Moving To Ba From Canada

[EricBluegrassFiddle]

EricBluegrassFiddle,
I think that a BA cabby telling you that it's a pleasure to hear you speak Castellano; that he's not joking when he says that your accent is excellent and rare in a foreigner; that you must take his saying this seriously rather than reject his compliment as I had just done; that hearing you has made his day; and who then refuses your tip saying "no no NO, the pleasure of driving you and hearing you speak has been all mine!" is at the opposite end of the spectrum from a porteno not wanting to offend a foreigner.

Remember that he doesn't live in a country where political correctness has increasingly chilled what's okay to say and think or not in-person and where so many things are now regarded as “possibly offensive”. I don’t have that experience in BA. People are pretty free there to be natural.

Might portenos think they don't have to correct you because you have a Spanish-speaking wife whose job they think that is!

Even before I did that course, there was another BA cabby who didn't let me leave his cab until I pronounced "Junin" correctly. (He'd heard me try to say it in Spanish. That's all it took.) One of the best language teachers I've had! It took me about 15 tries before I got it right and he let me out! He was why I bought SSLC when I returned home.

Surely the million times that you've been told by portenos that your accent is good must have inspired and energized you to keep on improving? That's very supportive. One compliment was enough for me. What good does it do for learning to assume you’ve been lied to a million times?

How long have you lived in Arg? I'm told it takes about 8 years to speak a new language fluently.

I have another question of you and anybody here. Does anyone think that Castellano is easier to learn and pronounce for someone who doesn't already speak another country’s Spanish? I found Castellano easy to pronounce in contrast to getting French vowels right in southern France where I've been living for 3 years. The thing is that learning Castellano was my first time learning Spanish so to me it sounded just ‘normal’. I had no other Spanish accent to first 'unlearn' or adjust radically.

In France, the rules I learned on how to pronounce vowels while I studied French in Paris decades ago for a few months are often completely wrong down here. Despite studying at university in town to Level 4 of 7 as well, I'm having a very hard time getting my mouth around local vowels. I’m always being corrected. People here are a lot like portenos in how they speak their minds. A neighbour says it’ll take me only 10 years to speak well. That did depress me for 5 minutes.

Well...I mean....with Argentines I think if they see someone makjing the effort, they're going to eoncourage you for it. Besides, In my experience, I haven't had one correct me yet, regarding my spanish except my Argentine wife so I don't know....but I don't live in Buenos Aires. But my experience is that you have to tell them or they won't correct you.

If you are already a spanish speaker you won't have any trouble understanding argentines, unless they began speaking and using alot of Lunfardo....then that can make things different. But usually with other latinos from other countries they'll keep the Lunfardo down to a minimum. Besides, most other latinos are very aware of how argentines use "voseo" and understand it...so they shouldn't have any issues. We have a girl in my office from Nicaragua and I have no problems understanding her, neither does anyone else. Now, sometimes on the phone it's a challenge, even for my wife.

I have a hard time understanding Dominicans or Puerto Ricans and Venezuelans sometimes over the phone, but not in person...people from Ecuador or Peru I personally find to have the clearest most neurtral spanish. besides that some of the people from the villa that use alot of the slang that the lower classes speak here in Argentina I have a really hard time. Even my argentine wife does as well she tells me.

 

[Girino]

Colombians claim their Spanish is the purest. Indeed, it was quite easy to understand them, but sometimes here I have great difficulties with porteño Spanish. There are people I can understand just fine, and people I can't understand even when they ask something as simple as "¿de donde sos? It is pretty frustrating right now. I have been here a year now and I can't still speak about the future or past. I speak my native language all the time, I work with the English all day... I never get a chance to study or practice Spanish!

 

[EricBluegrassFiddle]

Colombians claim their Spanish is the purest. Indeed, it was quite easy to understand them, but sometimes here I have great difficulties with porteño Spanish. There are people I can understand just fine, and people I can't understand even when they ask something as simple as "¿de donde sos? It is pretty frustrating right now. I have been here a year now and I can't still speak about the future or past. I speak my native language all the time, I work with the English all day... I never get a chance to study or practice Spanish!

I do as well....you spoke spanish before you came? For how long?

 

[Girino]

I have never studied Spanish, nor I do study it now. I just wait for it to grow on me. ;(

 

[CanaCroat]

So just an idea, why not teach English in Croatia? of course you want to escape next winter, but maybe begin to think about an English teaching position in Hvar for when you go broke and get sick of B.A. in May 2016

I do have Croatian citizenship in addition to my Canadian, and I have thought about doing this. However, English is actually quite well known by the younger generation, their knowledge is decent as it's becoming standard to learn English in school now. Additionally, most academic institutions want at least a four year degree, where as I only have a two year degree. The only option with a TESOL might be private tutoring but that might be hard to come by and not pay very well, especially on Hvar haha. I'd probably only have a decent chance of private tutoring in Zagreb, and that still a big if. I'd be better off buying a property on the coast and converting it to a hostel

 

[EricBluegrassFiddle]

I have never studied Spanish, nor I do study it now. I just wait for it to grow on me. ;(

Well, I had always studied it, I had a very basic foundation when I got here, then I met my wife, we got married and my wife, who has a background as a teacher began giving me daily assignments, basic ones, then intermediate and then more advanced as I progressed. Of course botts on the ground here, "the every day" helped me as well. So, after a while, then I started learning lunfardo LOL....it's a process, but you have to work at it...

 

[syngirl]

I have been here a year now and I can't still speak about the future or past. I speak my native language all the time, I work with the English all day... I never get a chance to study or practice Spanish!

Well, I guess look on the bright side, you can just live in the moment As the saying goes, there's no time like the present....

 

[johnw100]

Interested to know why your moving from Vancouver to BA? I`ve never been to Vancouver but some friends who emigrated there go on about it and it always ranks up there in the top 5 of world cities to live in.

 

[syngirl]

JohnW100 -- I'm from Vancouver originally too, came here 10 years ago. Vancouver is a gorgeous city, but it is full of completely unaffordable housing. The salaries are not competitive with the cost of living, and things are really coming a head there. House prices in town are C$1.2 m average -- or US$1m -- and what you get for 1m in Vancouver isn't anything like what you'll get for 1m in Los Angeles. 1m in Vancouver gets you a crackhouse -- sometimes quite literally.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/House+prices+continue+soar+Vancouver+million+average+price/10974058/story.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/Gallery+Crack+shack+mansion/2917466/story.html

I miss the sports, I miss the water, I miss the late summer nights. I don't miss the rain, I don't miss the materialism, I don't miss their idea of social life. I would love to have the access to water and mountain sports again, and the food of course, but life beyond sports can be pretty blah. And expensive.

 

[johnw100]

JohnW100 -- I'm from Vancouver originally too, came here 10 years ago. Vancouver is a gorgeous city, but it is full of completely unaffordable housing. The salaries are not competitive with the cost of living, and things are really coming a head there. House prices in town are C$1.2 m average -- or US$1m -- and what you get for 1m in Vancouver isn't anything like what you'll get for 1m in Los Angeles. 1m in Vancouver gets you a crackhouse -- sometimes quite literally.

http://www.vancouver...4058/story.html

http://www.vancouver...7466/story.html

I miss the sports, I miss the water, I miss the late summer nights. I don't miss the rain, I don't miss the materialism, I don't miss their idea of social life. I would love to have the access to water and mountain sports again, and the food of course, but life beyond sports can be pretty blah. And expensive.

I decided to check it out myself, I dont know much but about the areas but surely this looks a pretty reasonable house considering its 30mins from downtown vancouver without traffic at ca$800k in North Vancouver.
http://www.realtor.c...mbia-V7K2M6#v=d

Buenos Aires detached house in Martinez (50mins to downtown without traffic) - same price, same number of bedrooms,same floor space, bonus of a pool and 7 foot high fence to keep the burglars out.
http://www.argentina.../?id_prop=16666

I was offered a job in vancouver about 6 years ago . I was tempted, it was the same wage as I was earning in London. But i wanted warmer climate and less rain.Seemed more affordable though.There is no way you`d get a detached house , 30mins from central london for ca$2m. You`d get an attached flat for ca$800k in London hehe. I guess Vancouver has become a victim of its own success.

I agree that living here you learn to appreciate the simpler things in life, and the social side is good. I do think the material things here between many people is exactly the same here though.It depends on the class of people you are around but I know many people here who have credit upto their necks in order to have a new car, Caribbean holiday or spending $10.000 pesos on a birthday party for little Juans 4th birthday. Even people who live in half finished houses here seem to have brand new cars. I guess cars here are more about status than houses.