I improved my Spanish in Buenos Aires Past Review

By csweene (Internaional Development, Tulane University) for

IFSA: Buenos Aires - Argentine Universities Program

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

I certainly made the right choice in choosing to study abroad in Buenos Aires and I feel as though I got the most out of what the city had to offer. However, I often felt tied down by all of the work required in this particular program. My main goal was to improve my Spanish and I accomplished that but it would have been nice to have the opportunity to study with more Argentines. I felt very limited because I was required to choose a track and neither of the two tracks offered were of particular interest to me.

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here:	Universidad Catolica de Argentina
The term and year this program took place:	Spring 2009

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	Due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to take the course I wanted at the university I wanted (UBA). The classes I did take were taught by good professors, though their topics simply did not interest me. I was required to choose from a track of either cinema or human rights. I assumed the human rights would be more applicable to my International Development major, but we focused mainly on genocide. Because I was in a track, the majority of my classes were with other Americans which wass not something I wanted in my experience.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	The program advising was well-organized and I was given an advisor there based on my track, however it often seemed like she was overwhelmed with students and could not give me much individual attention to help me make the best decisions academically.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	I lived in the nicest neighborhood in Buenos Aires. It was very accessible and safe and my host mother was a very nice woman. The only problem was the food situation and the fact that she did not cook.
* Food:	My host mother provided the bare minimum and provided prepared meals rather than cooking.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	I met many Argentine friends on my own and also students from the program. It was fun getting to learn about students my own age living parallel lives in another country and I hope to keep in contact with the Argentine friends I have met.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	We were well informed about health issues and the Swine flu which broke out while I was abroad was thoroughly addressed and many precautions like closing schools were taken.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	No

Finances

* 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)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	$30
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Traveling can get expensive. Even if a country is relatively inexpensive--travel can be costly. If you want to travel a lot--take that into account.

Language

How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	Intermediate
Language acquisition improvement?	Just living within Buenos Aires and speaking all Spanish with my host family and in my courses greatly improved my Spanish.

Other Program Information

* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	International Students

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	This program involves a lot of work. If you are more interested in travel or social aspects of study abroad then this is probably not the right program. Courses are tough and demanding. The focus is less about getting to know Buenos Aires and more about immersing yourself in the academics.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Registrando Buenos Aires
Course Department:	PEL
Instructor:	Gustavo Torrio
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	This course I signed up for when I was unable to attend UBA because the course I had signed up for there was cancelled. Registrando Buenos Aires was about documentary production and so it was rather interesting. I liked the other students in my class--though they were all foreign and not Argentine. The professor was knowledgeable on the topic though we were only graded on one final project.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Metodologia
Course Department:	Ifsa-Butler Human Rights Track
Instructor:	Natalia Gavazzo
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	This class was meant to help in writing our final paper for the Human Rights track. She assisted us in finding research topics and resources. She was very helpful however the classes were structured very poorly. Each week we would go around and each student would have to talk about the status of their topic for 20 minutes and so the time would often go over.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Spanish
Course Department:	Ifsa-Butler, Spanish Grammar Maintenance
Instructor:
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	This was my favorite course. My profesor was extremely nice and helpful. She addressed any cultural or language issues we had while acclimating to Buenos Aires.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Human Rights--Genocide
Course Department:	Ifsa-Butler Human Rights Track
Instructor:	Daniel Feierstein
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	The professor was an expert of the topic of genocide and especially within Argentina. It was interesting to hear his lectures because he has a lot of good insight. We were given two 15 page papers that were very challenging because we were not really given a particular prompt by which to base them.
Credit Transfer Issues: