Hi! My name is Carla Simone and I am a junior majoring in Spanish with a minor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages or TESOL. Last year I completed an internship in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. I helped teach English at a school with grades first through seventh. I taught at the school Monday through Friday and worked one on one with students on assignments, taught lessons, practiced with students conversationally in English, and many other tasks.
“Argentina’s main language is Spanish and I thought I knew Spanish well, but when it came to applying it in the real world it was more difficult than I expected.”
Carla Simone, Internship in Argentina
The biggest challenge of my internship was the language barrier. Argentina’s main language is Spanish and I thought I knew Spanish well, but when it came to applying it in the real world it was more difficult than I expected. The biggest cultural adjustment for me was the eating patterns of Argentians. People usually have a really small breakfast and then have a big and relaxing lunch around 12:00-1:00 pm that can last 1-2 hours and then do not eat dinner until 8:00-9:00 pm at night.
I also got to visit some cool places while in Argentina. Some of the favorite places I visited were Puerto Madero, Iguazu Falls, which is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, a coastal town called Tigre, and Kirchner Cultural Centre. By being in an education internship in a different country I learned so much about Argentinian culture and different communities from the teachers and students, that I did not know before which are two main values of the CS program. Something different about this program, and that I liked tremendously, is Connect 123, the internship agency that MSU partners with to find an internship for you based on your interests. For example, I told them I wanted to work with kids and what my major and minor were and they found the perfect internship for me. I highly recommend this program if you want to get out of your comfort zone and try something new. This internship made me learn so much about myself and it had the best of both worlds — a study abroad and internship all in one!
After graduation, I want to be a high school Spanish teacher, and getting hands-on experience in a classroom was very beneficial to see all the moving parts of what it takes to be a teacher. Also, helping teach English made me think I might want to teach English in a Spanish speaking country for a few years. Teaching in Argentina was a really incredible experience.