Language Immersion Gap Year Programs in Buenos Aires,Argentina

I came to Argentina with mente Argentina for the first time and it was a really good experience ! It’s perfect if you want to make friends and contacts really quickly, the atmosphere is warm, people are really nice and the activities are amazing ! I did the barman program during 1 month and it was really resourceful but I ended up staying in Argentina longer using Mente Argentinas apartment. Even if I was technically not with Mente anymore, I kept really good friendships from mente Argentina as I was in the shared apartment option. The apartment has everything you need to make your stay comfortable, it was also close to marketplaces, bars etc. This option is also really good if you want to make friends fast ! I recommend entirely !

During my GAP year after highschool I spent two months with Mente. From the start they were very supportive, helping with any questions I had and finding the perfect voluntary work. I was able to work with kids, as I had hoped and it turned out to not only be very fun but also an opportunity to learn a lot about the country, the culture and general life questions. Mente also provided me with an apartment in one of the best neighborhoods of the city were I was able to meet others from different countries. Mente also did a great job on organizing events, were we got to explore the city, get amazing food and meet others in the program which really helped me to find friends. Without Mente my time in Argentina wouldn’t have been nearly as special as it was and I would always recommend them.

Mente has a fantastic team that is dedicated to making a positive experience for you in Argentina. The internships sometimes aren't the best (if I were to redo, I would focus more on learning/skill-building), but the smoothness of entry to the country, social network, and individual support are well worth it. I made life-long friends at on my Mente trip!!!

Costa Rica's Turtle Conservation Project was one thing I will never forget! Such an eye opening and amazing experience. The IHQV program is an amazing way to explore the world in a feasible way. Not only is it affordable but I would have never experienced anything like it! IHQV Brings so much more, more ham any guided tour, more than a resort, and more than anything you could experience on your own. They have demonstrated such strong dedication to make sure every part of the trip is a great learning exprenice while keeping it fun. One of my most memeroble moments would be seeing the indangered leather back turtle lay her eggs. Because the leather back is in such danger it is critical that her eggs are gathered and re-nested in the hatchery where they can be taken care of and monitered to keep them safe from predators. I was lucky enough to be able to personally collect her eggs and dig a new nest to place each egg carfully. It was truley an amazing experience. I wish I could go back to see them hatch! Not only was this such an amazing experience, but every single person I met on this trip through the program m, I will dearly miss. IHQV brings everyone with similar ambitions together and from all over the world. I loved to meet people from the UK, Australia and Italy. Never could I go anywhere and meet such amazing people in one single place. I would recommend this program a million times. Leaving was hard, I'll miss my friends I have made and most importantly all the work that was done everyday to help such a wonderful project!

International Volunteer HQ [IVHQ] responded to this reviewMay 21, 2018

Hi Drew, thank you for sharing your incredible experience on the Turtle Conservation project in Costa Rica! It's amazing that you were able to help in the protection of the leatherback turtles eggs as this is such an important task in the conservation of the turtles. We would love to have you join us again in the future! ^Rachel - IVHQ Costa Rica Program Manager

Hi my name is Danielle. I am from New York. I came to Buenos Aires for a medical internship. We did a lot of things with Mente, all of the activities they offered us. We went to the Bomba Del Tiempo, the Argentine experience, we went to polo, we went to happy hour, salsa & tango milonga, we also went to Tigre with the Mente Program. Separately we also went to Mendoza & Colonia in Uruguay too. It’s been a great trip. I’ve learned a lot about the Argentine culture & people. They are fabulous. Even our portero invited us to have a “parilla” and cooked for us. It was amazing...It was a really great experience here. And Mente Argentina did a really great job hooking us up with all the different opportunities.

My time volunteering in Portugal was the most amazing experience. It gave me the comfort and growth to travel and experience new adventures on my own. The staff, locals and coordinators ensured my stay was the best possible experience.

International Volunteer HQ [IVHQ] responded to this reviewApril 09, 2018

Hi Andy - It's awesome to hear about your time on the program, and I'm so glad you enjoyed your experience in Ghana. Our local team is awesome and I'm thrilled to hear you felt supported by them in every capacity during your time on the program. I wish you all the best! ^Caroline - IVHQ Portugal Program Manager

Hi, my name is Annie and I was here in Buenos Aires for a few months with Mente Argentina. I did an internship with a start up that offered marketing courses online. I took Spanish classes online, so aside from the internship and Spanish, I had the opportunity to do some dance classes and Mente also signed me up for some cooking classes. Other than the internship which was every day, I still managed to go to Iguazu Falls with Mente Argentina and I got to meet a lot of students from all over the world. Besides the internship and travelling, I did a bunch of tours of Recoleta, San Telmo and went to some events like Bomba del Tiempo and they were all for free through Mente. I had a home stay with an Argentine family so thanks Mente Argentina!

Hi, my name is Jimmy and I did an internship with Mente Argentina. They do a lot of activities and my internship was great, I learned a ton and my Spanish improved a lot. The experience was great.

Hi, my name is Lizzie and I did the internship program with Mente in Buenos Aires. I really can’t speak highly enough about the whole program. It was great to come here and have already a set group of friends for you from all around the world and to have our apartment in such a nice area of Palermo. All the apartments are close but far enough that you can see different parts of the city every time you meet up with other Mente people. The activities they offer are so variant and happening all the time, you can choose which ones you want to do and it’s already included in the price so you don’t have to worry about a thing and you can always do what interest you the most, and if not, Buenos Aires has always something to do. Overall, it was a great experience in meeting all these new people.

Hi, my name is Gwin and I am from Germany. I did an internship that was basically social work, I helped kids in school and their homework and that was really awesome. I improved my Spanish a lot. I came here thinking I knew a lot of Spanish but once I arrived I realized I didn’t know much. Then, I traveled a lot and I met so many people here, I really recommend it doing as much as you can afford. Be open minded and try to improve your Spanish, otherwise it wouldn’t be worth to come down here if you are unable to speak to anyone and you can’t socialize.

Hola, my name is Esteban and I did five and a half months here with Mente Argentina. Studying International Business and Management, I had to do an internship and for my Bachelor Thesis, I decided to do it abroad in Buenos Aires. Mente Argentina got me hook up with a really cool company and the supervision along the way was very good. Besides that, Mente Argentina made the stay so awesome by offering different tours every weekend, they helped you with the first step of having you socialized with meeting their group of people and afterwards the networking is truly easy here in Buenos Aires. The city is great, if you are thinking of coming over, definitely do. You know, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.

My name is Amanda, and I am from the U.S. I came to Argentina through Mente Argentina to do an internship program with a start up Tech Company for 6 weeks and it’s been so awesome that I can’t even put it into words, I learned so much and it was so much fun. And just the Mente Program in general, everything I had a stupid question, they were like “oh, no worry about it, here is all the information that you need to know, never hesitate if you need to contact us for something we are always here to help you”. They sponsored lots of fun things, like different shows, so it has definitely been a blast. Highly recommend.

I am Sean, student at Northwestern University. I came here with Mente to intern in a tech start up. Mente was awesome because they organized a whole lot of different events, from soccer to Fuerza Burta, and they even offered a gym, in which I worked out every day. All of these gave me not only a taste of Argentine culture but at the same time, have fun. Not only did I come here for work, but also to experience everything in Argentina and Mente helped me with that. Thanks for everything.

Hi, my name is Dara and I am from California, United States. When I came to Argentina, I wanted to do it in a way that I could find a lot of good people, do cool things, and specially because I didn’t exactly know what to do, having a little help and having people that were close to our age helps us with everything, made it all so much better. I found exactly the program that was specific for me and I couldn’t have asked for a better transition into Buenos Aires.

Being a New Yorker, I actually quite pleasantly enjoyed my four week Spanish program in BsAs with Mente Argentina. In short, Mente is a small team of young but energetic individuals who work their best to improve the program and to satisfy various needs. I certainly believe that everyone has a slightly different view after their stay in this city and their study, however, the most important thing is to set the right expectation and to enjoy and make the most out of this and/or any study abroad program. Mente was closely engaged with my needs which included apartment location preference/change, short excursion time change due to my personal weekend trips to places like Iguazu Catalatas and Puerto Madryn which by the way were a lot of fun!! Mente helped me print out bus and flight boarding tickets upon my requests and reschedule the tours that I missed so that I was able to have a full calendar during my stay. Mente put me in touch with travel agency as well which offered great service for me to travel to Patagonia. I am very happy with my assigned apartment which is at plaza Italia, with a beautiful view and a few cool roomies. The airport pickup and dropoff were a sure bonus. Fr the Spanish course, I enjoyed the learning progress, the school and all the teachers, very pleasant experience whilst getting my Spanish improved by two levels in four weeks. A sure mission accomplished :) I would recommend Mente to fellow students who are like-minded to explore the city of Buenos Aires and to travel around in Argentina.