Hey all, I've been in the city for a while now and thanks to everyone on this great forum for the different ideas about learning spanish here. I will pass along my own experience for the newly arrived as well and hopefully it can help someone at some point. It's obviously not the cheap city that it was and I've also been wondering if anyone has found other means that are effective and not prohibitively costly? (I know, I should really pay more attention to the dating thread)
Free/Low Cost
Free/Low Cost
- ConversationExchange (Free) *****Site: http://www.conversationexchange.com
- This is a website dedicated to connecting people who want to do language exchanges with native partners. The registration process is simple but you would have to write a short introduction of yourself so the others may take an interest in connecting with you or arranging a face-to-face chat. There are quite a lot of locals on this website and they tend to be from the very educated upper-middle class. The advantage is that you can really select who you want to meet and who you want to practice your spanish with. The friendships you make through that site may also lead you to a lot of other connections or local opportunities. However, the problem is that you may find your partner to be much more fluent in english than you are in spanish (especially if you are just beginning your study) and this may not be so conducive to your spanish learning objective. And also, you are likely to only meet the people from the well-to-do class of the society due to the information process of how people get to know this website, which can be interesting but not necessarily representative. Overall, I do think it is one of the best free means to practice your language and especially to know some locals well. I would suggest you to write your introduction in spanish and look for partners who only publish their intros in spanish. In this way, you are more likely to set the tone of the conversation spanish-oriented.
Highly Recommended (for people with all levels of Spanish who are staying in the city for medium to long terms)
- Couchsurfing BA Language Exchange Group (Free) ****Site:http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=8675
This is an open and free discussion group for all couchsurfers in the city. Individuals try to organize meetups and chats all around the city in cafés and sometimes at private homes. It’s a lot more informal and the users tend to be much younger (typically adolescents to local youths in their 20s or early 30s). So this can work out well or not so much depending on your preferred demography. It’s a good way to meet a lot of people all at once and you may always find someone in the group interesting.
Recommended (especially for young foreigners who are trying to meet with the like-minded locals)
- Word Reference (Free)****Site:http://www.wordreference.com
This is a global dictionary/forum mashup with a lot of good useful information about the Spanish Language in general. There are literally tons of questions and answers that you may find useful. The problem is that, however, it is not Argentina oriented and there’s little possibility for face-to-face meetups. Furthermore, personally I don’t like the web structure of the site, as it is almost impossible to find anything just by browsing the forums. I recommend you to use Google search with “site:wordreference.com” as a tag instead and this way it’s much more useful for me personally.
Recommended (for people with all levels of Spanish)
- MundoAnuncio (Free) ****Site: http://www.mundoanuncio.com.ar
- This local craigslist-like classifieds website is only in Spanish and hence requires a certain level of familiarity with the language to be able to publish your own ads for language exchanges. But once you get through that process, you really don’t have to put up with any additional work and I’ve received emails from people with various backgrounds. In addition, here you can find all sorts of talleres (small workshop classes) over a wide range of things. Another similar website is olx.com.ar . People on these sites may not all speak english that well (which is a bonus for you).
Recommended (for people with upper-medium level of Spanish, as you need to write the Ad in Spanish)
- Spanglish Exchange (Low Cost) ***Site:http://www.spanglishexchange.com
- A speed dating cocktail party kind of language exchange program that takes place in different bars all over the city. It is very well organized and to be honest, quite friendly for people who are yet not so comfortable with their spanish. I think the idea really lies with getting to know more people than practicing your spanish. As you only get five minutes to speak to every partner, your introduction in spanish gets repetitive and your vocabulary doesn’t necessarily expand. But you do meet more people through this process. Some are genuinely interested in bettering their english while others are there just for telephone numbers. Either way, it is an interesting peek at a specific way of socializing with the locals. It would be opportune to ask for suggestions of great restaurants, trendy bars, or hot clubs. It is better than hanging out at some expat bars or with the hostel crowd if you are here for Spanish.
Mixed (good for travelers who want to be a part of the city nightlife while getting to know some locals)
- Self Study with textbooks from la UBA (low cost) *****Site: Calle 25 de Mayo close to Juan Perón
- The bookstore in front of the language laboratory of the University of Buenos Aires (25 de Mayo) sells photocopies of their textbooks for 25 pesos a piece. These books are really well written and pertinent to many aspects of Argentine lives with stories about the culture, the politics, the myths, and the literature works from the society. I recommend anyone actually explore this as a supplementary means or even as the primary mode of study if you are on a tight budget.
Highly Recommended (especially for dedicated people with all levels of Spanish)
- AADE *****Site: http://www.espanol.org.ar [email protected](spanish) [email protected] (english) Av Pueyrredón 924 14°B, Recoleta/Abasto
- This is the official Argentine association of Spanish professors. The organization does a lot of research over the spanish language and the pedagogy of spanish teaching. Actually, their main focus is teaching the aspirant locals to become spanish teachers. So in a sense, they are ridiculously good at the detailed academic part of the language. It’s well-regarded and they have an independent team of spanish professors who give classes to the foreigners with a very reasonable price. The one problem is that as they are not strictly money-making spanish-teaching institutions, they do not have a rigid syllabus or schedule of the spanish courses. Henceforth, it can be good and bad, as it really depends on how you make your own progresses. I find them to be extremely helpful especially in advanced parts of the spanish study. They offer literature sessions as well for those who are interested in Borges, Cortázar, etc.
Highly Recommended (especially for people of beginning levels and advanced levels, flexible schedule)
- UBA Laboratorio, 25 de Mayo *****Site: http://www.idiomas.filo.uba.ar/mapa/lab/espanol.htm 25 de Mayo 221 (Perón), Microcentro
- I read a few negative reviews about the laboratorio online and thus I hesitated quite a bit before taking their classes originally. But at the end, I think this is still one of the best options for people with a medium level of spanish. Regarding to some people saying that the physical condition is abysmal, I agree but I also could care less. Yes, it’s hot in the summer and the building seems like it has been in dereliction forever. But since I am here to study spanish, the physical part wasn’t very important to me. The classes can be big (15-20 ppl), which I think would be a big disadvantage for the beginning learners. Furthermore, the backgrounds of the students can be quite mixed, as many korean and chinese immigrants also take the classes here. Therefore, the beginning level classes may progress a bit unevenly depending on the composition I think. I personally only took their level 7 class just to get a certificate before I left Argentina. I like what I learned at this level but I think the group classes are really much more efficient for people who are at level 4 or level 5. Unfortunately, the price has almost quadrupled over the years. It was one of the cheapest options but I think right now it is only cost and time efficient for specific groups of learners. Beginner and Advanced learners may even find good private tutors for less and learn more. The textbooks from the UBA are very well-written and worth buying (actually I know some private schools just steal pages from their books and repackage it selling for much more). Oh also, if you are at an advanced level, they offer writing workshops which can be very useful.
Highly Recommended (for people of intermediate levels or who want to do advanced workshops. fixed schedule and have to do the inscription at specific dates of the year to start)
- IULM ***Site: http://www.iulm.edu.ar/espanol/ J. E. Uriburu 1009, Recoleta/Facultad de Medicina
- This language institution (Univeristy Institute of Modern Languages (close to la Facultad de Medicina is also a part of la UBA but only so as an extension (like the CUI, see below). They were actually surprisingly cheap in comparison to the CUI and the people I know who have taken classes there have mixed reactions in terms of teaching qualities. The program is a lot less intensive, as there are classes only four days a week and for about two hours each day. If you want something official from la UBA but cannot fit into the laboratory’s schedule, this may be an okay backup option.
Mixed (To be honest, I just don’t know enough to say more. If anyone else is more knowledgeable about this school please do chime in)
- Individual Tutor *****At first, I really didn’t want to take a risk in going through the hassle of finding a private tutors, because there are really no good ways of finding the good tutors except by words of mouth, as there are too many shams posting on the forums of lonelyplanet and baexpat etc. However, then I was told that good private tutors can be surprisingly cheap nowadays in Buenos Aires due to the oversupply. In fact, I think it is a lot more cost effective to get a private tutor especially if you are just beginning to learn the language or if you are at a very advanced stage (as of 2010, they cost about the same as group lessons in private schools, and about 20% more than the 15-20 people large classes of the UBA). You are more likely to improve your diction with a private tutor helping you than in a group setting (I personally didn’t feel comfortable trying to practice my pronunciation in front of a large group). In my opinion, more practices and having the errors immediately corrected are quintessential. In terms of the individual tutors, finding a patient and qualified one is not so easy and I feel it depends a lot on the dynamics and ways of interaction between you personally and your tutor. Everyone has their likes and dislikes. I had a really good time with mine and I do recommend her. I also suggest you to post spanish ads on mundoanuncio or even print some out and post them in places like Puán, this way you can have more options and flexibilities.
The tutor who really helped me a lot: [email protected] - To post ads at Puán: Calle Puán 478, Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, la UBA, Caballito
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Good old BAexpats threads:
http://baexpats.org/expat-life/9473-learning-spanish-cheap-alternatives.html
http://baexpats.org/expat-life/2077-cheap-spanish-course.html
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For the same review with several other options that may be slightly more expensive http://6pm.in/ba/spanish
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