Demand for foreign language skills increasing

Speaking a second language is becoming increasingly important for U.S. residents who want to be competitive in their careers. Spanish has become so important if you want to be the winning job applicant, not just in places like Miami, but in many places across the country. If two people are on even footing and excellent candidates for a job, yet one speaks a language that is a useful skill set in that company then they have a greater shot at being hired.

In addition, it's a great addition to your resume when you have spent more than just a vacation outside of your country.

Why am I mentioning this? I am increasingly getting more emails from people wondering if it's worth taking a sabbatical to come here and study spanish for their jobs or to further their careers.

Argentna is a long way from home when you consider there are excellent immersion programs closer to home in places like Mexico and Guatemala. But while I love Mexico having studied there myself, there is a lot to offer here in Argentina as well.  Personally, I have increased my Spanish skills over the last 6 months, with some classes (I had some university classes and Mexico behind me already), and I'm looking forward to putting that into play when I return to Miami next year.

Currently with the dollar holding strong against the peso, it's still possible to come here, get in a good program and if you're careful with your money, make it last long enough to get through your program while enjoying a major South American city. But, you need to be realistic about living expenses. There are a lot of articles floating around out there that say it's sooooo cheap here. Unfortunately that might have been true one year ago, but rents for foreigners have been climbing and Spanish programs targeting foreigners have been going up in price as well. So, you need to do due diligence in finding a good, well priced program, and also a decently priced rental in a safe part of the city. With that said, if you budget well, there are some excellent programs here that you can partake of with very good teachers. Buenos Aires has lots of well educated people and that makes for some good teachers.

One program to consider is UBA's (University of Buenos Aires) Espanol para Extrajeros.  They have an excellent and well priced program (pesos), however one new wrinkle to be aware of is that there's talk of the government cracking down on programs like this having to verify that the student is here on more than just a tourist visa (of course the government is always proposing new things here but it doesn't mean it will happen.)

Another way to learn is by hiring a private tutor. There are a lot of good tutors available through recommendations who will charge in pesos NOT dollars, you just need to check around. Watch out for the pricey programs that are targeting tourists in dollars and pesos. You don't need to pay a lot to learn.

Bottom line is that if you're looking to improve your language skills to further your career or just become more desirable in the working world, Argentina can be a good location. Just be ready to do a good amount of research for reasonable air fare, well priced housing (yes I'm plugging myself here), and a good language program and then make a realistic buget - and that doesn't mean a $250.00 US rent per month.

Feel free to email me with questions or post a comment.   

Comments

[BWooster]

Link on article - "well priced housing" fails, says invalid page.

[yanqui mike]

So glad you mentioned UBA! Probably at once both the cheapest and one of the best programs in town.

I'm smart enough to know that I'm an idiot...private tutoring would not be good for me. I had the feeling that I would need the structure and discipline of a group setting. UBA was great. Not only that, I met wonderful people from all over the world in every class. There was always someone interesting to study with over a cafecito or cerveza.

An unexpected insight was how easy angloparlantes have it when studing castellano...when the going gets tough just glance over at your Korean or Russian (or even German!) classmate's dictionary.

You quickly stop agonizing over the subjunctive mood and get back to work. The sudden and profound respect for your fellow classmates is free with the price of admission.