Thoughts on Being an Expat in Buenos Aires

[FuturoBA]

Great to hear how Portenos and the locals don't care so much about money, reading too many boards/posts/reddit and news clouds one's senses lol. I'm taking classes w mostly Argentine teachers and it's been fun learning their accent and learning their language, by no means am I fluent but everyday getting better. Like you I believe anyone who comes here should at the minimum learn the language. It's funny how you mention many Portenos speaking English as well, one of my spanish teachers is one and we ended up speaking more English than Spanish during the class. Great gal and great way for me to learn about BA directly from a local.

Dustin Luke I admit I love him (no homo) and I took a month course with him at think it was called spanish speaking hacks. Awesome guy. My schedule changed where they had the weekly meetups or I would have continued. I just love the Argentine accent and hoping to develop one myself.

 

[earlyretirement]

Great to hear how Portenos and the locals don't care so much about money, reading too many boards/posts/reddit and news clouds one's senses lol. I'm taking classes w mostly Argentine teachers and it's been fun learning their accent and learning their language, by no means am I fluent but everyday getting better. Like you I believe anyone who comes here should at the minimum learn the language. It's funny how you mention many Portenos speaking English as well, one of my spanish teachers is one and we ended up speaking more English than Spanish during the class. Great gal and great way for me to learn about BA directly from a local.

Dustin Luke I admit I love him (no homo) and I took a month course with him at think it was called spanish speaking hacks. Awesome guy. My schedule changed where they had the weekly meetups or I would have continued. I just love the Argentine accent and hoping to develop one myself.

That's fabulous that you're learning and have an Argentine teacher. But make her speak only in Spanish with you. That happened to me with my Spanish tutor when I moved here. It was after the devastating corralito and she didn't have many clients at all. She was always speaking in English. Finally I had to tell her there is a rule that NO English until the last 10 minutes. LOL.

That's great you know Dustin Luke. Awesome. I've never met him but my local friends sounds EXACTLY like him. Cracks me up to listen to him.

Don't worry too much. Don't overthink this or read too much stuff as it's going to conscienously shape your experience. I agree researching is good but don't over think it. Things will flow. Go to a closed table restaurant. I'm not sure if Dan with Casa Salt Shaker is still doing his dinners. But try and see. He is a great guy. An American that set up a closed door restaurant. I did that when I first got there.

Although I have to admit some of the people were sketchy! LOL. There was this fellow TripAdvisor Destination Expert with the screen name "AV Rooster". We sparred on the board all the time as I was the younger "new generation" giving out tons of advice. He was the older generation telling people to look stuff up. He was a really old grumpy guy. If you can imagine the old guy in "Up". Imagine the Argentine version and that was him.

So at the dinner at Dan's house the first thing he does is pulls out this Samari Sword on me! LOL. Like the dude brought this sword to dinner so he could show me or pull it out on me. I'm not sure his intent or thought process. LOL. I wasn't scared but I thought to myself this is an old Argentine guy that brought a sword from his house to a dinner. It just seemed weird to me!. I was a bit confused but it was a fun night. I remember my Porteño friend and I looking at AV Rooster and I told/asked Lucho, "¿Todos los viejos argentinos están así de locos? !

We just laughed all night.

Futuro, I guess my point is you never know what can come out of doing stuff like that. Don't overthink things. You WILL meet people. Today it's easier than ever. Also, do outside the box stuff. I started seeing a therapist in Buenos Aires - https://bacounseling.com.ar. It was awesome and I wish I started earlier. Expats deal with all kinds of issues. She has become very important in my life. I see her twice a week. My point is you never know where you will make friends.

 

[Paige55]

I didn't find Argentina so rough and tumble when it came to making friends. I didn't speak the language at first but began going to events that I'd go to back home in the States. Wine tastings, live music, theater, photography classes, film festivals. I listened...a lot, and intently. So, I learned that way. Words become familiar and you'll likely understand what's being said before you're comfortable enough to speak it forthright. Like has been stated, many Argentine friends will speak English and are very patient and complimentary with you while you're learning Spanish.

I made several groups of close friends fast, but I'm also an open and curious person with no expectations of certain outcomes, which helps. And genuine. So, if you have ulterior motives, or you're just here on vacation...of course, that's likely harder as people can suss that out quickly.

I've immigrated here, so my intention was to settle-in, with the idea of being here for life. When I met people, we were already in a setting where we had something in common. The culture is so warm and welcoming from my experiences in the ten years I've been living here. From the shops I go to daily, to the parents of my best friend. Everyone has entertained a kind conversation. It's something I didn't experience much in the U.S.

It might depend on what social strata you belong to? As in the States, some folks with loads of money tend to be a bit more guarded and weary (in any new locale) of making new friends at a rapid pace and some of those friendships are superficial, so the capacity for something deeper is hard and relations seem almost transactional, which is a turn-off to many. Maybe they go in with a lack of trust?

I can't pretend to know what that luxury sphere is like, I don't own a pied-à-terre in an upscale barrio. That life has never appealed to me and I'd be deemed a pauper by some that post here. I live closer to the means of my neighbors, perhaps, than other yanquis, admittedly.

TLDR Version: I think, in Argentina...heart and soul are woven into the tapestry. I hope everyone gets to genuinely connect here, it's not an uphill climb for everyone and I know many others who've been welcomed just as I have, with open arms, a sip of fernet-cola and a conversation that lasted all night, into the dawn.

 

[Rich One]

Also Futuro, I'm not sure if you know this American. He is HILARIOUS! Watch his YouTube Channel.

See I LOVE Ex-Pats like this that embrace Spanish. My Argentine friends say he speaks Castellano better than them!

​

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXqDGBK5sTIDil17FfCDvjw

Just learn these phrases -

And use them around Porteños and they will love you for at least trying! You will endear yourself to them.

I did stuff like this when I moved to Buenos Aires and I made friends fast with locals. My Spanish wasn't perfect like this guy (and still isn't) but Argentines LOVE an Ex-Pat enough that respects their country enough to try. Also, girls thought it was hilarious and loved it. Let's just say in my bachelor years I had a LOT of Argentine girlfriends.

I feel really proud that I can fully conduct business and go into ANY business meeting and communicate 100%. Still not perfect but I love the culture and the language and would love to get fully fluent and speak perfect like this Gringo.

The biggest problem you will have is lots of Porteños speak English. ALL the educated ones do and they love practicing their English. So many times you will speak English even when you don't want to! LOL.

Good luck!

Dustin is amazing, a Prodigy, never met an anglo speaker that could acquire such a good Porteño accent. My word of advice for expats, work with a speech phonetics expert to reduce the "gringo accent". Essential to ease communications. Forget grammar....

 

[earlyretirement]

I didn't find Argentina so rough and tumble when it came to making friends. I didn't speak the language at first but began going to events that I'd go to back home in the States. Wine tastings, live music, theater, photography classes, film festivals. I listened...a lot, and intently. So, I learned that way. Words become familiar and you'll likely understand what's being said before you're comfortable enough to speak it forthright. Like has been stated, many Argentine friends will speak English and are very patient and complimentary with you while you're learning Spanish.

I made several groups of close friends fast, but I'm also an open and curious person with no expectations of certain outcomes, which helps. And genuine. So, if you have ulterior motives, or you're just here on vacation...of course, that's likely harder as people can suss that out quickly.

I've immigrated here, so my intention was to settle-in, with the idea of being here for life. When I met people, we were already in a setting where we had something in common. The culture is so warm and welcoming from my experiences in the ten years I've been living here. From the shops I go to daily, to the parents of my best friend. Everyone has entertained a kind conversation. It's something I didn't experience much in the U.S.

It might depend on what social strata you belong to? As in the States, some folks with loads of money tend to be a bit more guarded and weary (in any new locale) of making new friends at a rapid pace and some of those friendships are superficial, so the capacity for something deeper is hard and relations seem almost transactional, which is a turn-off to many. Maybe they go in with a lack of trust?

I can't pretend to know what that luxury sphere is like, I don't own a pied-à-terre in an upscale barrio. That life has never appealed to me and I'd be deemed a pauper by some that post here. I live closer to the means of my neighbors, perhaps, than other yanquis, admittedly.

TLDR Version: I think, in Argentina...heart and soul are woven into the tapestry. I hope everyone gets to genuinely connect here, it's not an uphill climb for everyone and I know many others who've been welcomed just as I have, with open arms, a sip of fernet-cola and a conversation that lasted all night, into the dawn.

WOW! I'm LOVING where this forum is going when I see probably mainly a "lurker" and posting that amazingly helpful post. Thanks Paige55! Keep it up. I think it's spot on target. Definitely I'm not saying it's impossible to meet friends. Quite the opposite. It's easy to meet people but my point was the weekly asados, etc. But as you mentioned, you make friends. I buy fruits and vegetables from the same person for years. You get to know them. I got get my haircut at the same guy. You make friends.

No one cares how much money you make or where you lived. Really that NEVER comes up in conversation. You all go hang out at your favorite bar to grab a beer or wine and some empanadas. They really enjoy dining out. Once you make some local friends your issue will be meeting up so often.

My wife's cousin from Colombia moved there this summer while we were there to go to Medical School in Buenos Aires. At first she hated BA because she said it was hard to make friends. But then she met a ton of people on social apps. Today it's easier than ever to meet up with like minded people. Thanks for contributing to the forum.

 

[earlyretirement]

Dustin is amazing, a Prodigy, never met an anglo speaker that could acquire such a good Porteño accent. My word of advice for expats, work with a speech phonetics expert to reduce the "gringo accent". Essential to ease communications. Forget grammar....

So true! My Porteño friends say Dustin speaks better Spanish than they do! And it's true!

 

[Paige55]

WOW! I'm LOVING where this forum is going when I see probably mainly a "lurker" and posting that amazingly helpful post. Thanks Paige55! Keep it up. I think it's spot on target. Definitely I'm not saying it's impossible to meet friends. Quite the opposite. It's easy to meet people but my point was the weekly asados, etc. But as you mentioned, you make friends. I buy fruits and vegetables from the same person for years. You get to know them. I got get my haircut at the same guy. You make friends.

No one cares how much money you make or where you lived. Really that NEVER comes up in conversation. You all go hang out at your favorite bar to grab a beer or wine and some empanadas. They really enjoy dining out. Once you make some local friends your issue will be meeting up so often.

My wife's cousin from Colombia moved there this summer while we were there to go to Medical School in Buenos Aires. At first she hated BA because she said it was hard to make friends. But then she met a ton of people on social apps. Today it's easier than ever to meet up with like minded people. Thanks for contributing to the forum.

I should add, the friendships I was able to forge...from the outset, were the 'asado' type. It just takes stepping outside preconceived notions and, slightly out of your comfort zone. But, a welcoming nature is in this country's DNA. Also, a total lurker. I admittedly can't contribute much to real estate queries or the like.

 

[earlyretirement]

I should add, the friendships I was able to forge...from the outset, were the 'asado' type. It just takes stepping outside preconceived notions and, slightly out of your comfort zone. But, a welcoming nature is in this country's DNA.

Absolutely Paige! Those asados are amazing aren't they? My friend, Lucho is like my brother and he does something truly amazing. He did these asados almost at least 1 or 2 times a month. No matter how busy we were we would go out and buy a TON of beef, chorizo and all the fixings. Then he will tell each person in our group they all had to invite 1 new person. So we'd have a group of about 6 of us that all were bringing foreigners/ex-pats to these asados. EVERY SINGLE person fell in love with Argentina through these authentic experiences.

Lucho would buy all the meats himself (same beef that Don Julio sells in their restaurant they sell and it's AMAZING). He had his own parilla (outdoor grill) on his rooftop that could fit maybe 30 people. So he would be busy cooking and everyone would be entertaining. See THIS is the Argentina I know and love. Those type of authentic experiences. This is what ex-pats should be looking for. Because if you find it, it will truly change your life for the better. You will never want to go back to your home countries once you find this peace and love.

Lucho even met his now girlfriend! Someone brought this ex-pat from Hong Kong and 4 years together they are still in love and together. What attracted him to her is she brought this big ass bottle of wine to the Asado. Nothing works faster to a Porteños heart than than seriously good Vino.

 

[lostandconfused]

earlyretirement, do you ever stop talking about yourself and how awesome and rich you are?

 

[Alby]

Forget grammar....

I think better advice than to forget grammar is to know that there are two grammars: that of the spoken language and that of the written language. We can get away with things in the former that we can’t in the latter. We need things in the latter that we don’t need in the former. Be clear about which grammar you want. And if it is the grammar of the spoken language, find a teacher who knows the difference and who doesn’t waste your time on written exercises that make you practice and test grammatical forms that you will rarely need when speaking.