Cordoba: A Great Place to Study Abroad. UT, Language and Culture program Past Review
By Ryan B (Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering., The University of Texas at Austin) for
Study Abroad Programs in Argentina
Gained an understanding of what culture is and gained perspective on my life, the world, and my place in it.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
|
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Program administration very warm, caring, and always available. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Family smoked, even though I requested a nonsmoking family. Other than that they were great. They provided everything and treated me like family. |
| * Food: |
Argentine food not that great in general. Host family ate noodles most nights, but occasionally served fried chicken. |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Program organized field trips around the city, and PECLA allowed me to meet people from all over the world. |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
Health is about the same. Cordoba feels a little less safe than Austin, especially at night. It's probably better to travel in groups, but I often wandered around at night and I was never robbed. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
|
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) |
|
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | No |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 16 hour basic language sequence |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
|
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Host family, friends. Yes I needed host country language in everyday interactions. Most of the people there who think they speak English do not actually speak English. |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
|
A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | One who wants to be challenged by the Cordoba accent. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Latin American Literature |
| Course Department: | PECLA |
| Instructor: | David Voloj |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Excellent overview of Latin American Literature. Professor passionate about subject. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Conversation II |
| Course Department: | PECLA |
| Instructor: | Raquel Carranza |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Incredibly useful. Best course I took. Learned all about Argentine slang and other useful things about the Spanish language in general. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Latin American History |
| Course Department: | PECLA |
| Instructor: | Laura Valdemarca |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Fast-paced overview of Latin American History. Professor knowledgeable but opinionated. Knows precious little about US history, which is unfortunate because she tries to teach it as part of the class. Still an excellent class, though. Completely changed my view of Latin America. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Latin American Culture |
| Course Department: | PECLA |
| Instructor: | Carolina Romano |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Excellent course in Latin American Culture. Professor extremely knowledgeable. Bit boring at times. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Argentine History |
| Course Department: | PECLA |
| Instructor: | Laura Valdemarca |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Good course. Learned all about Argentine History. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
