Spanish Lessons / Language Schools

[Alan23]

Bob,

I would not depend on the chicas for language lessons! With one exception, I have found the chicas to have pretty bad language skills - evidenced by their sms spellings. It is shocking to me how all of these girls with children ever pass along the language to their children.

It is not that they are inpatient, but just don't understand what it takes to teach (pass along knowledge) I'm quite happy to pay for a good language school / teacher if I can find one. Also have misgivings about learning only Castellano - as I would like to be able to communicate effectively in the rest of the Spanish speaking world.

[Big Bob 7]

Maybe this should be its own thread but I am not sure. I am curious to know what the members have done to develop fluency in Castellano? I would especially like to hear from long term residents. Did going to a language school play a big role? Did you think that your language school experience was a big waste of money? Do you think that you learned a lot from hanging out with chicas? Who knows? Maybe it would be better to get a bargain rate for a bbbj / conversation session with a favorita and leave the language schools out of the loop.

[El Greco]

Read this.

http://www.argentinaprivate.com/foru...ighlight=GRECO

El Greco

[Hound]

On another forum I read on occasion a member posted asking about some differences in various Spanish dialects and suggestions on how to best proceed in learning the dialect of Bs As. Below is a responding forum member's reply:

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First, my vote is that you start learning Iberian or "peninsular" Spanish, AKA Castellano, as spoken in and around Madrid. It's not that difficult. Even if your instructor is from México, he / she knows the difference and can easily add that extra conjugation for the pronoun vosotros. He / she can also teach the approximately accurate dialect, thetas and everything. Once you have your foot in the door of peninsular Spanish, you'll most likely find it easier to hear and interpret the multitude of dialects spoken around the rest of the world.

Second, you have posted a very good and very loaded question. Where do you plan to spend the majority of your Spanish-speaking life? If you're only planning on hanging about Argentina there is no reason not to jump in and sample the local language schools, all of which will teach you to speak the local dialect known as Rioplatense. Rioplatense is a unique dialect spoken primarily by those who live along the Rio Plata in Argentina and Uruguay. In many ways, it's a smooth-sounding lush dialect of Spanish that incorporates a great deal of intonation of Italian -- Neopolitan Italian, to be specific. It is also one of the many things that characterize Buenos Aires as distinct from the rest of the Spanish-speaking world. And that, in my opinion, is a good thing, for one of the five primary rules of Linguistics is there are no superior or inferior languages, just different ones.

If you plan to visit Argentina for a few weeks / months and then travel extensively in South / Central America, México, and Spain arriving armed with the ability to speak, (or at least understand the basics of verb formation) for Iberian Spanish is extremely helpful. Before everyone jumps on me it is important to note that each Spanish-speaking country has at least one distinct, if not several, dialects. Argentina is not unique in this respect. However, speculate that if you did not already speak English but wanted to learn, would you prefer to speak and hear English as it is spoken in Great Britain, Central Canada, the "news broadcast" style pronunciation of American English, or would you rather learn to speak as though you're from rural Mississippi, Alabama, or Georgia? One might also add Texas to that list of regional dialects – say, Midland or Odessa? Porteños, though not ALL Argentines, speak the Spanish equivalent of a southern, US accent. That is, they use the voseo form, (vosotros in Spain) almost exclusively whether speaking to one person or several people. In addition, Rioplatense has evolved its own rules for conjugating, spelling and pronouncing the second person plural familiar, which is far too complicated to explain here. Basically, learning Rioplatense Spanish is similar to using "why'all" in general conversation. I impart this information not out of disrespect for Porteños, but only to explain that on the most elemental level, that's one of the major differences you'll encounter when deciphering Rioplatense instead of the strong, marked dialect of urban México. It will also prepare you for several linguistic surprises as you listen, learn, and speak Spanish in BsAs.

A second glaring difference between Rioplatense and standardized Spanish is the substitution of a "sha" (voiced) or "j" (unvoiced) sound in place of the "why" sound in such worlds a lluvia (shuvia) llamar (shamar) ajer (ayer) etc. The "sha" sound lends itself to the aspiration or elision of fricatives and dropping the r sound in verb infinitives. In most of the Spanish speaking world such elisions of the final r is considered a sign of being uneducated. However, in the Southern Hemisphere this aspect of Rioplatense is recognized more as a unique accent marker spoken by Argentines and Uruguayans. It is also responsible for the more fluid sound of the dialect which many people regard as so suave and sensual. The problem occurs when trying to distinguish between "se cayo" (he fell) and "se calló" (he shut up or became silent) In standardized Spanish "cayo" is pronounced with a short why and "calló" is pronounced with a long why. In Rioplatense they are pronounced exactly the same, with a j or sha sound. So, be prepared to wrestle with the "yeismo" or blending of sounds represented by ll (the palatal lateral / ʎ / and why (historically the palatal approximate / j / which in Buenos Aires have fused into one. (Damn it, I tried not to be too technical, but I are [sic] a holder of a couple of them thar advanced degrees in Linguistics and Anthropology.

And for those of you who can't possibly stand reading any more: Rioplatense is unique enough from standard Spanish that it is viewed by many linguists to be rapidly evolving from the merging of late 19th Century criollo Spanish, (combination pidgin and patois versions of French / Italian / English with Castellano) to eventually become its own language. However, that phenomenon is not expected to occur for about another 100 years. Just observe the sinage on buses, billboards, all advertisements and anywhere the imperative is used as a warning or to grab your attention and you'll notice a big difference between Rioplatense and standard pedestrian Spanish.

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[El Greco]

I found this website offering private Spanish lessons. It looks like a good way to learn Spanish and to learn about Buenos Aires. If anyone has taken Spanish lessons from this woman, I'd like to know if you would recommend. Thanks!

http://www.gabrielaferrante.com.ar/

If you want inexpensive, try "I. E. S. Lenguas Vivas" at Carlos Pellegrini 1515 in BsAs, phone 54 11 4322 3992. Cost $400 pesos for 4 weeks, 4 hours per day, 5 days per week 14:00-18:00.

Try to call them or have a fellow member list you for the course you want to attend in advance. No need of payment for the booking. They have courses almost every month.

I took the preliminary course last November and I could hold a 2 hours decent conversation with a chica at Bogota on December.

Highly reccomented.

El Greco

[Yujin]

I found this website offering private Spanish lessons. It looks like a good way to learn Spanish and to learn about Buenos Aires. If anyone has taken Spanish lessons from this woman, I'd like to know if you would recommend. Thanks!

http://www.gabrielaferrante.com.ar/

[Tinman]

Regarding the pronunciation of double L as in "llamo", you can definitely tell the difference between the the way a person from Buenos Aires says it compared to other parts of the country. In BsAs it is almost like they are "shushing" and they pronounce "llamo" as "shamo" or "zhamo". There is even a saying in Argentina that makes fun of the way they say double L's that sounds kind of like our tongue twister "She sells sea shells by the sea shore". I forget the actual saying, but it's pretty funny.

I noticed that in the North of Argentina they typically don't pronounce S's at the end of words. For instance, the word "Vos" sounds like "Bo". Kind of confusing at first but you get used to it after a while. As far as I can gather, Argentinos would consider people from the Norte as we consider people from the South of the US; they talk slower, etc.

In the North they use the word "Boludo" a lot as a word filler (a la our use of the word "dude" or "fuck") and in Córdoba they use the word "Culiado" or "Culiao" as it's pronounced. Not sure about BsAs. Didn't stay there long enough to see.

[El Perro]

Before it gets lost in the flotsam, I am looking for a castellano speaking tutor, not a faux ebonics instructor from the very windy city. Thanks.

[Hunt99]

Doggboy.

Forget about Spanish, you need to learn yourself some ebonics and how to rap if you want to truly live up to the name Dogg-boy. Ya heard?

Here's your first lesson:

Holla back dawg, where da hoez at? Don't trip or else ya end up wit a fat lip. Don't front why you call Marak5 a ****?

In English this means:

Say hello friend, where are the girls? Don't be a jerk or you'll get hurt. Why you calling Marak5 a **** in other threads when he doesn't even know who are?

More lessons to follow.

Personally I preferred the boring, self-indulgent, navel-gazing posts we used to get from this guy.

[Stormy]

Additional info

[Marak5]

It's been awhile since anyone posted here so I thought I would ask if there is any news out there about spanish classes before I become a student again.

Classes or private tutoring?

Thanks

Doggboy.

Forget about Spanish, you need to learn yourself some ebonics and how to rap if you want to truly live up to the name Dogg-boy. Ya heard?

Here's your first lesson:

Holla back dawg, where da hoez at? Don't trip or else ya end up wit a fat lip. Don't front why you call Marak5 a ****?

In English this means:

Say hello friend, where are the girls? Don't be a jerk or you'll get hurt. Why you calling Marak5 a **** in other threads when he doesn't even know who are?

More lessons to follow.

[Daddy Rulz]

HGL thanks for the tip. Great price point!

Any possibility an email address is available.

Took the basic course with a guy from this board who doesnt know who I am (hehe) and I wasnt impressed. We had three different instructors (two were good one was a complete ***** who doesn't like N Americans I think) the course work was mostly about words not structure. Ok I reckon for 400 pesos but you would probably learn a lot more using that same amount of money to hire a private tutor.

YMMV

[El Perro]

It's been awhile since anyone posted here so I thought I would ask if there is any news out there about spanish classes before I become a student again.

Classes or private tutoring?

Thanks

[Stowe]

I knew I had seen it before and spent about 2 hours seaching without success. I appreciate it.

Suerte,

Stowe

[Kc Questor]

See this thread in the Travel Information section.