English Language Schooling in Buenos Aires
Today I received a question about English-language schooling for children in Buenos Aires. I'm sure this is a very important concern for those of you with families who are moving to Buenos Aires, so I'm going to address this publiclly here in the blog.
Reader's Question
I'm moving to Argentina on a two-year assignment for my company. I'm concerned about continuing with English language education for my children. The last thing I want to do is return to the US and have them behind in their studies. Both children are in elementary school right now. This is only a temporary assignment to help me advance my career and it is not a priority for either them or myself to learn Spanish.
English Language Schooling in Buenos Aires
Probably the oldest and most reputable English language school for children is the Lincoln International School, which is situated in the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires. The Lincoln International School is accredited in the United States K-12, so there will be no problems at all when your children return to the US and continues their education.
It is also noteworthy that surrounding this school is a large English-speaking expatriate community. The area is full of yanquis and has grocery stores with imports from the USA, English-language bookstores, and many other English-language services. You could probably live in this area without having to learn much Spanish at all. Nevertheless, the stated goal of the Lincoln school is to produce children who are bilingual, so expect your children to get plenty of Spanish experience, whether you try to learn or not.
Labels: Buenos Aires, Children, Living In Argentina
posted by SoyYo at 3/13/2005 08:31:00 PM
4 Comments:
The Lincoln high school is the biggest rip off around - send your kids to a normal international school where they spend 1/2 days in Spanish and 1/2 days in English - because of the Hauge convention, there are few issues with transferring the credits back to the USA, and furthermore, private school education in Argentina is typically miles ahead of the US. Your kids will come back SMARTER
Not really sure what international schools you are talking about. If you are talking about private argentine bi-lingual schools, they are not comparable. While Lincoln teaches approx 2 hours of spanish a day it is not the quality of the spanish taught at lets say St. Andres. Same can be said of the 2 1/2 hours (not half day) of english taught at St. Andres,its not comparable to the english taught at Lincoln. So it really depends on what language is most important to you. Lincoln is meant for kids that will be returning for the northern hemisphere for more school or university. It has a different vacation schedule that caters to expats that have home leaves at CHristmas and June vacation. As to the non-linear approach that you find in american curriculum, many education studies show that across developed countries compentency tests, America kids catch up around 7th grade and excel in critcal thinking and communication by 10th ot 11th grade. I think your blanket statements about an US education is debatable. You have not even touched on the cultural barriers that many expats encounter at private argentine schools.
I went to san andres and knew no spanish so i was bullied horrifically, i then went to lincoln and had a fantastic time and loved it and got a great education
My kids go to a small bi-lingual school here. The knew no Spanish and had a wonderful time from the beginning.
I think it makes sense to give your kids the advantage of having a different way of absorbing the world through a different language, even if it is challenging at the beginning.
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