Universidad de California, Davis

Spanish Vocabulary Project

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Curso 5 de 5 en SpecializationLearn Spanish: Basic Spanish Vocabulary

In this course, we'll imagine that you are applying for an all-expenses paid, educational trip to a Spanish-speaking nation of your choice. You'll introduce yourself to a host family that you'll be staying with, research the rich culture and history of the place you intend to visit and compare it with your own country, and plan out an itinerary of places you plan to see, and things you plan to do and experience while visiting. In addition, you'll summarize the key points of your written report in an oral presentation. This course is challenging and is meant to test everything you've learned in the Spanish Vocabulary specialization. It will provide you an excellent way in which to test what you know and what you still need to work on in your Spanish learning journey.

De la lección

Milestone 2: Culture and History of Your Selected Nation (Research and 1st Draft)

For the 2nd milestone in our course project, you are going to research the history and culture of your selected host nation. Search the internet, preferably relying on Spanish-language websites from that country, to determine things like the current and historical political systems, common foods, entertainment, music, arts, traditions, important historical milestones, etc. You'll also be asked to compare what you learn about your host nation with the country or region in which you presently reside to note similarities and differences. In this module, you'll hand in a draft of your report for feedback and review from a peer before you turn in your final draft in the next module.

Milestone 2 Overview3:30

Conoce a los instructores

Dr. Robert Blake
Professor & Director
UC Consortium for Lanuage Learning & Teaching (UCCLLT)

Bienvenidos.

In this part of your report,

you will have the opportunity to research the history and

culture of the country that you've chosen to visit.

You want to learn all about

the current historical and political system of governance, typical foods,

entertainment, music, arts, cultural traditions,

famous people, and important historical milestones.

In this section, you should reflect on

this new knowledge you've researched by comparing and

contrasting this information with insights about your own country and your own culture.

While not exhaustive and certainly not required,

I've included some guiding questions in

the assignment instructions that you may want to

consider as you get started on this section,

so be sure to review those.

While you'll obviously be writing the assignment entirely in Spanish,

it's highly recommended that you do your research in Spanish as well.

Preferably, using information from sites within that country.

This will allow you to get the information from the point of view of

the people of that country rather than looking at it as an outsider looking in.

To assist you, here are some key terms that you can

use when conducting your research in the assignment instructions.

For instance, "La historia de", and then the country name.

So what's the history?

"La herencia cultural de", what's the cultural inheritance background.

"Los aportes culturales de", and they're what you're looking at is

what various cultural accomplishments have happened in that country.

"Personajes importantes/famosos de", so who are the famous people of that country.

And finally, "la situacion/coyuntura actual de",

what's the current political social and economic situation of the country.

To get you started,

I've included some videos and information

for review from earlier courses that should help

remind you of some of the key items to recall in order to succeed in this milestone.

But for a more in-depth review,

feel free to go back to the full courses and review.

Finally, for this section of the report the assignment instructions include a list of

specific requirements upon which you will be

assessed and what you need to include in this section of the report.

So be sure to read them carefully and include everything that's on

that list in order to get full credit for your assignment.

As with the last milestone,

this assignment is presented over two weeks and just like

last time you have an opportunity to hand in an earlier draft for review

without getting a formal grade during the first week

and then finally in the second week you'll hand in the final draft.

Again, make sure with your peer reviews to give

positive constructive and helpful feedback in a professional manner.

Remember, everybody's at a different level here.

All right go ahead. Let's get to it.

Vamos a ello.