Job Discussion Forums

[futurepet]

anybody here taken Spanish courses in B.A. ? Thoughts or recommendations please! thanks...-M.

[rrooseve]

I'm taking the Bridge Linguatec Spanish immersion course from January 2nd until the 26th. It is pretty pricy for that course; however, from what I've read and heard about teaching methods and other things that it offers it seems pretty good. I'll give an update when I finish the course.

[theupscalepanhandler]

How was it? What did it cost?

[rrooseve]

I took the immersion course through that company, and it was pretty good. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun. The teachers there are great, friendly, and lots of fun. I had two teachers everyday, one in the morning and then one in the afternoon. I even had lunch with the afternoon teacher. All in all I think I had ten different teachers, which is cool to meet knew people, but then you have to tell about yourself 10 different times. Obviously, the teachers work according to your level. The lower the level the more they have planned for you. For example, I finished their highest level book just after the second week, and then they asked me what I wanted to do so I just had conversations and debates with them and read some instead of watching crappy movies. Now for the bad part: now thinking about it, it was very pricey. It cost a little over $3000 including the homestay (option) and also including an $800 discount (that I got just by asking for a discount). It included pick up from the airport, 8 hours of private class per day with lunch 5 days per week for 4 weeks, and the homestay with breakfast and dinner. If I could do it all again with the knowledge I know now, I would probably just come down here and look, but I'm here for the long run so my situation is a little different. Anyway, I hope that helped.

[Smidge]

Since you didn't ask for school recommendations I thought I'd mention some other possibilities. Different people like learning in different ways.

Just by being here your Spanish will inevitably improve. The same time that is spent in Spanish classes could also be spent with a Spanish book in a coffee shop. And there are lots of nice places to read in Buenos Aires. (Is there a book recommendation thread around?)

If you're looking for private teachers, you can get classes from 30 pesos an hour or cheaper if you study for more hours in a week. And teaming up with someone else to study will make it competitive with rates at the institutes.

As for group classes , a popular choice is the UBA (Univ. of Buenos Aires). Classes there have recently started, maybe someone studying there can quote the current prices. I know quite a few people that have studied at an institute called Lenguas Vivas and recommend it. My flatmate studied there twice a week, 2 hours of class for 50 pesos a month. Obviously it's not as intense as some of the fulltime classes out there but it's a lot cheaper too.

Compared to studying anything else in Buenos Aires, studying Spanish is expensive. Once your Spanish reaches a certain level you could always take another course which would be given in Spanish. You could save money and learn something new at the same time.

[pbsotto]

I just signed up for a Spanish course at UBA. It's twice a week for 4 months, 64 hours total and they charge 875 pesos, less than US$300. I'm starting next week and can let you know how it goes...you can take it in 2 months as well, the same number of hours, just more hours a week.

[englishtou]

AND I HAVE A B.A.IN SPANISH.....LOTSA EXPERIENCE...I`M AMERICAN.....NO ENROLLMENT,NO HOMESTAY,NO BULL,JUST INTENSIVE SPANISH.....$20USD/HR.THANKS,FRANK 15-5891-2612 .SO WHY WOULD YOU TAKE SPANISH COURSES FROM A GRING0? BECAUSE I`M AN EXPERT IN RAPID LANGUAGE ACQUISITION! TAKE A CLASS FREE IF YOU DON`T BELIEVE ME! THEN GO PRACTICE WITH THE NATIVES IN BETWEEN CLASSES.

[pbsotto]

Thanks, but US$20 sounds way too much if you are living in Argentina and are making pesos...will stick to UBA or Argentine teachers!!!