SSA: Cordoba, Argentina

This is a truly excellent study abroad program, particularly for students interested in an immersive experience. I had struggled to learn Spanish my whole life, even though I started learning in Kindergarten. I just could never get the hang of it. Living in the city of Córdoba, Argentina completely changed this. I saw astronomical improvement in my language skills and my appreciation for Latin American culture. This program gave me the opportunity to live with a wonderful, adoring host mom who was an amazing cook and wonderful, loving face to come home to every day. I got to play field hockey with a club team at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, which honed my language AND social as well as my field hockey skills. The hockey season after I got home was my best in four years. I made lifelong friends through this program, both in Argentina and within my group of American students. Even though we’re all from different states, we’re planning reunions as often as we can. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity and to have learned so much. Thank you Spanish Studies Abroad!

Everyone dreams about their study abroad experience. You picture it a certain way--envisioning it as the best time of your life, traveling the world, immersing yourself in a new culture and making BFFs. While this little five or six month nugget of your college experience really will fulfill these cliche-d visions, it is a lot more than that. It will challenge you in realizing what you are actually capable of. You will feel awkward, lonely, bold, exhausted and giddy. You will see incredible landscapes that honestly feel like you are stepping into a fairy-tale, contrasted with difficult images of poverty and political corruption that are genuine daily struggles for many of the people you meet, especially in Argentina. But if you are interested in Spanish, if you feel ready to be pushed, if you care about having honest conversations about cultural differences and if you feel a spark to just GO and DO, then you should. Cordoba is small enough where the lack of English speakers will force you to learn Spanish (and speak it), but big enough where you will never be bored.
The Spanish Studies Abroad program is not the most rigorous course load, so if you are looking to be pushed academically, this program may not be for you. However, if you want a good balance of taking classes, traveling, and getting involved in other ways, then this program offers that balance. Your experience is definitely up to your efforts, though. Spanish Studies Abroad will introduce you to a "speaking partner" to practice your Spanish and give you a friend, but it will be up to you to continue this relationship. They will provide awesome professors to teach your classes, but you will choose to listen and gain knowledge from them. You will have to choose to go exploring, initiate conversation with your host family, ask a taxi driver what he thinks about the United States, visit a memorial site of the last military dictatorship in Argentina, or share a choripan with the screaming soccer fan at the Belgrano stadium. All of these things will be up to your doing, but are honestly worth it. My time in Cordoba and with Spanish Studies Abroad was wonderful. Sure, the program has room for improvement like most do, but Cordoba is a great location for Spanish immersion and Argentina offers beautiful people and diversity and fun that deeply impacted me and can do the same for you.

Córdoba is a city in movement. There's always something going on, yet it doesn't have the hectic and caotic feel like Buenos Aires. Córdoba's big, but it takes you in, it's homey. I couldn't have asked for a better study abroad experience.

For me, the best part about travelling with Spanish Studies Abroad was that they give you a very solid base to start off from, but allow you to make your experience what you want it to be. They set everyone up with a family and are very willing to work with you to make sure you're comfortable. Apart from that, the Speaking Partners program sets every student up with an Argentine partner to give you a kickstart into integrating yourself into Argentine culture. This is the base that they give you, but after that it's up to you to decide what to do with your experience, how far to immerse yourself, whether to focus on just Spanish studies with the other international students, leaving you with plenty of time to explore other parts of the culture, or to challenge yourself further by taking a class or two at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba with other Argentine students, which is definitely harder, but gives you a truer experience in the life of an actual Argentine student.
With this program, they make sure you're taken care of, so that you can enjoy to the max the warm people, the "buena onda", and everything else that Córdoba has to offer.

The community in Cordoba is a great place to be and offers a ton of opportunities. I learned to dance and really had to practice speaking in Spanish due to a smaller proportion of the locals speaking English compared to in Buenos Aires. The food is wonderful, and the location is great for traveling all around the country and even the continent. The support staff is great in the US, but drops off a little bit once you reach the country. Most families are wonderful, but I happened to have bad luck, that being said, I would go back and do the whole thing again in a heart beat.