Study Spanish.

[donquixote]

Hola todos.
I will be arriving in BsAs to study spanish and enjoy the city with all it's culture. I have completed 2 yrs of Spanish studies in the U.S., Mexican Spanish is most widly spoken here. The question is, how much different is Castellano spoken in Argentina then Spanish spoken in most of South America? Will I benifit by studying Spanish in Argentina?
DQ

 

[Ernie]

Hello DonQuixote,As long as you refrain from using Mexican slang, you will do fine here. The main difference lies in accent and pronunciation. Enjoy your stay!CheersErnie

 

[igor]

donQ,In many schools you have an option to decide what version of Spanish you want to stick with. Many european students prefer to learn spanish from Spain and are not really interested in Argentine dialect.The difference is not so big, actually. There is one verb form that is absolutely different and it takes a while to get used to it. And "ll" and "y" are pronounced as "zh" or "sh" and not as "j". There are a few words that are different as well: frutilla instead of fresa, mantecilla instead of manteca etc. But basically it is still Spanish. I think if you get to another country you will adjust to local version of spanish within a couple of weeks.

 

[kolyiken]

I´d rather say that the main big-big difference is not in the nouns, but in the colloquial form of using "vos" instead of "tú". That´s a hell of a difference.
Don´t hesitate in email me if you need some advice about Spanish classes.
Daniel
[email protected]

 

[Ernie]

Hello Daniel,I must disagree with you here. Calling people "tú" instead of "vos" will cause no problem at all. I would say that few people would understand him is he used Mexican slang words like "buey", for example.Just a thoughtCheersErnie

 

[donquixote]

Ernie.
You keep refering to my use of Mexican slang. We were taught both the vosotros and tu tenses of the Spanish language as well as correct grammar in college. Speaking of correct grammar, I think you can use some instruction in the correct usage of english grammar. ie "I would say that few people would understand him is he used Mexican slang words like "buey". I've been to Argentina twice and I found that the Argentine people have the foulest mouths of any people I've ever encountered
Just a thought
DQ

 

[Ernie]

DonQuixote,You wrote "You keep refering to my use of Mexican slang". I did not refer to "your" use of Mexican slang. All I said was "As long as you refrain from using Mexican slang, you will do fine here". Please read and understand before you answer. Since you are so keen on correct grammar, "referring", is spelled with two "r's", not one.
You wrote "We
were taught both the vosotros and tu infinitives of the Spanish
language as well as correct grammar in college." If you say so... I have no proof of it. Write in Spanish and we can analyse your grammar skills.
You wrote "Speaking of correct
grammar, I think you can use some instruction in the correct usage of
english grammar. ie "I would say that few people would understand him
is he used Mexican slang words like "buey". For the sake of correct grammar, kindly write "English" with a capital E from now on. Thank you. Mine was a typing mistake "is" instead of "if". Sorry, you sounded like you needed help, I was trying to assist you. My mistake.
Lastly, you wrote "I've been to Argentina
twice and I found that the Argentine people have the foulest mouths of
any people I've ever encountered.". You were here twice and you already know everything about us, right? I wonder if the foul language and your name were used in the same sentence. Or simply what kind of people you have been hanging out with.
You may have been taught correct grammar in college, but they obviously forgot to teach you manners.
Anyway, have a good time in Argentina. CheersErnie

 

[Elpanada]

I wrote: ... And then you wrote:And then he wrote:.....And then I wrote again:....And he is going to write: ..

 

[Grazie]

DonQ, I am now presently in BsAs again after years of coming back and forth; and I am happy as can be. I am living my everyday life ( buying the paper, grocery, cafe, some work, friends, movies) and I do not speak any castellano spanish. Could you imagine that?! !
I come here for the people and everything else about it is "icing on the cake". Culture, food, museums, shopping...just extras - connecting with people is where it is at. I have made friends here that are so important to me, I think my heart would ache if I had not come back to stay. I am having a grand time - and yes - I do not speak castellano. When I make the connection in the person to person level - language is just not that important anymore. People here are likely to help you, you just have to be sincere in asking for it.
You will do just fine, or even better since you already know spanish. Good luck.

 

[nikad]

DonQ,
Mexican spanish and Argentinian spanish will be definetly understood by mot people here, it is as if you travelled to Australia but only spoke American english: people would understand you and you would understand most of it. I believe what Ernie meant when he was referring to Mexican slang, was that certain phrases/words, would make absolutely no sense here, the example he gave was ¨buey¨, and it is a good one: here it is just an animal whilst in Mexico can be insulting. If I was you I would refrain from using any other countrie´s slang here basically because it would make no sense.
Now regarding your comment about people using foul language, well, you can find that in any country you pick all over the world I guess.
nik