Thoughts on Spanglish?

[thewanderer]

Has anyone tried the Spanglish meet-ups? (www.spanglishexchange.com) I see it mentioned in passing in old threads, but I can't find any in-depth reviews or impressions. I'm taking Spanish classes at UBA, but definitely need to do more conversing, so I'm considering my options. But I'm a little thrown at how Spanglish is set up like speed dating. I'm here in BA with my husband (he's interested in Spanglish too) so obviously we're not looking to meet people to date, and I don't want to waste my time if all the conversations are centered around getting to know the person across from you better in hopes that that certain spark will be there. If some people are using it like a dating service, that's totally cool with me, I just don't want to go there and be shunned by the locals because I'm not amorously available. Thoughts?

 

[LivinginArgentina]

I personally have done Spanglish and found it to be quite fun. The one critique I would have is that because you are only at one table for 10 minutes, and then you switch tables, it starts to feel like you are having the same conversation over and over again as you move from table to table.
However, it is a great place to meet locals and foreigners and you get a free cocktail - and it cost $20 pesos. So what do you have to lose?

Oh, almost forgot. There is another conversational class called "So to Speak" run by Club Europeo. On Wednesday nights they do a similar conversational class like Spanglish except that they only speak spanish and they do not have the speed dating set up. It is more like an open conversation setting to practice your speech and listening skills. Here is the web site: http://www.clubeuropeo.com/.

Hope that helps.

 

[RobW]

I thought the same thing, but its not like that. The times I went, there were a couple of dudes that looked that part, but the majority were locals interested in improving their English and foreigners from all different places trying to practice their Spanish. They have a few moderators that guide the tables from time to time to make sure everyone is learning. Not a bad way to actually put those classes to use .

Also, I saw these guys today; http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=306941960144&ref=ts might be an option as well, but it looks like they are brand new.

 

[missveronica]

I'll ask hubby to connect me to skype or msn and we could chat...how 'bout that?
That's gonna help you get better

 

[Napoleon]

I've done Spanglish before and if it were speed dating, I would have tag-teamed a non-native Spanish speaker who was serving as the Spanish expert along with a non-native English speaker who was serving as the English expert.

Then I would have had a quickie with an early 20-something guy who is from Misiones (maybe) who is in Buenos Aires studying fashion design.

Then there would have been consecutive ladies in their 60s from the Buenos Aires area (one of whom I'd have to have shared with a married guy from Montana) and finally a really cute mid 20-something Argentine that I would have had to share with an American girl.

You might find this hard to believe, but I didn't sleep with any of them. I didn't even kiss any of them... or get a phone number, or ask for a phone number, or get asked for a phone number.

It is set up like speed dating in that you talk to someone for a short time and then move on. If this were how religious conversions were done, then it would be compared to religious conversions. It is how some job interviews are done, but comparing something to that isn't a great way to get people to come out and practice their Spanish... or English.

Most people are there to practice their Spanish/ English.
Some people might want to see if they can make friends to practice outside of Spanglish.
Some people might be interested in meeting someone to date.
And some people are interested in the cultural exchange aspect and learning about the world of someone from a different background than their own.

The two older women that I spoke with were obviously interested in people from different parts of the world and the lives they left behind. Since the crash, the locals can't travel nearly as much (some haven't left the country since), so they like to interact with extranjeros in an attempt at filling the void from lack of travel.

Go, enjoy it. It's about AR$20 and lasts about an hour and a half. If you need to be talked into it just so you can do something that's going to improve your Spanish, it might be too much for you. Hell, TRAVELING might be too much for you. And when nobody hits on you, don't come crying back to this board saying "I was hoping that it would be a little more like speed dating than it was... :-( "

 

[oxente!]

I have been to Spanglish and I can definitely recommend it - -it´s a fun, unpretentious way to get speaking Spanish and start meeting people. Try it!

 

[BAJoe]

Spanglish is ON TONITE, despite the holiday.
7-930pm at Hotel Panamericano, in front of Obelisco. (Carlos Pellegrini and Lavalle)
Main lobby, at the "Celtic Pub"
Hope you can come

 

[thewanderer]

Thanks everyone. I actually went last week, and though I did feel (as someone else mentioned) a little like I was having the same conversation over and over, I had fun and will definitely go again.

 

[Napoleon]

I went last Thursday and definitely NAILED what I'm doing in BsAs and how long I've been here. (I've got that down.) Then I bought a ticket to their 1 Year Anniversary Party that was on Saturday night. That was pretty fun. Totally packed. And I saw lots of familiar faces (both from Spanglish and from BsAs in general).

It turns out that I'm not the only one who has enjoyed the Spanglish in the last 7 days.

BA Herald writer Sorrel Moseley-Williams did too:

Loosen your lips and learn Spanglish

Eighteen-year-old Jim is in Argentina for a few weeks with his older sister Carla. Staying in Belgrano for a few weeks before he starts university in the US, the siblings really want to practise their Spanish – which they both learned in high school – but they don’t know how to go about meeting native speakers in such a short time frame.

http://www.sorrelmw.com/spanglish/

PS- If you read the article and try to figure out the timeline of the 1 year anniversary, you may be spinning your wheels. But it's a good read.