Buenos Aires: I speak Spanish now!! Past Review
By Andre B (Business-Finance, Trinity University) for
IFSA: Buenos Aires - Argentine Universities Program
YEs! lots of traveling, got to see tons of new people
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The work load was not hard until the end. The way the universities work in Argentina, each class has a period of about 2 months without homework and the last month is crammed with tests and final papers. I did not enjoy the education system as much as the American structure because it was very disorganized and was disengaging. The classes, however, are fairly easy if you don't wait to complete your work until the very end. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They were very enthusiastic and had hired teachers who were incredibly knowledgable (in reference to the nation's history, etc) |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My housing arrangement was definitely the biggest drawback to my overall experience. If I could do everything over again, I would live in my own apartment because my host family didn't contribute to my language acquisition as much as anticipated. They treated me more like a client than a guest in their house, and tried to monitor how much I ate (they were incredibly stingy with money). My meals were very cheap and probably not the healthiest. They were fairly distant and I even lived on the other side of the house where they kept all of their maintenance supplies. (They only visited my side when they had to clean stuff). Would not recommend that anyone live with this family in the future. |
| * Food: |
Quality/ Quantity of food here was definitely different from the US. Smaller portions, not much flavor. I recommend you eat out a lot if you have the means! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
we had a few good events: we traveled to a small resort town outside of the city, called El Tigre. They took us kayaking for the day and then paid for our lunches. We also went to a town called Rosario, which was beautiful and very well organized in terms of our living arrangements and food accommodations! Lots of fun! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
They were obsessed with making sure that everyone was very safe around the city. They printed out maps of areas where we shouldn't walk during the night (and during the day in some cases!) |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $120 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Just be prepared to spend a lot more than you anticipated. My friends and I went into the experience expecting to spend around $2000 on random expenses and traveling. I spend around $4,500. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Advanced Grammar (Spanish) |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Host brother, friends, locals. I used Spanish in everyday interactions but most people could understand English if you were absolutely unable to speak to them. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Studious students interested in spending a lot of time reading will benefit greatly from this program. But others can have fun too, its what you want to get out of your experience. For me, traveling was the most important aspect of study abroad. |
