2019-06-12

Crossing the Road of Language Barriers

Written by
Rate this item
(4 votes)
Crossing the Road of Language Barriers Crossing the Road of Language Barriers

In our day and age learning more than one language has become a necessity, a way of opening new paths to ourselves and be able to fit in society’s good standards of living.

In countries like Argentina where the gap between wealth and poverty is more visible, learning a second language such as english is a big challenge since the opportunities of getting an equal level of education depend of your social status.

This is the reality of our teaching english project, an institute located in Pablo Nogués where kids between the ages of 9 and 16 learn english with the help of foreign volunteers. Pam from the US & Alex from Germany are two of our volunteers who work here. Pam is colombian and speaks spanish and lives in Florida; Alex comes from Germany and arrived to Argentina with the idea to improve his spanish.

What are some of the bigger differences you’ve noticed in the education here in comparison to home?

P- When I first came here I was really impressed with the kids because they speak more English than my mom, who is colombian and lives in the US. I can hold entire conversations with the teachers and I think that’s so impressive because in the US someone takes 4 years of French and they can't say anything and the kids that come here have only been doing it for 5 years and they can communicate with me in English.

A- The schools here in Argentina have 8 years of English, as we do in Germany but I would have 3 hours each week and I can say now that I can speak it fluently. But here, they only have 2 hours per week and they can only say their names, some colors, how old they are but they can’t communicate. So I think after school learning facilities like this are really important because the quality of language education in schools is not that good. 

What will you take home with you about this experience?

A- When kids come here and say “hey my parents can’t pay because they don’t have the money” the founder would say “ok just pay what you can”. I think it's great because English is an opportunity for them to be able to go anywhere in the world and also to be able to settle in English speaking countries and work there.

P-I wish a lot more people would do this because in the US we are so privileged to have French in school and completely fail at it, it’s such a waste of resources. Per month for one student is 20 dollars, that’s like one meal for me. If I could just give that money of a meal every month, I could sponsor one kid for a year. That’s a whole language, a whole door of opportunities.

Read 17455 times

Related items

Volunteering: a learning process. Part II.

Let's deepen on the reflections about volunteering as a learning process from the perspective of Critical Pedagogy with Abi, our coordinator.

Voluntariado: un proceso de aprendizaje

Algunas reflexiones en torno al voluntariado entendido como un proceso de aprendizaje desde la perspectiva de la Pedagogía Crítica de la mano de Abi, nuestra coordinadora.

Our weekly coordination update: last week of August

This was a week with a lot of news!


On Monday we had two introductory meetings:


Johannes, now nicknamed "Yoyo", came from Germany and started his volunteering in Comunidad Milpa for a couple of months and this was his first week adapting to a new country and a different language.


Also Emma, Dominic, and now PJ from the USA who are in Argentina for an exchange abroad from their university are joining us. During this semester they will be studying and having their intercultural experience from the service learning subject teaching English, in the community kitchen and in the early childhood center.


Soon we will give you more news about their learning and feelings about the different projects. We hope you all have a great experience!

Volunteering: a learning process (part 1?)

A quick set of questions to deepen on the concept of volunteering delivered by Abi, our volunteers coordinator. Probably the first part on a group of articles reflecting about volunteering as a learning process, so yeah! expect more of these laughing

A Celebration for Mother Earth

In Argentina, August 1st is El día de la Pachamama. Pachamama is what natives call Mother Earth. The translation would be "Mother Earth's Day" In the vision of our natives, it's also our New Year, as opposed to the one in the Western calendar the colonization imposed. In different parts of the country, there are celebrations for this day, and MILPA participated in organizing a festival in the Parque San Lorenzo neighborhood. We translated their article so you could know more about this celebration and Comunidad MILPA's commitment to the community. You can read the original article in spanish in @comunidad_milpa instagram.

Expectations, a big ally and a tricky enemy

Abi, our coordinator, reflects on the learning process of volunteer work, and the expectations and disappointments which come along with it.

An Introduction to: Comunidad Milpa

After about an hour of travel from the heart of the city, Cordelia, Abi, and I arrive at Comunidad Milpa. Located in General Pacheco, the garden and greenhouse of Milpa is one of two projects started by Voluntario Global. As I step outside of the car, I am greeted by Rashu, a majestic, black-haired greyhound, one of Valeria’s (Voluntario Global’s co-founder) two pet dogs. 

10 years remembering Armin: A local hero in a world of international heroes

 In 2008, almost 10 years after my first visit to Latin America having just qualified as a Spanish teacher, I arrived in a cold, grey Buenos Aires. The plan was to spend 2 months volunteering with a relatively new volunteering charity called Voluntario Global. Back in 2008, Valeria Gracia and Armin Díaz, the original founders of the organisation, had set up a grass roots organisation that worked, principally, out of two community centres in impoverished barrios of the Argentine capital. What was unique about Voluntario Global, and remains true today, is that it looked to bring together the energy and enthusiasm of international volunteers with the local members of the poor communities of Buenos Aires who believed that change in their lives, and those of their neighbourhoods at large, was possible through international co-operation and partnership.

Login to post comments