Went to South America in accordance with a university class as a last ditch effort to try to learn Spanish.
I got slightly better for the time that I was there, but I didn't learn the language.
Asa far as the experience goes - I'll talk about it later. Suddenly gtg. But it was totally cool and there were striking differences worth talking about that would make me recommend visiting Peru and Chile, even though they aren't the most common countries to study abroad in (most people go to Europe for history and arts, and I've never been but have always wanted to go).