Boston College

Bilingual experience
by Verónica Gusberti
CAE II student

From June 26th to July 2nd 2008, we participated in a student exchange experience at school, which I have to say was amazing. Students from 4th and 5th year hosted five North American girls, from the state of Washington, in the USA. From the day of their arrival we took part in several activities in order to show them the Argentinean culture, and of course, to let them practise their Spanish and get a chance ourselves to practise our English.

The very first day, the host students went to J. Newbery airport to pick the guests up. After a warm welcome, each guest went to their host’s. On Friday 27th all guests came to spend the day at our high school, an activity which most students at Boston College enjoyed because they were able to speak with the five girls and get to know some aspects of their lifestyle in the United States.

On Monday 30th the Organizing Committee, which was composed of some students of 4th and 5th year, undr the guidance of Analía and some English and Spanish teachers, delivered a Press Conference. The idea was to prepare presentations in Spanish, on key aspects of Argentinean culture such as holidays, geographical and historical aspects, traditional food and our educational system. However, after we had finished our presentations we realised that the American students had not bennable to follow, so we finished our presentations and follow-up questions in English. That same afternoon, the American students followed the same procedure to present key aspects of their own culture.

The next morning we organized a Downtown tour where we set 9 specific landmarks to visit such as: Plaza de Mayo, the Pink House, the Cathedral, the Cabildo, Florida Street, Café Tortoni, Puerto Madero and Caminito. After that excellent tour around Buenos Aires City, we all got together for a “mateada”, where we ate typical Argentine food such as “facturas” and “pastafrola”.

Clearly, this was an exceptional experience which I am sure all students really enjoyed. We would be glad to repeat it!