Throughout the semester, I had the invaluable experience of learning about Catalan culture and language through my self-directed studies and LP.
In our SDLC105 class, I also learned about the process of learning languages, was introduced to cultures/languages completely foreign to me and developed a new interest/perspective on the “more subjective” fields of studies out there and how they relate to the things I already study/have an interest on – i.e.: linguistics as it relates to learning, conceptualization, and abstraction and how these processes occur in brain.
One of the highlights of my experience in SDLC was seating down with both exchange students from Barcelona – after I did most of the research for my cultural presentation – and listening to their perspectives on the Catalan Independence movement. I was amazed by their insight, way of thinking and how they expressed their thoughts that day.
I like to think that my research experience, tutoring background and now SDLC studies complemented each other in the best way possible to help my learning this semester… And I mean the things you cannot possibly learn from a book on Catalunya or Catalan (the language).
And finally, I would argue that (sort of unfortunately) you can only get a glance through conversation with someone who was immersed in a culture. And that immersion is the key word here. I cannot wait to be immersed in Spanish/Catalan culture and learn more if/when I do research abroad!!
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