Job Discussion Forums

freqflyer · Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 5

Hi all, I�m coming to Argentina in August to teach English, but first I would like to take a month long Spanish immersion course. Does anyone have any good recommendations. Thanks - Sam

Stephanklingen · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 2 Location: Berlin, Germany

Hi there,
I have been in Buenos Aires and loved it, also took a spanish immersion course with a private instructor, was excellent and learnt a lot in that month. There are bunch of spanish schools some of them quite expensive but you can check it up if you have the time, my ex spanish teache is very qualified and flexible, also I had a free interview to see how she worked and to have a level test, the email adress is: [email protected]

best from Berlin,

Stephan

sqwerl · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 72 Location: Buenos Aires

I took one at the Universidad de Belgrano. It was OK but there were a ton of people in my class.
I think a private instructor might be the way to go. I talked to some kid who dropped the class and chose a private instructor and he highly recommended it. It is the same price too.

snielz · Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 165 Location: Buenos Aires

Check the UBA also (there is a link on one of these threads). That is what I am planning on doing. It is about 500 pesos for a month-long course, 3hrs a day, 5 days a week. You take a placement test and there are various levels. That is, I am going to do that unless I happen to really like this private tutor I am going to try tomorrow. The problem with privates is they could suck. It is hard to know, though the person recommended earlier sounds worth a shot. But with the UBA, you know what you will be getting...and you can meet other people who are learning spanish.

Joan Mitchell · Joined: 01 Jun 2004 Posts: 21

I don't have any idea on how teachers practice their Spanish in Buenos Aires without having to pay a fortune for private classes. Again as I am in the process of doing my homework because I really don't know much about South America, I'd hope to get some insights.

Any thoughts on "tertulias" or "intercambios"? In Madrid there are bars , pubs where "tertulias" take place all the time, basically conversations on different subjects and if you're lucky mainly in Spanish. The Spanish people love to talk and some " intercambios " have turned out to be one sided, almost like a private English class for your "intercambio" partner/s! Sad

How's it like in Buenos Aires for these "tertulias"? Sorry I don't know if you use the same word over there. And yes I am aware of the interesting differences between Castillian Spanish (Castellano) and South American Spanish. Wink

Cheers,

Joan

amy1982 · Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 192 Location: Buenos Aires

one thing that works is pretending that you don't know spanish... joining some activity not related to language also works (think - dance lessons, chess club, etc.) those are done in spanish and if you have to pay at all, aren't expensive. by seeing the same people every week, you will potentially meet people that will become friends outside of whatever activity you're doing.

ojo - argentine spanish is different than spanish spanish, but neither is it south american spanish...

Joan Mitchell · Joined: 01 Jun 2004 Posts: 21

youre absolutely right, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile will have differences in their Spanish. I will be more specific next time, Argentinian Spanish and Castillian Spanish. Cheers for pointing that out.

Joan

Ackerley81 · Joined: 20 Oct 2004 Posts: 49

I would really like to take some Spanish classes during my stay here in BsAs, but there are so many I don't know where to start...Does anybody else have recommendations? The ones mentioned so far are a bit pricey. I don't want to pay more for an hour of Spanish than what I receive for an hour of English ($15 per hour). Is that reasonable? My Spanish is ok, but I need some serious refreshment on grammar Smile

Sarah

Nathalie · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 22

Hi all,
I've been plannig on taking the course at UBA since i'm officially coming as part of a Hispanic degree and my primary aim is to improve my Spanish (and write my Diss) Does anyone know if the classes get booked up? I'm arriving on the 30th and the course starts on the 10th, in between those dates I have to find somewhere to live and find work (privates hopefully!) and am a little concerned that there won't be any places left by the time I enrol. Any info gratefully appreciated!

BA Expat · Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 6

UBA will always find room for the most amount of people in the smallest classroom. It's a good place to go however because you should meet a number of expats and interesting folks alike. I suggest trying there as a starting point, good luck on your "hispanic" degree, I've never heard of that one before.

BAE

amy1982 · Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 192 Location: Buenos Aires

i studied abroad in bsas in 2003 and enrolled in a few courses at uba. i needed a student visa to enroll and did all that (face-to-face) with the registrar. official enrollment generally wasn't until the first day of class (the week before for one of mine), and foreign students were given the lowest priority.

uba has a massive student body, that coupled with the fact that it is in bsas makes it (practically) hopelessly unorganized and inefficient. even though i registered face-to-face with the registrar and confirmed several times that i was registered, at the end of the semester, i ended up not being registered for some of my classes and having to reschedule my exams....

i hope that helps some!!! you have to be very proactive to get things done (which it sounds like you are). stay on top of things, and eventually it will work out, even if they have to bend the rules a bit.

sheena maclean · Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:02 pm Post subject:

[/quote]that coupled with the fact that it is in bsas makes it (practically) hopelessly unorganized and inefficient[quote]

Amy if you think that about BsAs I would seriously advise you not to set foot in the rest of South America or you'll be in for arude awakening!!

REDLEY · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:44 pm Post subject: Intercambio de Idioma?

The Tertulia thing or intercambio works! you can teach half an hour english to an argentine and then the other way around, he/she teaches you spanish, so its free for both of you!

Most argentines are interested in learing english...so it shouldn�t be difficult to find somone.

saludos.

citruscinders · Joined: 27 Oct 2004 Posts: 49 Location: Canada

Hi,

I've tried both lessons and the inter cambio lessons. I think if you've got a good base in Spanish, intercambios are a good way to go for free practice. Keep in mind that the intercambio partners may not be teachers, so if you need some structure to learn the new language, a week or two of structured lessons may help you out loads.

A Brazilian girl, who knew almost no Spanish when she arrived, went to this school (which I will hopefully attend sometime in December). I think the prices are more reasonable compared to most tourist language institutes...

Lenguas Vivas contact email: [email protected]

OR.... check out the listing for the language schools in Argentina..

http://www.worldwide.edu/ci/argentina/flschools_adult.html

Good luck!

matttheboy · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Posts: 854 Location: Valparaiso, Chile

I've heard good things about lenguas vivas-small classes and it works out about 8pesos an hour which is half the price of most crappy private language schools.