How is the Expat Experience in Argentina for Children?

One of the most important things we took into consideration when making the decision to move to Argentina was “How is this going to affect our daughter?” We know that there will be challenges to face and adjustments to make once we've relocated, but in the end, we want this experience to be a positive one for every member of our family. We are fortunate enough to have family members who either moved their children overseas, or who spent part of their childhood in another country. We took their experiences into account. There were challenges to be sure, but overall, each child's life was made richer by their expat experience. Seeing their successes as adults was also very encouraging to us, and was right in line with what we want for our daughter. We want her to learn that the world doesn't end at the city limits. We want her to learn about other cultures, other perspectives, other ways of living. We want her to be an open-minded, well-rounded adult. We believe that this move will be a rich experience for her.

Knowing what we know about other children's expat experiences, we were able to go through with the decision to move to Argentina. However, Jammer and I know that it is prudent to continue to gather as much information as we can from people who have been there & done it already. With that being said, we'd like to direct the following questions to those of you who have relocated to Argentina (or other foreign countries) with your children. We know we can benefit from your experience and we welcome you to click the comment link below to add a comment to this discussion.

1.How long did your child(ren) take to learn the language?

2.What do you think are/were the biggest challenges for your child(ren)?

3.In your opinion, what is/was the best part of the experience for your child(ren)?

4.What tips do you have for future expats to help their children manage the transition to Argentina and assimilation into its culture?

Related link: raising bilingual children

A Note from Jammer and Mendoza Expatriada

Hello! We are looking forward to sharing our experience with you as we make the move from Texas to Mendoza, Argentina. There are many things that this move will entail, and we hope that our experience moving a family (with pets) will help anyone else who may be thinking about moving to Argentina. We also hope it will make interesting reading!

We welcome your questions and continued comments, some of the most lively discussions on this blog have been in the comments of a post when readers were actively participating. Please let us know what you would like to read about, and what topics you would like covered. We will also do our best to answer any questions you send in to us. If we don't know the answer, we'll find somebody who does.

We look forward to keeping the Expat Argentina blog buzzing with new posts and discussions. This blog will continue to be the best resource online for anyone considering moving to Argentina, or for anyone living in Argentina as an expatriate.

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.