Archive for January, 2008

Barrio Highlight: Recoleta

Friday, January 25, 2008 13:16

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Recoleta Barrio Highlight: Recoleta

Recoleta is an upscale residential neighborhood inbetween Palermo and Retiro. The barrio is known for their extensive parks, cafes, restaurants, and most notably the Recoleta Cemetery. Often compared to Pére Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, Recoleta Cemetery is a mausoleum of sorts that house historic and affluent families throughout Argentina´s history including Eva Peron, past Presidents, scientists, and wealthy influential characters. Some of the other famous parks and sights include the Law School of the University of Buenos Aires, Museum of Beautiful Art (Museum of Bellas Artes), and United Nations Park. Recoleta is also known for their upscale restaurants, nightclubs, and chic bars. For any student looking to learn Spanish and Argentine culture, Recoleta is a must-see.

UnitedNationsSquare 1 Barrio Highlight: Recoleta

United Nations Park with the Floris Generica (left) and Law School of the University (Right)

Expanish presents; City Transportation Guide

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 9:43

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DSC02131 Expanish presents; City Transportation Guide

Transportation in and around Buenos Aires can seem daunting at first. With over 3 million people in the city proper and and about 13 million in the metropolitan area, finding a friend at a bar, or even finding the bar at all, can seem like an impossible task. However, I can assure you that this city is not as difficult to navigate as it first may seem. First things first, you need to buy a Guia T. The Guia T is printed every year and is a pocket sized booklet that serves as a city map and transportation guide. The Guia T should cost no more than Ar$4 depending on where you buy it. The best spots are in small magazine stands and/or kiosks in the subway. There will also be street vendors walking the subway cars selling the Guia T for around 4 pesos, a higher price than you will pay at the kiosks.

Bus travel, Colectivos

  1. The Guia T begins with a listing of streets and corresponding addresses within the Capital Federal. The listing have corresponding page and cell listings that will display your desired destination and your current location. The Matrices on the pages to the left of the maps correspond to individual quadrants. The numbers listed within the boxes are the bus numbers that serve that particular area. The buses run 24 hours, however are less frequent at night.
  2. Simply match your current location to the quadrant of your destination and you will be able to find a bus that will service your route. It should be noted that you should follow the route of the bus you will take to make sure that you are taking the proper direction. This can be done by following the bus number or on pages 96-177 there are detailed lists of the bus routes.
  3. When the bus approaches the stop, signal the driver that you wish to board by waving your arm. The bus fares begin at AR$.90 and ONLY accept coins, but does give change if you don´t have the exact amount.
  4. When you are getting close to your destination you will want to get up and head towards the back doors and signal the driver by pressing the red button next to the exit.

Subways System, Subte.

The Subte in Buenos Aires consists of 5 lines and 34 stops mostly all sprawling outward from the City Center.Each Subway track is also represented in the Guia T with a red line; noting stations, est, and the Lines, Linea a-e.The Subte starts operating at 5 in the morning and runs until bout 10:30.However, check the times for each line as they vary; The subways system is very efficient and costs AR$.70 per trip and tickets can be bought per Trip, Viaje, or in increments on 2, 5, or 10. If you are planning on staying in the city for an extended period of time you can purchase a rechargeable Subte pass, at Palermo, Tribunales, Retiro, Florida, Plaza Miserere, Peru, Independencia, and Constitution stations. FlorisGenerica 1 Expanish presents; City Transportation GuideYou can only purchase the rechargeable cards at these locations, however you can recharge them at any Subway station.The subway is a very safe and clean way to travel the city, but one should always be mindful of personal possessions.

Taxi travel

If you are in a hurry or are not certain as to the route you should take, there are plenty of taxis available in Buenos Aires.A 15 minute cab ride should cost approximately AR$15.Tips are not usually expected, but is customary to leave small change for the driver.

Mastering the Argentine dialect

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 11:06

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DSC02050 Mastering the Argentine dialectArgentine vocab is characterized as being informal and politically incorrect. This is not to say that there aren´t circumstaces where a more formal discourse is utilized. Argentine´s are a very proud people, but there is certainly a difference between being proud and cocky. That being said, if you try and discuss Argentine soccer or the best cuisine they will certainly not hesitate to argue their superiority.

In order to master Argentine Spanish there are two important aspects that are particularly unique. These aspects are the ¨Vos¨form used instead of the ¨Tu¨ form and a particular pronunciation change that can be hard to understand if you are not sure what to listen for. The ¨Vos¨ used in Argentina is known as Rio Platense form of Castellano Spanish. The changes that occur with this form are in the simple present as well as commands for some verbs. Vos takes the place of the tu pronoun and is not to be confused with the Vosotros form used in areas such as Spain. The pronunciation change specifically is notable with the letter ll. Instead of the more commonly pronounced ll as an English y, here in Argentina the ll is pronounced with a sh sound such as that in show.

 

verb

vos

tu

imperative

vos

Ser – (to be)

Vos sos

Tu eres

Se!

Estar – (to be)

Vos estás

Tu estás

está!

caminar – (to walk)

Vos caminás

Tu caminas

caminá!

Tener – (to have)

Vos tenés

Tu tienes

tené!

Querer – (to want)

Vos querés

Tu quieres

queré!

Subir – (to go up)

Vos subís

Tu subes

subí!

Venir – (to come)

Vos venís

Tu vienes

vení!

Pensar – (to think)

Vos penás

Tu piensas

pensá!

Decir – (to say)

Vos decís

Tu dices

decí!

Contar – (to tell, count)

Vos contás

Tu cuentas

contá!

Table extracted from ¡Che Boludo! By James Bracken p.11

Useful Argentine slang (lunfardo)

- Afano – theft

- balurdo – lie

- chabón – guy

- chamuyero – smooth talker

- che – hey

- copado/a – cool (person, object, etc)

- cortado – espresso with milk

- fiaca – tired, to feel the inability/motivation to do anything

- guita – money

- dopado – drugged

- encurdarse – to get drunk

- mina – lady

- mozzarella – silence

- onda – vibes; de onda – to do a favor

- pilas – literally batteries but used as energy of a person; ponete las pilas – do your best or sacate las pilas – relax, chill out

- piola – clever

- opa – idiot

*Boludo/a – literally large testicles. Is used for both sexes and amongst children as well. Intended to mean – fool or idiot.

- Che boludo – definition depends on usage. Amongst friends can mean hey buddy to hey idiot or asshole when used with strangers.

- Hacerse el boludo – to play dumb

- boludez – anything trivial or that comes with ease.

- Buenudo/a – dumb-witted friend

DSC02058 Mastering the Argentine dialect

Expanish student:David, 21
From Long Island, NY

David chose to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina to investigate his heritage. David´s father was born in Buenos Aires and he has come to see if this city will live up the hype he has heard so much about. For David the most difficult part of learning Spanish has been corresponding the proper pronouns and confusion of tenses.

Expanish student:Lina, 26
From: Norway

Cultural aspects such as the language, tango, and the food have brought Lina to Buenos Aires. The aspects of Argentine dialect such as pronunciation and local vocabulary have been the main obstacles for Lina.

Who are we and what do we offer?

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 8:39

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Hola and once again let me welcome you to Expanish, and the Expanish Blog. What is standing in the way between you and Argentine culture and further comprehension of the Spanish language? Here at Expanish we pride ourselves in knowing that our knowledgeable and professional staff will be able to address whatever concerns or doubts you may have. The purpose of this blog is to offer some insight, cultural advice, and general information as to what Expanish and Buenos Aires is all about.

DSC01946 Who are we and what do we offer?

Expanish offers week-long (extend-able) Spanish courses that begin every week as well as the traditional study abroad programs. The Spanish courses that we offer are in groups of 2-6 people, individual courses, or a combination of the two. Group courses are set up for 20 hours a week and meet in our main office with our highly qualified Spanish professors. The individual courses are offered at either 10 or 20 hours per week. Also we offer private and personalized courses that can range from 2-20 hours per week. Please note that these personalized lessons can be added on top of other lessons at your own discretion. Furthermore, there is a combined program of 20 hours in group lessons and an additional 10 hours of individual lessons. This program is extremely beneficiary as you will have exposure to both a group speaking environment as well as a personal level where any inadequacies or questions can be addressed.

Our Study Abroad program is also well adapted to fit every need of a potential student. We offer semester, summer, and long term Spanish programs. These programs are offered at either Universidad de Belgrano or Universidad Torcuato di Tella. The Universidad de Belgrano is a private university that caters to a diverse student body. Their professors are trained in teaching subjects such as Art History and Latin American history to students speaking Spanish as a second language. Universidad Torcuato di Tella is also a very popular university amongst locals as well as ex-patriots focusing most of their studies on social and business sciences. Also there is the traditional semester at either of these universities as well as a month long prep course for those who wish to improve their comprehension of the Spanish language before entering the Semester program. Our summer options are a Latin American Studies program, Spanish language program, and a split time commitment between Spanish language and two other courses that fit their interest. These programs are offered at increments of 4, 8 and 12 weeks. The Spanish Language program is available in Quarters (Winter and Spring), Semesters, as well as the Short Term program for 4 weeks. Finally we have also set up many volunteer positions that may be used to supplement any course of study in our Buenos Aires Spanish school. There are many different options to consider such as Noche de Caridad which consists of distributing baskets of food to the homeless and low income families in Buenos Aires.

Are you looking for something specific and exciting while studying Spanish in Buenos Aires? If so, then our Special Package option might be for you. Expanish is proud to offer packages such as Spanish and Tango. With this program you will have 40 hours of intensive language lessons as well as 2 individual and 4 group tango lessons. Throughout the 2 weeks you will also have the opportunity to have a homestay accommodation. Another one of our special packages is Spanish and Wine. This program is also 2 weeks in length with 40 hours of Spanish language courses, 4 wine tasting lessons, and the accommodation of a homestay. Finally we have our Spanish and TEFL program that consists of 4 weeks intensive Spanish lessons (80 hours) and then a 4 week TEFL certification course (150 hours) throughout which we will place you in a homestay accommodation.

Regardless of which program you decide upon we offer many workshops, activities, and excursions that are available to anyone. Weekly activities include staff and student dinners, soccer games, Asados (Argentine BBQ), excursions to Tigre, Tango show and classes, and cooing to name a few. Our workshops include tango, cooking, wine tasting, SCUBA diving, and polo matches. Also we organize several excursions to various destinations around Argentina. The upcoming excursions are Colonia in the middle January, Iguzu waterfall at the end of January, and a trip to the wine country of Mendoza at the beginning of March. All of the excursions are included in the price of the Study Abroad programs and can be added for those taking weekly Spanish lessons. As far as accommodations are concerned there are the options of a homestay (with or without meals), a shared student apartment, or a private apartment.

I hope that this edition of the Expanish blog has answered some of your questions as to what Expanish is all about. Do not hesitate to contact info@expanishfor any further questions and we look forward to starting you adventure in Buenos Aires, Argentina!

Muchas Gracias,

Expanish


Short Video tour of some of our facilities
Compilation of Expanish photos