Culture Through Poetry: Facing Fears in the Basic-Level Spanish Classroom

Background

Understanding culture starts with understanding the context in which a language is spoken. To learn a second language in depth is to understand social cues, natural responses, body language, tones, humor, etcetera. If a student speaks their second language utilizing the same tones and gestures that they use for their first language, there is bound to be a lacking on the cultural understanding and fluency of that student. This obviously takes time and a lot of observation and experience, but this aspect of language learning is fundamental for understanding how to speak and interact in the most natural way. This means how the language is used directly, indirectly, creatively, humorously, seriously, familiarly, and distantly. This process must take place from the beginning of the language learning journey and continue as long as the individual uses that language as it will continue to change, and they should follow those changes and adapt to the new social context by observing and evolving their language habits and customs.