Where to Learn Spanish in Buenos Aires

If you’re going to spend anytime in Argentina it is a great opportunity to study Spanish. Even if you already speak Spanish, you may want to take a couple of classes to learn about the regional use of ‘vos,’ Argentinismos and a bit of Lunfardo, the unique slang used extensively throughout the country, and especially in and around Buenos Aires.

Learning Spanish in Buenos Aires: Public Schools

• Laboratorio de Idiomas, Universidad de Buenos Aires

The University of Buenos Aires Language Laboratory is an obvious option for very inexpensive and high-quality Spanish classes. Here you get a feeling for what its like to be a university student in Argentina — classes are excellent and the bar is set high, but inscription is a bit chaotic, the classrooms have paint falling off the walls, and it’s a miracle if the bathrooms have toilet paper. Students are not given the course material, but in charge of making their own photocopies of the study aids at a nearby copy shop.

Regular courses begin in March and August every year and have four hours of instruction per week for one semester. Their ‘super-intensive’ one-month courses, with 15 hours of instruction per week, are a little more expensive. The university can also provide a certificate confirming that you passed either the basic, intermediate or advance Spanish to provide for school or work.

For those with advanced Spanish they also offer excellent courses in Spanish for foreigners including, ‘Spanish through Cinema,’ ‘Literature of the Rio Plate,’ ‘Culture and Conversation’ and ‘Immigrants in Buenos Aires.’

Language Laboratory of La UBA
25 de Mayo 221
Microcentro
Tel: 4343 1196 / 4334-7512 / 4342-5922

• Instituto de Enseñanza Superior en Lenguas Vivas ‘Juan Ramón Fernández’

Founded in 1904, the Instituto de Enseñanza Superior en Lenguas Vivas, commonly called ‘Lenguas Vivas’ is a school set in a beautiful historic building in the Retiro neighborhood. It functions as a secondary school and provides adult education.

They offer two-month courses with eight hours of instruction per week or four-month courses with four hours of instruction per week. These courses are great for those who speak well enough to get around, but want to keep improving at a steady pace. They also offer more advanced classes than the University of Buenos Aires, which only goes up to ‘level seven’ Spanish.

Their Spanish classes, taught by ex-University of Buenos Aires professors, tend to be slightly less expensive than the university. As with many state institutes, the professors are excellent but the administrative department is a disaster.

Lenguas Vivas
Carlos Pellegrini 1515
Retiro
Tel: 4322-3992 /96/ 98

— Learn Spanish Online! —

Private Schools

Private Spanish schools are a good option for those who don’t want to deal with the bureaucracy of a state school or whose schedules don’t fit with the classes offered at those institutes. Additionally, private schools tend to offer a smaller class size for more personalized instruction, extracurricular activities, and creature comforts such as nice chairs, classrooms with heat and air conditioning and beverages.

• Expanish

There are many private institutes in Buenos Aires. One of them, Expanish is one of Buenos Aires’ most successful and well-known private Spanish schools. The school is located downtown in an historic UNESCO World Heritage building.

Expanish offers an intensive Spanish course of 20 hours per week, an intensive Spanish Plus class, which combines group classes with one-on-one instruction for a total of 30 hours per week and tailor made one-on-one classes.

Other courses include Spanish & Tango and Business Spanish. Class size is small, with a maximum of nine students per class.

Additionally the school has a student lounge, a study room and library, free wifi throughout the building and is fully accessible for wheelchair users. Extra curricular activities include film screenings, city tours, workshops and group excursions. A big bonus is the rooftop terrace with awesome views and a cafeteria to get something to eat and hang out between classes.

The school can also arrange homestays with an Argentine family or a room in shared apartment as well as volunteer opportunities that will allow you to improve your language skills while helping out the community.

Expanish is accredited by The Association of Language Centers (SEA) and follows a curriculum set by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF).

Expanish Spanish School
Tte Gral Juan D Perón 700
Microcentro
Tel: 5252-3040
From abroad: 1-888-EXPANISH

→ Read our guide on how to learn Argentine Spanish online on Wander-Argentina.org

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Lunfardo: The Dirty Slang of Buenos Aires

Lunfardo is a jargon of about 5,000 words that emerged among the lower classes in Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. It first grew out of cocoliche, a pidgin used by immigrants during the first wave of immigration to Argentina. The Argentine Creole was born out of a need to communicate among people who had different regional dialects of their respective languages, mostly Spanish and Italian.

Lunfardo is closely tied with the tango culture and has roots in the criminal underbelly — much of the dialect was developed in the prisons as a way for inmates to speak amongst themselves without being understood by guards. Lunfardo later incorporated smatterings of words from other immigrant groups, the gauchos, or cowboys, of Argentina, the indigenous of the country and African slaves.

Lunfardo is employed in the River Plate region and although it has permeated Argentine culture, the vocabulary is not widely understood in other Spanish-speaking countries with the exception of Uruguay.

noenamorasedeunboludo — ‘How to Not Fall in Love with a Boludo’ —Lunfardo in popular culture

In addition to Italian words that have been imported directly into the Argentine lingo, such as, ciao (spelled ‘chau’ in Argentina), to bid farewell, there are a plethora of Lunfardo words with easily traceable Italian roots. The word mina, commonly used to refer to a woman, comes from the Italian word ‘femmina,’ the verb ‘laburar,’ meaning ‘to work’ and derived from the word ‘lavorare,’ is frequently used in place of the verb trabajar. Fiaca, used to describe a state of laziness, comes from the Italian word ‘fiacco.’

Similarly, ñoquis is the Argentine version of the Italian ‘gnocci.’ Besides describing the pasta dish that has become common to eat on the 29^th of each month when money is tight, the term can also make reference to the size of genitalia or be applied to someone who gets paid for a job they don’t do.

Another term almost as ubiquitous as ‘che,’ despite its rather impolite implications is the word boludo/a, used incessantly by teenagers, much to the torment of teachers and well-meaning parents. Although literally referring to the size of someone’s testis (yes, references to genitalia are abundant in Lunfardo) it takes on the meaning of ‘idiot’ or ‘jerk’ and is used by friends to playfully address each other or as an insult in a heated conversation. Synonymous with boludo is the word pelotudo/a, although this word usually has harsher implications.

African influences in Lunfardo can be heard with the use of quilombo, a heavily colloquial term that has found its way into everyday use. Originally, a quilombo was a gathering place for slaves, and in some areas referred to a brothel, but over time the word took on a meaning more synonymous to a ‘total mess’ or ‘disaster.’

Another word that sounds so pretty but can turn out ugly is chamuyo. This can be innocent sweet talk from a guy trying to score with a girl or out-right scheming and scamming. The verb for the word is chamuyar and a person who does it is called a chamuyero. A worker who talks about what a great job he’ll do while dollar signs are rolling in his eyes, or an acquaintance who swears they’ll do a favor and then evades phone calls or a guy who swears he’ll love a girl forever and then abandons her after she’s knocked up –- all fall within the chamuyero spectrum.

Fundamental to Lunfardo, and characteristic of the wordplay it is recognized for, is vesre. Vesre is a feature of Lunfardo that can be likened to Pig Latin for adults, formed by switching around the syllable of the words, similar to the verlan of French. An example is the word vesre itself – switch it up and it becomes revés, meaning ‘reverse.’ Suddenly the reason this slang is named vesre is no mystery. Thus in Lunfardo, café (coffee) becomes feca, mujer (woman)/ jermu, amigo (friend)/ gomía, pizza /zapi (also the name of a major Argentine pizza chain), pagar (to pay)/gapar, abajo (down)/ajoba, tango/gotán (providing the origin of the name of the well-known musical group, Gotán Project.)

Some other vesre terms, such as bolonqui (quilombo) maintain their significance while others such as telo/hotel, take on a slightly different meaning when reversed. A telo is a hotel for couples to escape to for a night or just a few hours specifically to have sex –- useful to know in case a chamuyero invites you to one when you’re in a boliche (club).

Understanding Lunfardo may take some time — even those who have perfect Spanish skills have trouble following Lunfardo-laced conversations, especially when the colloquial banter includes vesre.

While Lunfardo adds a unique and sometimes plebeian flare to the already unique identity of Argentina, it also contributes a dynamic twist to everyday life. Slang is constantly influencing speech and vesre makes the creation of new — although not official — words endless. Although purists believe that a word cannot be considered Lunfardo unless tied to its tango or immigrant roots, Argentines are taking liberties with the vernacular, making it a challenge to ever really get a strong handle on the lingo — and that’s half the fun.

— by Jenna Frisch with Ande Wanderer
(← cont. from Argentinismos)

Argentinismos

The most Argentine word in existence is che, a filler word that was maladapted from Mapudungun, the Mapuche tribe’s language, and has since become widely used across the country. It’s commonly used to call someone’s attention, express surprise or emphasize a statement; it oddly seems to resonate with the English word ‘hey!’

Although used to a lesser extent in some neighboring countries, this term has become closely associated with Argentina as a result of its use by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, who said the word so much on his travels that others began to refer to him as ‘Che.’ In its normal application, to address someone with the word ‘che’ is gender neutral.

WA-che-red — Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara popularized the use of the ‘che’

Other vocabulary words one may hear for the first time in Argentina include ‘piscina’ for ‘pool,’ ‘departmento’ for apartment, ‘vereda’ for sidewalk, ‘bondi’ or ‘colectivo’ for bus and ‘computadora’ for computer.

Something heard in everyday language is the use of ‘re’ not only in its normal use as a prefix to verbs but in place of ‘muy’ (very) as in an Argentinean-ized phrase such as, “(Vos) hablás re bien el Castellano.”

Political Argentinismos

Thanks to Argentina’s unique politics which sometimes harks back to the caudillos of past centuries, and other times resembles the political turbulence of Italy Argentinismos include many evocative political terms. Gorila and facho are terms that gets thrown around a lot, these days toward those who support President Macri. The terms refer to someone who is right-wing. Their opposite is a ‘zurdo/a‘ — someone who is far to the left and usually supports the policies of ex-Presidents Nestór and Cristina Kirchner.
‘Trosko’ may also be used to refer to those politically on the left, in reference to the Marxist movement of Leon Trotsky. Lower class leftists who show up to protests because they are paid and famously given a choripan sausage sandwich for participating are called choripaneros by the gorilas.

‘Mendes’ is the name most Argentines use to refer to the ‘unmentionable’ ex-President Carlos Menem, whose privatization policies are frequently blamed for the 2001 economic crisis.

Argentine Food Terms

When it comes to dining in Argentina, you can pretty much leave your Spanish dictionary at home — it won’t help much. Essential vocabulary words in a traveler’s repertoire include the words medialuna (sweet croissant) and empanada (savory turn-over) and every time you see the word factura (a general term for pastries that also means receipt) you’ll be tempted to wander in that direction. Similarly the most Argentine of all sweets is dulce de leche, a sweet milk paste that is eaten on bread, incorporated into pastry recipes or used to fill alfajores, a beloved shortbread cookie usually found by the check-out in virtually any convenience store.

Along with these delicacies, there are some basic food items that change, such as butter, from manteca – as it appears in many Spanish dictionaries – to mantequilla in Argentina. When buying fruits and vegetables make sure you ask for frutillas instead of fresas for strawberries, paltas instead of aguacates for avocados. Additionally when drinking some birras (beers) at a bar, make sure you ask for maní instead of cacahuate to get some more peanuts at your table.

Some of the culinary specialties unique to Argentina include puchero, a vegetables and meat stew that often includes garbanzo beans and is perfect for a cold night. Another not-to-miss dish is locro, a thick corn soup.

Among the pre-Colombian food found in the Northern regions are two dished that are rather similar: the tamale and humita, corn-based dishes wrapped in steamed corn husks, to be discarded before eating. The main difference between the two is that a tamale generally is filled with meat or cheese.

(←cont. from: ¿Spanish, Castellano, Lunfardo?)

→ Continue Reading: Lunfardo

¿Spanish, Castellano, Lunfardo? Intricacies of Argentine Spanish

Those who come to Argentina to learn the language will find that its interpretation of the Spanish language is every bit as unique as the country itself. Visitors quickly find out that those textbook Spanish classes can serve as a comfort but not a compass when trying to navigate this country’s Italian-flavored version of Spanish.

Accent and Pronunciation

Argentines call their Spanish ‘Castellano’ (Castilian) – specifying its regional roots in Castilla, Spain.

The first thing that will jump out at those more familiar with ‘standard Spanish’ is the animated Italian-like accent of the Argentines.

Another unique feature of Argentine Spanish is the pronunciation of the ‘ll’ and ‘y’. Instead of adopting a ‘y’ sound as in the word ‘yonder,’ the ll and y take on a rougher sound that can be likened to the zh in “casual” or “leisure.” This can make the pronunciation of some words identical to each other — if someone says ‘se cayó’ (it/he/she fell) you will have to extract from the context the meaning because ‘se calló’ (it/he/she got quiet) is pronounced exactly the same way.

This phonetic difference may take some getting used to, but it shouldn’t hinder communication. Travelers who speak a more standard Spanish will be understood perfectly well, but it’s good to keep these changes in mind.

— Learn Spanish Online —

The Use of Vos

Another unique feature of Argentine Spanish is the use of the Voseo. Instead of ‘tú,’ as the second person singular pronoun (the informal form of the word ‘you,’) ‘vos’ is used. Using the vos form may take a bit of practice, but once you figure out how it works the construction is rather simple and you might even find some verbs easier to conjugate. When ‘tú’ is used the conjugation of irregular verbs requires a stem change in the second person form. With ‘vos,’ however, no stem change is necessary because the stress or emphasis is on the last syllable (i.e. tienes becomes tenés, hablas becomes hablás, and in the imperative form, ven becomes vení, piensa becomes pensá).

One important change to be aware of is the conjugation of the verb ser (to be) — (tú) eres becomes (vos) sos – travelers should take note because they will inevitably be asked, “¿De dónde sos?” several times throughout their stay.

Despite the use of the vos in the second person singular form, the second person plural pronoun vosotros is not used in Argentina; instead Ustedes is always used to address a group.

Argentines do not tend to use singular, formal ‘you’ Usted, as frequently as in many other Latin American countries though, reserving it mostly for business situations, addressing the elderly, and sometimes to jokingly give deference to a friend.

Throughout much of the country Argentina Castellano adopts a very informal style heavily peppered with lunfardo, or slang, particularly in Buenos Aires. The daily vernacular used by Argentine teenagers would land kids in big trouble in most other Latin American countries.

→ Continue Reading: Argentinismos

→ Continue Reading: Lunfardo