Experiencing Spanish Culture

Experiencing Spanish Culture

Throughout the first semester of learning a new language, I have learned a lot about how to appreciate a new culture. In my Spanish class, we have watched Hispanic movies, tried cultural foods, and listened to Spanish music. By doing so, I  have learned how vibrant, energetic and fun, the culture of Latin American countries are. "Hispanic culture is bright, cheery, and full of life!" (Boyles 2).  I have loved learning about Hispanic culture and I am eager to learn. In class, we watched a movie called Selena, about a girl and her Spanish singing career. In this movie,  we experienced food culture, dance culture, clothing culture, and most importantly, music culture of Hispanics.  "Music is one of the best ways to look into a culture. By listening to the local music of Mexico, Spain and Puerto Rico, you can learn much about what each country has to offer" (Boyles 2).

Lately, I have been listening to Hispanic music during class. Everyday I have understood more and more of the Spanish language, which is something I'm very proud of. And you can do it too!

Boyles, Peggy Palo. Prentice Hall Realidades 1. Pearson Education, 2011. 

Mother Popcorn

Mother Popcorn

Popcorn, Mother Popcorn, this song was an example of James,"Brown, seeking to capitalize on the popularity of The Popcorn,1969's hottest dance, combined it with his favorite term for a woman's posterior ("mother")."(Dr. Licks). This song didn't escape billboard charts, within weeks "Mother Popcorn" knocked out Jr. Walker's "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)", gaining the #1 spot. 

Music

Clyde Stubblefield, the drummer in this song followed through Melvin Parker's completing his trilogy,"The final chapter of am experiment started with "Cold Sweat" and refined in "I Got The Feelin"' is now fully consummated in "Mother Popcorn".(Dr. Licks 67). Through playing this in the top video I was able to practice ghost notes which helped me stick harder patterns. 

When perfecting anything when have you felt most accomplished?

Dr. Licks. The Great James Brown Rhythm Section. Manhattan Music.

Spanish Oral Presentations

Oral Presentations and Speaking

Oral presentations are very important when learning Spanish. The whole point of learning a language is being able to communicate with others. "Speaking Spanish and being able to comprehend and vocalize new words, is key to learning any language. If you aren't speaking the language, then there would never be any communication" (Boyles 3).

For oral presentations and speaking in general, it is important to not rush when presenting. This leads to errors in simple things such as grammar and any need for conjugating. It is also important to practice all of your slides and give a mini presentation, beforehand, to someone close to you. Also, if you are one who gets nervous when speaking in front of a class, try not to look down, move a lot or stare off. Make sure when presenting, you are confident and focused throughout. 

When speaking to other Spanish speakers, remember to think of accent marks, pronunciation and not speaking to fast. Little differences in pronunciation  or accent marks can lead to completely different words and topics.  For example, "Make sure to check for accent marks!" (Boyles 58). In class when we studied family names, we learned that 'Papá' means Dad, whereas 'papa' means potato. As you can see here, a simple mistake in punctuation can lead to a whole new subject.

Boyles, Peggy Palo. Prentice Hall Realidades 1. Pearson Education, 2011. 

Correct Mindset For Lifting

A struggle for many people when they are working out for an extended amount of time, is keeping your motivation and your mindset of "I can do this". A major point that Matthews mentions is that you need to keep the saying "I will or I want" in you head, rather than "I won't". By saying I won't you eliminate all of your self motivation. The people who say "I won't" often give up on their goals of a perfect body. By saying "I will or I want" you are telling your brain that you want to achieve this goal. Matthews explains this as, "'I want' is the ability to remember the why when temptation strikes-the long-term goal and the thing you really want" (50).

Me saying "I will" because no one likes leg day.

I have had to really take these phrases seriously because there are many times when I want to eat some McDonald's or have some junk food, I really have a hard time resisting that. But these phrases have helped me tremendously. Do you have a hard time sticking to a diet or workout routine?
Matthews, Michael. Bigger Leaner Stronger: the Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body. Oculus Media Group Llc, 2015.

Accessing Online Resources

Accessing Online Resources

Another crucial way of studying Spanish, is remembering all the access to information you have. The internet! Although flashcards and even taking notes are very effective, there are many more ways to study Spanish online. 

One way I have found studying online to be very helpful, is using Quizlet. Many teachers even suggest it or have made their own study sets for their students to use. Quizlet gives you the opportunity to first learn the vocabulary, study using flashcards and learn how to spell, write and match the vocabulary. Later on, there are tests and other games that you can do to finalize your knowledge. I find this site very helpful, but it is very important to know your learning style first. For example, "You must learn that everyone doesn't study the same. It is important to find the way studying for Spanish is the most effective and easy for you" (Boyles XXX). 

Another way to study for Spanish is by using Conjuegamos. This website is used to time yourself when rewriting the word in Spanish. I find this website very useful when trying to comprehend your learning as fast as you can. When using a timed mode you get to choose how much time you would like to study for and then you get your percentage right once the timer runs out.  As an example, "Working in a timed environment can teach you skills in working efficient" (Boyles XXX). 

Studying Spanish is something you can do in many ways and all you have to do is make sure you know how to study for yourself, not for others.

Boyles, Peggy Palo. Prentice Hall Realidades 1. Pearson Education, 2011. 

Blueberry Cake

                                                          Blueberry Cake

Now this is an al-time favorite of mine. You can make this at any point whether it be for pleasure, family event/gathering, or even a party.

I would have made the mixture into cupcakes but since that would have taken longer, I decided to make it into a cake. The recipe came from a website that I found as I was looking for a recipe for dinner. I saved the page and remembered it a few days ago. Since I had also made the brownies for my mom and brother, I had decided to make a something for my dad when he goes to work. I decided on doing the blueberry mixture recipe.

Recipe:

- blueberries (frozen)
- 1 cup of water
- 1/3 cup of butter
- 3 eggs
- cake mix

First of all you preheat the oven to 325 degrees if you have a dark pan. if you have a light pan then you preheat it to 350 degrees. You grease the pan so it wont stick to it. You put the cake mix, water , butter, and eggs into a mixing bowl and mix all of it together. You put the blueberries in a bowl and heat them for around 25-30 seconds. After you heat the blueberries and the mix is done you add the blueberries to the mixture. Be very careful because you don't want your cake mix to turn blue/purple.

After you're done, then you put it in the oven for about 30 minutes. Now be careful because you don't want your cake to stick to the pan. Wait for around 10 minutes so it cools. After its finished cooling off, put it on a pretty table center and let your family or guests start to enjoy it.

Now here are some questions I hope you van answer:
What would have been better to use, frozen blueberries or fresh blueberries? Would the cake have turned out differently?


Sources: 
"Betty Crocker Supermoist Cake Mix, Butter Recipe Yellow, 15.25 oz." Walmart,
     www.walmart.com/ip/
     Betty-Crocker-Supermoist-Cake-Mix-Butter-Recipe-Yellow-15-25-oz/20511486.
     Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
"Cake Mix Blueberry Muffins Recipe." Six Sisters' Stuff, 14 Mar. 2012,
     www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/2012/03/cake-mix-blueberry-muffins-recipe/.
     Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.

Brownies

                                                                     Brownies

Everyone knows that making brownies is an easy thing to do. Whether it be for a party or just to enjoy them at home. We all pretty much know how to make brownies. I'm here to gonna give the recipe for the brownies, and how to make them.

Recipe:
- 3 eggs (And/or egg whites or egg substitution)
-1/3 cup of oil
-1/4 cup of water
-brownie mix

Now see first of all we preheat the oven to 325 degree. While we let the oven start to heat up, we start to put all the ingredients into a bowl mixer. After the ingredients are all mixed together and leave a smooth texture to the mixture.

You put it in the oven for around 30 minutes. Now be careful and don't let the brownies stick to the bottom of your pan.

Now I know this blog may seem less interesting but it's to help anyone incase they want to do something like this. Maybe for the fun of it, you can even add some type of color to the brownies. Add sprinkles of frosting to it to make it sweeter.

Now a good question I have is whether or not I should have used the egg white. what type of texture would it have given me? Would it have turned out differently?

Leave a response below in the comments:
Would have using the egg whites been better? What would it have done?

Sources: 
"Betty Crocker® Brownie Mix Fudge Family Size 18.3 oz Box." Walmart,
     www.walmart.com/ip/Betty-Crocker-Brownie-Mix-Fudge-Family-Size-18-3-oz-Box/
     10311382. Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.