Spanish Language Courses Feedback from Volunteers

SPANISH FEEDBACK
Jenny Dryden, after completing her Spanish Course at the University of Buenos Aires,	Volunteers in Argentina enjoying their free time! Project Feedback Return to the Argentina Home Page and the list of all our projects in Argentina Melina (Argentina Manager, left), Whitney Allen and Pete Phelps (right)
I really enjoyed my placement! Being able to learn a language whilst living in another country was a fantastic experience. I was able to hold conversations in Spanish after only a couple of weeks! The people I met were amazing and the opportunity to travel at the end of my placement added such value to my trip. Argentina is a fantastic country, I miss Buenos Aires already! All in all a fantastic end to my year out.
Rakhi Shah after her arrival in Buenos Aires to do Private Spanish Lessons
Hiya! I just arrived at Palmero House about 30 minutes ago. I flew into Buenos Aires when it was still dark and the view was absolutely amazing!! So many lights on the ground! I am very excited. It’s quite a drive from the airport to Palmero House which is nice because I got to see a lot on the way. The city is beautiful with a mix of old and new and I got to see such a wide range of people as the city woke and they were making there way to work. I’m still trying to soak everything in. I briefly met a couple of other volunteers before they went with Melina to the university and I am looking forward to my time here. I will email again soon, Rakhi Pete Phelps, on his Spanish Course (Semi-Intensive) at the University of Buenos Aires The placement here is excellent, it’s so much fun. The best thing is that Buenos Aires is so big, and it's packed full of things to do. There's art, theatre, sport, music, dance, everything. I was also lucky enough to get to do one hours conversation class once a week as well. This makes my week perfectly balanced, as I have 7.5 hrs of Spanish lessons and 1 hr conversational. So I have time to see the city and work. I'm glad I’m not doing the intensive Spanish course, because I would not be able to see the city as much. This is an important point as I didn't realise how much there was to do here, possibly one requires serious commitment when embarking on such a course. The lessons for Spanish are excellent, there are only two students in the lesson, Alex and myself. This means that we get more attention and will learn more quickly. All the staff are very knowledgeable and will be happy to explain or give us any advice… The hostel is brilliant, and if the beers they sell in it were half price I'd permanently live here! Also dollars are only useful to change in pesos, they don’t really accept dollars in the shops, and when they do, they often fix prices slightly higher to account for this exchange. I hope some of these comments have been slightly informative for future volunteers. Regards, Pete. .

Susannah Martin, on her combined Spanish Course and Teaching Placement
Hi Vicky! [Vicky Boughton is Travellers UK Project Co-ordinator for Argentina], Just a quick e-mail to let you know I'm having a really great time in Buenos Aires! All the other Travellers people are really nice and we get on well. I've done so much sight-seeing in the city, I've been to see a ballet and a football match, I've shopped in the markets, danced the tango (very badly) and been out for dinner every day. Because it is so cheap, it is possible to do everything, which is great! I've only had one teaching lesson so far and two Spanish lessons. My first teaching lesson was in the hospital and it was quite tough, but I'm thinking that it'll get easier as I get to know them. My Spanish teacher is excellent - far better at teaching than me! Actually, having lessons with her is giving me ideas of activities for my own classes, so it's helpful in more ways than one.
Anyway, must go. Amy wants me to let you know that she's having a fantastic time too. Her Spanish is improving daily - she can now order fruit salad in the restaurant! We are hoping to go somewhere out of Buenos Aires this weekend, maybe Uruguay or a ranch near city, but we haven't got it organized yet.
Speak to you soon, Susannah .
Alex George, on his Combined Spanish Course and Teaching Placement
Dear Vicky Firstly, apologies for not writing to you sooner following my return from Argentina. I was quite tired for the first few days and only now have I not back into a 'home' routine.	Project Feedback
My time in Argentina was fantastic. The 3 months were a great opportunity to learn and assimilate South American Latino culture. My Spanish really improved during my stay. Andrea (the private tutor) is excellent; one can choose what topics they want covered. I asked to learn all aspects of grammar, and then tried putting it into practice around Buenos Aires and other parts of the country.
My teaching at SCHOOL SER, a private secondary school, was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and a chance to integrate into Argentine working life. Gabriela, the main teacher, was really nice to me and she, and the rest of the teachers, made me feel welcome in the staff room. That was a good opportunity to practice Spanish! I taught most classes from 13 to 17 year olds. Their level of English is reasonably good; I taught them various topics including British politics, slang, sport and music. Gabi and the other teachers also wanted me to teach them a more 'Anglicised' English accent, as opposed to the American dialects they are used to. I grew quite fond of the kids and when I left, they gave me large cards with written messages. That was so sweet!
School Ser were very flexible with my placement. I started teaching in the middle of March and finished in the middle of April. Consequently, I had a week and a half to travel before I left Argentina. They also gave me the full week off for the Easter vacation. I went to Mendoza at that time, saw the Andes range, went wine tasting, trekking and rafting. After I finished teaching, I travelled around Patagonia (Ushuaia, Calafate and Bariloche). The scenery was stunning, and I enjoyed wildlife watching and doing things like minitrekking on glaciars. That provided a nice contrast to the subtropical Iguazu Falls I saw on an earlier trip in February.
I would recommend future Travellers to Argentina to pack lightly. I wasn't aware of what quality of shopping centres existed in BA, and consequently took a lot of clothes. In fact, there are superb classy clothes shops at reasonably cheap prices (£1 = 5 pesos). You can buy a good designer shirt for less than £20 in some places. Over here the same shirt would be double the price, even more.
Thanks a lot for your help in facilitating my placement. Kind regards, Alex.