Moving to BA and Looking for Input and Future Community

[BeeVee]

I am a newcomer here and looking to gather as much knowledge as I can about moving to BA. I am still currently in the states and intend to start the process to live there with my partner who has citizenship already—has been there for 25 years. Candidly, I am not a spring chicken, but I am energetic, adventurous and comfortable with travel and being out of my comfort zone. That said, at 54 I am literally about to pull my roots in the US and want to be informed and prepared. It’s really important to me to find a community outside of my relationship to maintain some autonomy too.

So…I am looking for any and all insight to help with this huge transition. I will be there in September or October. My ultimate gaol is to immigrate, which I know is a lengthy process. I will definitely be going back to the states to visit family and want to make sure that I am aware of all the logistics involved so I don’t make consequential mistakes that could complicate entering or exiting Argentina or the USA.

I am far from fluent and plan to study the language until I am proficient, which I realize could take a long time. I see it as essential and it will be my first priority. Any tips on immersion schools/courses would be valuable.

I’d like to get to know people and when I get there attend some of the meet ups I've read about on this site.

I appreciate your input!

 

[julia_en_ruta]

I am far from fluent and plan to study the language until I am proficient, which I realize could take a long time. I see it as essential and it will be my first priority. Any tips on immersion schools/courses would be valuable.

The immersion part will just be living here, but if you can get into a class there, I recommend taking classes at IES en Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández". It's very affordable (my semester-long class had a suggested donation of AR$ 80.000), and they have excellent teachers. They offer both intensive daytime classes for a few months at a time and semester-long, twice-per-week evening classes.

The one challenge is that the spots for the level exam fill up quickly, so if you decide to take one of their classes, be ready to fill out the interest form the moment it opens. You may also need to nudge them for information about your class once you complete the exam. I have found the effort around the red tape worthwhile -- and if you want cultural immersion, learning to deal with bureaucracy is a great introduction .

AENS ELE – Español Lengua extranjera 2024 – IES en Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández"

ieslvf-caba.infd.edu.ar

 

[BeeVee]

The immersion part will just be living here, but if you can get into a class there, I recommend taking classes at IES en Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández". It's very affordable (my semester-long class had a suggested donation of AR$ 80.000), and they have excellent teachers. They offer both intensive daytime classes for a few months at a time and semester-long, twice-per-week evening classes.

The one challenge is that the spots for the level exam fill up quickly, so if you decide to take one of their classes, be ready to fill out the interest form the moment it opens. You may also need to nudge them for information about your class once you complete the exam. I have found the effort around the red tape worthwhile -- and if you want cultural immersion, learning to deal with bureaucracy is a great introduction .

AENS ELE – Español Lengua extranjera 2024 – IES en Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández"

ieslvf-caba.infd.edu.ar

Hello! Thank you so much for the information. I am looking forward to the immersion of just living there and will check out Juan Ramón Fernández school. I appreciate the tip. And yes, I have no doubt that dealing with bureaucracy will help kickstart my learning.

 

[devilclam]

I am far from fluent and plan to study the language until I am proficient, which I realize could take a long time. I see it as essential and it will be my first priority. Any tips on immersion schools/courses would be valuable.

I took a DELE exam at the Academia Buenos Aires near Plaza de Mayo. I can't speak to the quality of the immersion courses, but it seemed like a nice school.

I also know of Expanish near Las Cañitas. It seems pretty accessible and organized (no bureaucracy) and they offer immersion and night courses. I think when I was looking at night courses it was like ~$120 US for 2x per week for 4 weeks. If I were to attend a school I'd probably do this one just because it also seems like a good place to meet people.

If you're starting from zero, a school would probably be a good idea. I had some foundation built from high school Spanish so I went with private online classes to practice speaking before I arrived. I used a platform called Overcome the Barrier. It was really helpful to get over the fear of talking and very cheap at the time, then switched to iTalki to find a DELE instructor. I use Duolingo for day-to-day practice.

I've also heard people swear by using Dreaming Spanish if you want to get started with comprehensible input before you arrive. You can filter for Argentine speakers (highly recommend this).

There's also tons of language exchange events in the city. I can give you a list of those if you want.

 

[rl45]

When I first came to BA I went to Expanish. It is a great place to start from zero. I went to their old location in Micro center but I pass their new location almost everyday and it looks really nice.

The thing I liked about the Expanish as opposed to other schools that I tried was the focus of the classes. The classes were a full three hours (focused) , five days a week and you could opt for personal tutoring or other activities ( at an extra cost). I met great people there and enjoyed my teachers.

I also studied at Vamos. This school was ok, lacked a bit of organization, the materials were not as complete as Expanish and the facilities were not as nice. I did however meet a teacher there whom became my good friend and I still study with her but that was by pure chance ( she was a substitute). She left that school and now only does private classes.

As a language teacher myself (ESL) I always advise students starting from zero to take group classes because it helps to have other students and camaraderie when starting out. As you advance, you can choose to study privately one on one.