VMI. The lessons learned are invaluable and will be for the changing world ahead of me.

I can identify societal/cultural leanings through discerning a deeper meaning from a Spanish commercial about the lottery in native Spanish. The commercial while being about a large sum of money used an emotional backstory/tone to demonstrate Spain’s unique sense of community. That commercial showed the difference in culture that I will experience and I used my base of knowledge to discover a deeper meaning underneath a piece of marketing.

I can fill out a native form on reserving a hotel room with no assistance in Spanish through the use of context clues, a limited vocabulary, and past experience. The process of reserving a room is more complicated when another language is involved.

In the Webcast Script, I identified cultural values, practices, and perspectives in relation to business and social situations. I learned a great deal through research and can use this knowledge to make a Spanish infomercial on advice for someone traveling to Colombia in Spanish. The back translation was challenging, but I can convey a message with intermediate Spanish to show cultural leanings and practices. This activity also would help me in the future if I choose to visit Colombia. The taboo topics, like the cartel, discussed are important to avoid hurting relationships.

I can identify issues/mood change through discerning body language in a nonverbal exercise. The non-verbal exercise of the 5 Card game provided me with a new experience. That task was challenging an rewarding. I made assumptions on other based on their actions, because verbally we were limited. Their actions would show whether they we good or bad objectively. I finally learned that the activity was about body language. Body language when there is a language barrier can be all the difference. Some were visually upset, and some happy with their winnings. The take-away is to enter a country with an open-mind and stance to seem approachable. When keeping positive with a verbal barrier can build a bond, because body language is universal.

Sincerely,Daniel C O’Connell

In 204x, we discussed the significance of the Spanish State lottery in culture, business, and societal leanings. When watching this the first time I assumed it was just a story of someone that won the lottery and the excitement they had. But, I was taken aback by the overall emotions displayed in the commercial. The commercial had somber, melancholy undertones which pushed the commercial to connect with me. Once I was sucked in I wanted to see the cultural importance of this lottery.

In the commercial, you can see the sense of community coming together in a moment of joy sharing the lottery winnings together. In Spain, your house is not your home. Your neighborhood is your home. The sense of community can not be overstated. I believe that I can identify undertones and main ideas lying beneath the surface of an ad to buy a lottery ticket. Even though the commercial was in Spanish, I used my skills of context clues and basic vocabulary to see what this commercial meant. This advertisement is not one like in the states displaying the winnings and perpetuating a sense of self wealth. It pushes spaniards to buy the lottery ticket not for them themselves to become rich, but to help out their community.

One day in class in 204x we were given a game to play in a group in. There were groups with rules distributed to each. We played the first round without a hitch then the winner rotated. The winner in my group moved on and we received a new member. Over-time I realized that he did not follow the same rules as me and he took some of my winning hands. I was confused and thought he was cheating or didn’t read the rules completely. I couldn’t convey any of this directly due to the overall rule for the entire class stating; No talking no matter what.

Upon a few more cycles of moving myself and receiving new players I realized that each group had different rules. This exercise taught me to assume less about others and their perception of a situation. Also, I learned the value of perceiving more than spoken language. I was visually displeased with someone winning with different rules in the beginning and I was given stink-eyes when I won by my rules in a different group.

The importance of this exercise had nothing to do with cards, but all to do with how humble we are. I can see this directly applying to my future experience abroad. Me, as a big macho American, may assume that some inferior culture may have the same customs even though we don’t speak the same situation. But, I can now use body language as another tool in my tool-kit to evaluate a situation.

“Country Comparison.” Hofstede Insights, www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/colombia,the-usa/.

“Cultural Clues, Do’s & Taboos: Communication Guidelines for COLOMBIA.” Gayle Cotton Blog, 15 May 2012, www.gaylecotton.com/blog/2012/03/cultural-clues-do-s-taboos-communication-guidelines-for-colombia/.

“Colombia.” IOR, www.iorworld.com/resources/colombia/.

“Doing Business In Colombia.” The Guide – Colombia, 2015, www.colombia.doingbusinessguide.co.uk/the-guide/etiquette,-languages-culture/.