“I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to take an upper level Spanish class with both Nick and Lorenzo during my Winter 2018 semester at U of M. Through them, I was invited to become a part of their Speech Production Lab. Over the last 8 months I have spent much time collaborating with fellow speech lab members as we have analyzed the linguistics involved with both the Spanish and Afrikaans languages. The first four months I spent time analyzing and listening to multiple speakers of Afrikaans, a language spoken almost solely in Patagonia, Argentina. I worked alongside others in the lab to analyze the sounds of /p/ /t/ /k/ /d/ /b/ in the Afrikaans language. I don’t know much about the Afrikaans language nor do I speak It but this gave me the opportunity to explore a language much different than my own. It helped improve my listening skills and my discussion skills as I spent time interacting and discussing findings with fellow team members From there, I moved on to analyzing these same sounds but in the Spanish language. Using the software Praat, transcriptions, recordings and textgrids can make this analyzation at times draining but It has allowed me to grow both personally as an individual and as Spanish speaker. I am able to continuing listening to the Spanish language which has helped with retention. I also spend time weekly interacting with other team members who are always open to my questions and ideas as we work together to analyze as much data as possible. Nick and Lorenzo are always present at these weekly meetings and make sure to check in and answer any questions about the research I may have. All in all, the Speech Production Lab has been an extremely positive experience for me as It continues to be a comfortable and fun environment to learn about the Spanish and Afrikaans languages. It is a work space always accompanied with a friendly face ready to work hard. I have gained skills from this lab experience that I will carry with my into my future.”
