- Student Blog
It has been nearly three months since we have had normal school days, normal after school activities, or simple normal social interactions with other people. In this period of uncertain times, we are often stuck at home yet wanting to learn about the world outside, especially about other countries thousands of miles away that we have no way of going to, at least this summer, because of COVID-19.
Before doing this project, I thought that the culture in countries in South America are very different from the culture where I come from in China. I understood theoretically that languages are the means by which people communicate with each other and fundamentally shape the ways that people view the world. And that by understanding another language and culture, I would be able to appreciate others more because I understand them more. But I just felt this huge distance between me and cultures in South America that I didn’t believe would be diminished simply by learning about them.
Throughout these three weeks, I have learnt more vocabularies in Spanish and more about other cultures in Latin American countries: Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela. I realized that not only are there a lot of similarities between the three Latin American countries, but there are also a lot of similarities between Chinese and Latin American culture. Through doing this project, I have definitely deepened my worldview by truly understanding that learning other languages and cultures can truly reduce the distance that we feel with other people simply because we understand them more and get that we actually live similarly in many ways and that we all strive towards similar things.
This is why I have created a bilingual website (English and Spanish) for my senior project to share what I have learned about these Latin American countries with people within the Bear Creek community so that we can all understand and appreciate others more.
I hope that by reading this website, you and your family will learn more about cultures in these countries or even learn Spanish such that we can connect with people across the globe even though we are staying at home to be safe. I invite you to visit my website (link below) and have fun!
https://rita541642.wixsite.com/worldculture
About the Author
Upon completion of classes in mid-May, seniors spend three weeks intensively working on a personally-selected senior project. Rita is a Bear Creek senior who studied world cultures for her Senior Capstone Project. She wanted to share the website she created as part of her project so students in kindergarten through grade 6 could also learn more about cultures in other parts of the world even though most of us are unable to travel this summer. Rita is Lewis House Academic Committee head, is part of the Bear Creek math team, and is looking forward to studying computer science at Georgia Tech in the fall.