learning the porteño way: buenos aires language & culture immersion
IGSD Brochure
All students will sign a pledge to speak exclusively in Spanish during the one-month immersion experience.
- Approximate Dates – May 19-June 15, 2013 (on-site in Buenos Aires); June 15-July 6 (off-site independent paper writing – no class meetings), E-Term
- Credit – 1/3 unit HUA credit for 80 hours language classes, 80 hours culture classes
- Language Hours – 20/hours per week at ECELA
All students will sign a pledge to speak exclusively in Spanish during the one-month immersion experience.
- Cultural Hours – 20/hours per week to learn the ins and out of Buenos Aires
- Homestays – private room with weekly change of towels and sheets, shared bathroom, daily breakfast and dinner with an Argentine family
- Weekend Excursions – Students will have the opportunity to travel on the weekend
- Daytrip to a ranch in the Argentine countryside (included)
- Weekend in Montevideo and Colonia, Uruguay (optional)
- Weekend visiting the Argentine side of Iguazú Falls (optional)
approximate price: $5,500 + travel = $7,600 (includes everything but lunch and spending money)
2012: Jess, Kristin, Profa, Briana, Ana
sp 357x: course description
The Buenos Aires Language and Culture Immersion provides a unique opportunity to coalesce language and culture in the real-world setting of Argentina. By taking language classes in the morning and then speaking and learning about culture in the afternoon, you will see measurable improvements in your language skills through the four-week immersion. You’ll learn to navigate a foreign city while also becoming proficient in daily Spanish-use—in other words, the Spanish required for real settings—to order food, to drop off your laundry, or to purchase a calling card. Although such experiences can be simulated in the WPI classroom, they cannot be replicated; for this reason you must take advantage of your time in Buenos Aires to speak exclusively in Spanish. With such dedication (which, rest assured, will be frustrating on occasion), some of you might find yourselves thinking and dreaming in Spanish by the end of the four weeks in Argentina. You will reflect on your experiences with the language and the culture in a class blog and in your personal journal. Additionally, you will be quizzed weekly on your assigned readings and cultural excursions; ECELA will test you on your language skills. In the final three weeks of the course—back in the United States, in any locale where you have access to a computer and library—you will craft an independently designed research paper that will relate in some way to Argentine literature, culture, history, or film.
The Buenos Aires Language and Culture Immersion provides a unique opportunity to coalesce language and culture in the real-world setting of Argentina. By taking language classes in the morning and then speaking and learning about culture in the afternoon, you will see measurable improvements in your language skills through the four-week immersion. You’ll learn to navigate a foreign city while also becoming proficient in daily Spanish-use—in other words, the Spanish required for real settings—to order food, to drop off your laundry, or to purchase a calling card. Although such experiences can be simulated in the WPI classroom, they cannot be replicated; for this reason you must take advantage of your time in Buenos Aires to speak exclusively in Spanish. With such dedication (which, rest assured, will be frustrating on occasion), some of you might find yourselves thinking and dreaming in Spanish by the end of the four weeks in Argentina. You will reflect on your experiences with the language and the culture in a class blog and in your personal journal. Additionally, you will be quizzed weekly on your assigned readings and cultural excursions; ECELA will test you on your language skills. In the final three weeks of the course—back in the United States, in any locale where you have access to a computer and library—you will craft an independently designed research paper that will relate in some way to Argentine literature, culture, history, or film.
forms & documents
2011: Drew, Jennifer, Johanna, Alberto, Kristin, Brandy
Below you will find the application, along with other downloadable forms. If you're interested in going, your first plan of action should be to secure funding and a passport.
Important Dates
Friday 1/11/13 - 3:00 pm Information Session with Alumni (snacks!)
If you know you're definitely applying, you should submit your application by this day as it's the official deadline.
Tuesday 3/12/13 - submit applications to SL-03 by noon
TBD: Site-specific orientation through IGSD
Important Dates
Friday 1/11/13 - 3:00 pm Information Session with Alumni (snacks!)
If you know you're definitely applying, you should submit your application by this day as it's the official deadline.
Tuesday 3/12/13 - submit applications to SL-03 by noon
TBD: Site-specific orientation through IGSD
Student Blogs
Cataratas del Iguazú
| application_2013.pdf |
| transcript__judicial_release_form.pdf |
| itinerario_final_2011.xls |
