Chris: Learning Outcomes from Spanish Community Service Learning

This week we had to make a digital diary about some of the things that we have learned through our work in the community. For starters, I think that I have learned a ton of new vocabulary. Financial and legal terms are always being used at the Refugee Center and I now know how to say things like “mortgage” and “insurance”. Additionally, my conversation skills have greatly improved. I know more everyday expressions and I can understand native speakers more easily. I am much better at speaking on the telephone as well. Finally, I have learned a lot about the Hispanic culture in the United States. I never knew, for instance, that many Hispanic-Americans put more or less equal importance on both of their last names. I also never understood how hard it is for some people to gain citizenship in the United States. All of the above is, of course, just a small sample of everything that I have learned at the Refugee Center.-Chris