Tea/coffee Chat To Practice Spanish

[bedouin262]

Hello BA expats!

My name is Kate and I'm relatively new to the expatriate community. I arrived in BA at the end of January eager to test/improve my Spanish skills. I minored in Spanish as an undergraduate but have since done a terrible job of maintaining those conversation skills. So here I am in BA ready to improve.

I'm hoping to connect with some other expats for some conversation practice. I still get nervous when speaking with the locals beyond the most basic of interactions. I think it would be helpful to meet up and chat about whatever with some other non-portenos (who hopefully speak slower). Plus it would be nice to make a few extra friends along the way.

I'm currently staying in the Palermo Zoo area of the city if there's anyone nearby that would like to meet up for tea/coffee/whatever chat.

 

[camel]

Come to Coffee Chat on Tuesdays, it will be posted in the Expat Life forum: http://baexpats.org/forum/6-expat-life/

One trick for talking to locals I've found - talk to old people, they often speak slower and more clearly.

 

[Ceviche]

Best to practice with natives.

I have encountered many foreigners who speak absolutely bad Spanish ( but with supreme confidence) and one can lose confidence in one's own ability with Spanish very fast trying to converse with foreigners who are students of the language, like you.

Best way is to practice with a professional teacher or with local natives such as taxi drivers or passer-bys.

When I meet a foreigner who tries to talk to me in Spanish - I halt him immediately and say - I am only comfortable with English though my Spanish is close to advanced level now - after years of hard work and thanks to consistent traveling within South & central America and getting exposed to all sorts of accents and new words!

 

[Girino]

Hi Kate, I'll be happy to have coffee with you! PM me to arrange something.

 

[gracielle]

Camel...re:

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]One trick for talking to locals I've found - talk to old people, they often speak slower and more clearly. [/background]

Your statement is valid in general terms. But try using other terms to describe seniors, such as mature, aged, elderly, etc.

Viejos son los trapos!

 

[florence]

I find it helpful when I enter a store or start a conversation or ask a question of someone I don’t know to begin by saying: “Disculpe, no hablo bien el español.” It resets their expectations and most people are really helpful then. A couple of times, pure Porteños have replied jokingly: ”Yo, tampoco.”

 

[bedouin262]

Thanks for the tip Florence. I'll try it out next time.

 

[BlueArrow]

I've been starting conversations with "Lo siento, mi español no es muy bueno." I hope that's not poor form. I must say that in all instances so far people have been universally friendly, even if they don't understand enough to be able to help me. Most times I just power through with my bad Spanish though and they understand enough to point me in the right direction.

A few times when I've been completely stuck a passerby overhears, quickly translates both ways, and keeps going about their business, sometimes before I even have a chance to thank them. Maybe I've been lucky so far.

I have zero nervousness or shame about knowing the language. I'm not a native speaker and I have to learn somehow. One Argentine co-worker did tell me I "sound like a retard" so there are probably others that think it but don't say it, but oh well.

I'm only three blocks from the Palermo Zoo myself, so hello neighbor.

 

[camel]

Just learn how to say "I sound like a retard", and that can be your new intro.