Spanish Language Program for a Teen in Argentina
 

A friend knows I am active on Fodors and asked if I could help her with a little research.

Her daughter is a junior in high school and is looking for a Spanish immersion program for a month or so in the summer in Argentina. (The daughter's Dad is from Argentina and still has relatives there but he didn't want to send her there to her cousins for a summer of just beach and shopping but something more serious.)

She would consider just a study program or perhaps a volunteer program. She would like a homestay. She is a very mature and serious girl who has grown up in Manhattan and has traveled to BA a number of times with her family but she is not necessarily wedded to a BA program.

Her Spanish is quite advanced but not fluent.

Would appreciate if anyone has any suggestions either for a specific program or ideas of how to select one. There are zillions on the internet if you do a google search but how to tell the quality or reputation or whether it is suitable for her?

I MAY have a good idea for your friend's daughter.

If you wish, write to me to albertovgalloATyahoo.com

www.saexplorers.org BsAs

for me best resource for language schools

and volunteering ops...comprehensive info and reviews

www.donquijote.com one of my favs

if she is not particular about countries

and wants a very good experience...

Ecuador/Peru are the best places

to pick up dialect free spanish...

My colleague's daughter just completed a 2-week course in Buenos Aires and I think they were happy with it. I'll ask.

Thanks everyone -- and frog please do let me know about that program.

My colleague says the school's name is ECELA and that her daughter, who was studying in the summer before her junior year, thought it was a very good program. This is the second or third time she's taken an immersion course and I'd guess that she's probably at the high intermediate/low advanced level. My colleague is a fluent, non-native speaker of Spanish whose work focuses on Latin America - so I find her endorsement persuasive. I googled the school name and it looks like it's located in Recoleta, which I believe is a very upscale and safe neighbourhood. ECELA also has a school in Bariloche, Argentina.

frog, thank you so much.

I'm obviously ignorant on the subject of schools which teach Spanish to foreigners, since I'm a native Spanish speaker, but I entered ECELA's website and found their English substandard. Hopefully, their Spanish is better. LOL!!

Did you get my two e-mails laurie_ann?

avrooster, thanks again for your help!

I can recommend you „NICE“ in Córdoba. They mediate volunteerings and internships in Argentina and also they offer Spanish courses in their language school in Córdoba. Their mentoring is really good which means that they help you with any problem. Furthermore they also organize accomodation with locals – in a host family, with local students or young working people.
The website of their language school is www.nice-spanish.com and the website about volunteerings and internships is www.nice-internships.org.
I hope this helps you!

At VOS Buenos Aires they offer serveral Spanish Immersion programs: http://www.vosbuenosaires.com/en/spa...sion-programs/
One of them is a special program for Teens:
http://www.vosbuenosaires.com/en/spa...ams-for-teens/
I took Spanish lessons at VOS and can highly recommend this school. It's not the "typical" Spanish school where you get bored with grammar lessons and lists of vocabular. There you learn Spanish by using it, they focus on communication and activities in Spanish.
They have also contacts to several volunteer organizations and could help you find a good program.

This latest reply made me remember I wanted to post here a summary of my research as a thank you for all the great suggestions.

(I have copied and pasted the email I sent to the teenager.)

Dear ____,

It appears there are at least five different ways to have a Spanish experience in Argentina.

1. Private language schools. You would find a large number of these schools, like Berlitz, which all they do is teach Spanish language. They typically include 20 or so hours each week of small group or private language instruction and organized activities such as museums, theater or other cultural events. You would stay with a family or they also often have dorms or student apartments as an alternative. Participants could include all ages, children, teens and adults, but some schools offer special teen programs. The programs are typically on a weekly basis but you can usually register for as few or as many weeks as you like. See the following examples of organizations with programs especially for teens:

http://www.langlink.com/buenos-aires-ecela-course-info (this ECELA organization was specifically recommended to my request in the travel chat room on fodors.com, see the explanation at the end, if you are interested I can ask if you could phone or email the colleague or the daughter directly to discuss further)

http://www.coined.com.ar/web-argenti...1&xLoc=Cordoba (this organization offers programs in both Buenos Aires and Cordoba, and as they are weekly you could consider doing a combination of both for different weeks)

http://yfuusa.org/countries/argentina-1-programs.php (the description at the end of the summer program)

2. Exchange program to a "regular" high school. The academic year in Argentina is March to November so U.S. summer is in the middle. But, a few schools seen to offer programs where you could go for say just one month. You would be in "regular" high school with other Argentine high school students. At least one school which offers this program is a bi-lingual school where half the day is Spanish and the other half is English. You would live with a family, likely with other teens. This would take some more work to find a specific program that fits your schedule, but to see if you are interested, see for example

http://yfuusa.org/countries/argentina-1-programs.php (the description at the beginning of how high school works in Argentina)

http://www.bishops.org.za/academic/e...%20Loubser.pdf (a student's report of his time at the bilingual Spanish/English school)

3. Travel. Another type of program is more of a travel program, where you would be with other teens in a group but travel through Argentina, having some language, cultural and volunteer opportunities. See, for example:

http://www.globalworkstravel.com/ssa_li_Argentina.php

4. Volunteer. Many programs combine language study with volunteer opportunities but all that I found that were principally for the purpose of volunteering require that you be at least 18 years old. But, it appears to be possible through the private language schools or travel programs to also have some volunteer opportunities.


5. Homestay. A final type of program that at least one organization runs is a simple homestay, no organized activities and you aren't in a group with other teens or other students. But, this program wouldn't include any specific language or cultural education. See for example:

http://www.cci-exchange.com/travelab...am.aspx?id=854

Have fun planning!

Auntie Laurie Ann