IES Abroad Buenos Aires

Studying abroad in Buenos Aires was a great experience. The IES staff really wants you to succeed in your classes and learn so much from experiencing the culture. Some of the classes go on field trips that really help demonstrate what the class is about. Field trips include going to estancias, rugby game, cooking class, museums, and much more.

I stayed in a home stay, and it was so enjoyable. I felt like I was really included in the family. Every night we would sit down at dinner together and talk about politics, great places to visit, and about our days. This was all in Spanish. Speaking in Spanish at school all day and then continuing when I left class made me improved my Spanish tremendously! The families tend to be really great cooks too!

There is also a choice to participate in the Spanish language partners program. You are matched with an Argentine student. You meet with them about once a week and talk in Spanish for a half hour and then English for a half hour. It is a great opportunity to meet some Argentinians and go to local places that some tourists might not know about.

There are so many great places to travel in Argentina! Every place is completely different, so you can have so many different types of experiences in your travels. I highly recommend visiting Iguazu Falls and El Calafate and El Chalten in Patagonia. Uruguay is only a couple hour ferry ride away from Buenos Aires. I suggest making Uruguay a weekend trip. It's great to visit, but more than a weekend is not necessary.

My program was in Spring 2013, and I still get really excited whenever I get to tell someone about my experience! I look forward to the day I get to go back and visit Argentina. I highly recommend studying abroad with IES Abroad Buenos Aires.

Studying abroad in Buenos Aires with IES was one of the most enjoyable and lasting experiences I've had in college. Paradoxically, although the demand of the classes in terms of grade rewards are moderately low, I felt that my semester accounted for some of the most important and accelerated learning processes I've had in college; helping me to drastically improve my spanish, my knowledge about Argentina, and widen my perspective on both my and my country's placement in world relations and history. My classes are each amazing, the staff at the program couldn't be more lovable and available, and I have fallen in love with life in Buenos Aires and other parts of South America. I'm just itching to get back and live there again. It's rare that someone studying abroad hits the maximum level of immersion that they'd like, and it's difficult when you get to the end and have to go home without as many friends or as much fluency as you like. But it's a normal frustration and it gets better and can improve with extra effort. I'm very excited to go back and continue to build on the integration progress I made.

I had an incredible experience in Buenos Aires. I got really close with the family that I lived with, who I loved, and also had so much space to adventure and explore the city. Buenos Aires is such an eclectic, fantastic, fun city and IES really helped me have such a great experience there- through them, I met so many great people, enjoyed a lot of planned excursions, learned about the history and context in my classes, and improved my Spanish by a ton!

I loved studying abroad in Buenos Aires. The city is so lively, there is always something to do and something new to explore. The Argentine people are also so welcoming and friendly.

I really liked my program also but wish I had made more of an effort to immerse myself completely in Argentine culture. The IES program is pretty larch (70-80 students) and it is very easy to only hang out with other Americans and speak English.

The staff at IES was amazing though. Everyone was so nice and helpful and friendly I love them all and miss them already.

My semester in Buenos Aires was amazing. The staff is awesome and always looking to improve your experience. I was placed with a wonderful host mother, who really made my experience. I was faced with the normal cultural shocks, such as adjusting to Argentine time standards ( or lack of!) but the staff and my host family really helped me to adjust. The culture of this city is so rich and so fascinating. Buenos Aires is a perfect place to study abroad.

Living and studying in Buenos Aires was an unforgettable experience, and I often find myself day dreaming of the day when I can return. A normal week day consisted of class, good dinner conversation with my host family, and often an evening activity like choir or basketball (which I would highly recommend getting involved in; the more things you participate in the more you begin to feel like you belong, and the more opportunities to practice the language). The weekends, sometimes starting Thursday nights, consisted of strolls through the many markets and neighborhoods during the day (again I would recommend taking advantage of everyday to go explore a new place, take a bus or train to a stop you've never gone and get off, most everywhere is safe during the day), and at nights a nice dinner followed by a trip to one of the many pubs or boliches that the vast nightlife offers. To any person who is open to new and different experiences and willing to adapt and learn in a foreign place, Buenos Aires is a great South American city with a European flavor that makes it distinct and a true metropolis.

Studying abroad in Buenos Aires is one of the best experiences I have ever had. The city is full of life and culture and the people are friendly and interesting. There is a variety of things to do both in the day and at night so it is hard to ever be bored. Although the public transportation can be a bit difficult to master, it is fairly easy to get around once you get the hang of it and it can take you to most places located within the city. I recommend that all students try to explore the various neighborhoods because they are all interesting and unique in their own ways.

IES Abroad offered a variety of classes that taught me about the history and culture of Argentina. They were fairly work intensive and I felt like I learned a lot in most of my classes. A few of them incorporated field trips which really made what we were learning come to life. If you are of an advanced level you can also take classes at the university which is a great way to strengthen your Spanish skills and meet Argentines.

I had a wonderful home stay experience through which I felt like I actually became part of an Argentine family rather than simply living with strangers. Having dinner with my home stay mother every night and discussing everything from politics to the best restaurants in the city, all in Spanish, was one of the highlights of the trip. Most home stays are located either near the IES center in Recoleta or in Palermo which can easily be reached by bus from the center. I highly recommend doing a home stay over living in the dorms, they are usually much nicer and offer you a much more authentic experience.

IES Abroad also planned a variety of trips ranging from visiting an estancia (Argentine version of a ranch) to a formal Argentine cuisine cooking class. Overall, the staff is friendly and helpful so if you are having trouble in a class or with a home stay, you can always turn to them. There is also time to do some traveling of your own which is a great way to see the rest of the country. Argentina is a huge country so make sure to plan accordingly, bus trips are usually around 18-20 hours and require some planning. I recommend going to Salta and Jujuy, Uruguay, and Mendoza. Buenos Aires is a really fun and metropolitan city but it is also important to see the rest of the country because each area is very different.

I strongly believe that everyone should study abroad and Buenos Aires is a great place to do so. It is Europeanized but located in South America which gives it an interesting mix of food, art, architecture and people.

Buenos Aires is an incredible city to study abroad in. It has such a vibrant and intriguing history, blended with a very fresh and unique culture. It is a huge metropolis, with a variety of barrios that each have their own feel. IES has a great program that really orients their students to the culture and city. They offer wonderful activities and an array of pertinent and fun courses. The staff was very helpful and followed through on student concerns, based on personal relationships.