Spanish 2
Guía de Supervivencia, Iquitos Perú
Survival Guide, Iquitos Peru
Project Description:
For this project we were partnered in groups of two, chose a spanish speaking country and wrote a survival guide for our chosen country. My partner and I wanted a to write about a place that was either in the rainforest or near a rainforest so we decided to write a Survival Guide for Iquitos Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian Rainforest and also the fifth-largest city of Peru. It is the capital city of the Loreto Region and Mayanas Province. The city is surrounded by the Amazon Nanay, and Itaya rivers. We conducted research on places to stay while in Iquitos, things to eat, things to do, transportation options, and the typical weather. After we researched these topics we wrote sections on each. These sections for each topic contained useful words, questions and phrases relating to the topic, a description of things relating to that topic, for example, in the accommodations section we had a paragraph talking about Nativa Apartments which is a place to stay while in Iquitos. Lastly, in each section we had a column on a likely scenario relating to the topic that might happen to the traveler. These scenarios were little skits. Each section and topic is in both Spanish and English for the reader. Our survival guide also included a cover page, a table of contents, maps, an introduction page and a bibliography. The last thing we did for this project was choose a skit from one of our topics, elaborate on it, and perform it with costumes and props.
To see my Survival Guide click here
Reflection:
By doing this project I was able to learn more about Peru. In particular, I was able to learn more about a city I had not heard of before (Iquitos). Based on my research I learned that certain places in Iquitos peru are not very wealthy. The quality of some of the places isn't 5-star quality but I kind of liked that because I feel like it would be refreshing. I also learned about what fun adventures Iquitos has to offer. They have supermarkets that let you experience new things and they also have fun filled jungle trips. One company offers a week in the jungle while staying in a jungle house. On that trip you get to travel on the Amazon River, hold anacondas, travel to Monkey Island and do many other things. Overall, I really enjoyed doing this project and I am glad I learned all the things I did.
Other positive things that came from this project was the fact we had a lot of freedom within this project. We were able to choose what we country we wanted to research and pretty much what we wanted to write about. By writing this survival guide it strengthened my ability to write in Spanish and by performing the skit, it gave me a chance to get comfortable performing in front of people and also helped me grow in my ability to speak in Spanish. Like I said above, I enjoyed this project and not only did I benefit from it but I also learned a lot.
For this project we were partnered in groups of two, chose a spanish speaking country and wrote a survival guide for our chosen country. My partner and I wanted a to write about a place that was either in the rainforest or near a rainforest so we decided to write a Survival Guide for Iquitos Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian Rainforest and also the fifth-largest city of Peru. It is the capital city of the Loreto Region and Mayanas Province. The city is surrounded by the Amazon Nanay, and Itaya rivers. We conducted research on places to stay while in Iquitos, things to eat, things to do, transportation options, and the typical weather. After we researched these topics we wrote sections on each. These sections for each topic contained useful words, questions and phrases relating to the topic, a description of things relating to that topic, for example, in the accommodations section we had a paragraph talking about Nativa Apartments which is a place to stay while in Iquitos. Lastly, in each section we had a column on a likely scenario relating to the topic that might happen to the traveler. These scenarios were little skits. Each section and topic is in both Spanish and English for the reader. Our survival guide also included a cover page, a table of contents, maps, an introduction page and a bibliography. The last thing we did for this project was choose a skit from one of our topics, elaborate on it, and perform it with costumes and props.
To see my Survival Guide click here
Reflection:
By doing this project I was able to learn more about Peru. In particular, I was able to learn more about a city I had not heard of before (Iquitos). Based on my research I learned that certain places in Iquitos peru are not very wealthy. The quality of some of the places isn't 5-star quality but I kind of liked that because I feel like it would be refreshing. I also learned about what fun adventures Iquitos has to offer. They have supermarkets that let you experience new things and they also have fun filled jungle trips. One company offers a week in the jungle while staying in a jungle house. On that trip you get to travel on the Amazon River, hold anacondas, travel to Monkey Island and do many other things. Overall, I really enjoyed doing this project and I am glad I learned all the things I did.
Other positive things that came from this project was the fact we had a lot of freedom within this project. We were able to choose what we country we wanted to research and pretty much what we wanted to write about. By writing this survival guide it strengthened my ability to write in Spanish and by performing the skit, it gave me a chance to get comfortable performing in front of people and also helped me grow in my ability to speak in Spanish. Like I said above, I enjoyed this project and not only did I benefit from it but I also learned a lot.
The Journalism Project
Project Description:
For this project, we choose a Spanish speaking country to focus on then we chose a recent problem or interesting event that had happened within that country. Secondly, we wrote a brief summary of what our event or problem was and lastly, we were put into groups of about 4 to make either a video or a news article containing each of our covered events/problems.
Reflection:
While doing this project, I found that I really liked the fact that we had the opportunity to chose what event or problem we wanted to cover. Because of being able to do this, I found a really interesting event that happened in Costa Rica. Costa Rica accidentally legalized gay marriage. I found this extremely intriguing and I was glad that I was able to cover that story. However, even though this part was fun, I did have some difficulties.
The most difficult part of this project for me was writing our summary in Spanish. I find it very hard to structure sentences in Spanish and to use the correct grammar. Even though this was a difficulty, I persevered through it by advocating and by using words and phrases that I already knew and were familiar with. By doing this, I was able to complete a relatively well-done summary of my event which I am very proud of.
Through this project I learned that I work well with a group when we are all focused. I liked having different input's and new ideas from my group members. However, I also learned that working in a group can be very stressful at times. It was hard to work in a group when members in the group, including myself, were distracted. It made it harder to get our work done and get it done with good quality. Overall, my group and I achieved a good video and had fun in the process.
Lastly, I feel that since we did this project on current events in Spanish speaking countries, I have a slightly better understanding of the culture. I also found it to benefit my language skills because I became accustomed to words and sentences that I was not familiar with previously. This project was fun with the right amount of challenge and I look forward to more projects in the future!
Dia De Los Muertos
The Day of the Dead
Project Description:
For this project, we learned about the traditional celebration called The Day of the Dead (Dia de los muertos). The Day of the Dead is a celebration that welcomes lost loved ones back from the dead for 3 days. We were required to pick a loved one that we lost to base our project around. I chose my grandmother, Veronica. We had to write a short paper about that person and our memories of them. Along with the our short paper, we made an art piece that reflected the art style used for this celebration along with something that reflected our chosen person. Below is a drawing that I made that incorporated the art style for the celebration while also incorporating the style that reminded me of my grandmother.
For this project, we learned about the traditional celebration called The Day of the Dead (Dia de los muertos). The Day of the Dead is a celebration that welcomes lost loved ones back from the dead for 3 days. We were required to pick a loved one that we lost to base our project around. I chose my grandmother, Veronica. We had to write a short paper about that person and our memories of them. Along with the our short paper, we made an art piece that reflected the art style used for this celebration along with something that reflected our chosen person. Below is a drawing that I made that incorporated the art style for the celebration while also incorporating the style that reminded me of my grandmother.
Reflection:
During this project, I learned many things about this celebration. I learned that altars are made to welcome back the dead. Things such as favorite foods, candles, marigolds, pictures, salt and other reminders of a certain person are put on the altars. We made an altar in our Spanish class and the experience of that was very interesting. People brought in something that reminded them of their chosen person to put on the altar. There was also food and drinks. It was very fun to learn about a contributor to the tradition by actually experiencing it. There were a few difficulties within this project such as writing our paragraphs for our chosen person. I struggled with writing in Spanish for a while but near the end, it started to become easier. I also really liked the art aspect of this project. I like to draw so I had fun making my visual. Overall, I enjoyed this project. This celebration is very interesting to me and I am glad that we got the chance to experience a small part of the celebration.
During this project, I learned many things about this celebration. I learned that altars are made to welcome back the dead. Things such as favorite foods, candles, marigolds, pictures, salt and other reminders of a certain person are put on the altars. We made an altar in our Spanish class and the experience of that was very interesting. People brought in something that reminded them of their chosen person to put on the altar. There was also food and drinks. It was very fun to learn about a contributor to the tradition by actually experiencing it. There were a few difficulties within this project such as writing our paragraphs for our chosen person. I struggled with writing in Spanish for a while but near the end, it started to become easier. I also really liked the art aspect of this project. I like to draw so I had fun making my visual. Overall, I enjoyed this project. This celebration is very interesting to me and I am glad that we got the chance to experience a small part of the celebration.