Considering MOVE to B.A. - Need Advice/Feedback

Hello everyone,

I am reaching out for a little bit of feedback and/or advice on potentially moving to BA for 5 months (or so).  Here is a little about my situation and concerns:

I am a 39 year old, recently single with no kids.  I realize that moving to another country to learn Spanish is typically something that a younger person does.  Therefore, I am hoping to somehow parlay learning Spanish into a way to open door for new types of work or growing my career. I am currently a Project Manager for a software company in the US.  Did you all find that it is too  risky career-wise to step out of corporate life and that it is hard integrate back in when you returned? Also, in your experience, it is difficult to meet people my age doing something like this and/or is it a bit looked down on at this age (in Arg) ? Has anyone found a great Spanish program in order to really learn the language in short period of time? Finally, I am searching for US companies that send or allow Project Managers (so something along those lines) to work from Argentina. Does anyone know of contract jobs for US managers/execs to work in Arg?

I realize that is a lot of questions! :)

I am just wanting a fun, adventurous and yet career-growth oriented experience in Argentina (a country that I love so much)! If I can get past my insecurities about doing it at this age! :) Hoping for any feedback or leads on how to make an income while learning Spanish. Again, I am currently a Senior Project Manager for a software company. 

Thank you so much!!!

BsAs is a great place to live and learn Spanish.

But coming here to find work is problematic. You woul be better off finding a job before you come.

In order to find work once here legally, you need a National Identity Document (DNI -Spanish initials). It takes a very long time, more than a year to get one. It is possible to work in the "negro" (black) but pay is very low and opportunities rare. There are so many ins and outs to life here, I couldnt possibly list them all.

Also, the Spanish spoken here is non-standard, and unique to Argentina.

That said, it's not impossible to do what you suggest, just difficult. If you have the resources, and patience it's worth doing. Otherwise if you can take a few weeks vacation come here and take Spanish classes and get the lay of the land first. I don't work here, but have spent several months a year here for about 10 years and love it. You need to be flexible and understand that it's nothing like living in the USA.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Hey there! Don't let the kids have all the fun - come on down!  :)  I'm 52 and just began world traveling last year.

I left my corporate IT gig (I was the IT Director for a manufacturing company)  last year and got certified to teach English. Last year I lived in Florianopolis, Brazil for 5 months teaching, and then when my tourist visa expired in Dec., I came here to Buenos Aires. I'm now exploring other ways to earn money (online freelance writing at the moment), because while teaching English was OK, it's not the most schedule friendly gig. I can always fall back on it if it comes down to it.

If you enjoy your work as a Project Manager, you could check out some of the freelancing sites and see if you can find something that will allow you to work from anywhere. It's not difficult to find a place to stay with a good Internet connection and so many places (bars, cafes, etc.) have wifi access as well.

I don't find that very much at all is looked down upon here!  :)  I've been using MeetUp.com to find language exchanges to practice my Spanish and meet people and I found one for freelancers as well. There are plenty of different kinds of MeetUp groups here in BA (music, art, sports, tech, etc.). Internations.org is another website that has "chapters" in many cities around the world. They have meetings twice a month that will have anywhere from 50-200 people attend. You won't have any problem at all if you're just willing to put yourself out there. I don't speak Spanish really well either, but that's not been a big problem. If anything it's been a motivator to keep studying/practicing.

So - save up some money, pack up your stuff, and come on in - the water's fine!  :)

Definetely find a job before comming down, I now tons of gringos that live here and work through the net. Once you learn spanish you can probably find a gig here. If you have a little money saved up, you can try living here for a couple of months and see how it goes. People here are quite open to foreighners from europe and North America.

Thank you so much!
Any chance you know some companies that allow for your gringo friends to work online?

Hey, as far as I know most are freelancers

HI there,
I´m a local and i´ll do my best to try to give you my perspective.
But, there´s no better way to learn than just living the language.
Usually companies search for locals to pay them a lot less than expats, but there are a few companies that would totally hire you for the right "price".
I guess you could contact Stefanini (a HR consulting firm on IT).
Best of luck