I chose my second writing sample for my eportfolio because it gives a better representation of my writing style and progress for the year. For the second writing sample our class wrote about Vistas chapter 15, El Bienestar. I chose to write about my health and athletic activity in high school compared to in college. I think for this writing sample I had a better understanding of the vocabulary, where as in the first sample I had to look up many external words because I didn’t know how to get my message across without a specific word. In the future I know I need to remember to pay attention to gender and the differentiation between prepositions such as a, por, para and de. I also would like to understand the grammar tenses more in depth and feel more confident when conjugating and using verbs. I think during this writing sample I felt comfortable in the verb tenses, which makes a huge difference in how my Spanish writing turns out. In order for me to write well in Spanish I have to have listened to Spanish audio or talking right before. It makes it easier for me to think of words and ideas in Spanish if I’ve spent time thinking in Spanish previously. I think my writing sample relates to the presentational writing goal because I connected texts relating to topics that are of personal interest and experiences. I hope to continue to expand my vocabulary and confidence to push this goal further. Reading and writing in Spanish is unique to me because it has many words that sound similar to the word in English, which is very helpful for students who are learning the language. It makes me feel good to read a passage and recognize words. Even if I haven’t learned them, I can make an inference to what they are. What I enjoyed most about this writing sample is that I had a good bank of personal information to use in it’s creation and I was aware of the vocabulary that went along with it. I know that I still have a lot to learn in Spanish, but I feel confident enough to write short passages about things that are relevant to my own life.
