Newbie Looking For Advice From You Oldies

[Lulu-Kyoko]

I have a private teacher three times a week (2 hours x 3) and I am also taking group lessons three times a week at Vos (a tourist school in Recoleta, 2 hours x 3). It seems to be a pretty good combination...

I agree that full immersion is the best, but it's not that easy in a city like BA, especially if travelling alone. It takes a little while to meet people and make friends and learning with a book and a CD can be really isolating.

That said, by all means, try to live with Argentines.

 

[Ceviche]

Argentina is not the best place to learn Spanish if u dont intend living here long term.

 

[Iznogud]

Find yourself a disposable BF.

 

[lucha54]

Check out Bueno, entonces... Spanish language learning videos. They teach specifically Argentine accent and a lot of colloquialisms/ slang... if you buy it in app format for iPod or iPhone/iPad I think it's only $50 or something like that. They are funny too but not interactive, so you should do conversation classes as well at the very least.
I had a really good private teacher who explained that if you can only do a few hours a week, work on grammar and your proficiency. If you can do a few hours a day, you can focus more on conversation and combining both speaking and studying grammar. But he said that the more grammar you learn, the harder it is to be fluent because you're so busy thinking about speaking correctly. When you practice conversation, you might make a ton of mistakes but you'll get used to listening and speaking without worrying and mostly people will understand you and not be bothered by your mistakes (especially the funny false cognates). The only thing is that you get used to making mistakes and thinking they are not mistakes. I can send you the info for the private teacher but I think he's on the pricier side (~100pesos/hour). Still, amazing guy.

He trains Argentines who are getting their certification to teach Spanish at the international house in Belgrano. Every July and January/February (during school holidays) they do these 1 month intensive courses that are FREE to the students (because the teachers-in-training are paying; they create a different lesson every day to be evaluated) and those classes are 2 hours/day for 4 weeks in a row. I got so much out of this free course, I can't begin to explain. If the timing works out for you and they offer your level during their next free course, this is a great way to learn both grammar and conversation practice, and it's FREE!!! I did it last July and they had both beginners level and intermediate. After that they had a once weekly (also free) advanced course but I never went because I had a scheduling conflict. If you want any more info about anything I've mentioned you can send me a PM!!

 

[amsam]

If you were attracted to Buenos Aires, then THIS is where you should come. I gotta say, this board is an amazing help, but as someone (like me) who will be here for a finite period you have to take with a grain of salt the perspective of the people who live here full-time. The board serves both groups of people and sometimes it's daunting to read full-time expats vent about everything that sucks about living here. Like, I live in New York and if someone asked me if they should move there for 6 mo I'd say they should think twice, it's super expensive and overrated and a tourist trap-- but if you got those NYC dreams, gurl, Cincinatti ain't gonna cut it for you. If you love the idea of BsAs it's probably because you are attracted to the things a very big city offers. So Spanish lessons aren't the cheapest you could find in all South/Central America, people do not talk slowly, but YOU WILL NOT BE BORED.

In terms of lessons, I just looked at a bunch of schools, found the same info as everyone else here-- I settled on a tutor who works from home, charges WAY less per hour than a class (!) at any school I found, and personalizes the work to my needs/tastes.

Once you have the rudiments, get a hobby and meet locals that way. This is a huge city, there's something for everyone.