Day 2 in Buenos Aires

After class I meet the production people behind Bueno, entonces... in Palermo where they work. I’ve brought some chocolate all the way from New Zealand, which I think Corrie is happy about. It’s still surreal, can’t believe these people just brought me to Buenos Aires because they felt like giving away a trip. What’s more, I’m being spoiled rotten. Tonight more amazing Argentine food... has anyone told you about the food here?
Argentines like cow. They like to eat it, apparently per capita they eat something like 80 kg of cow on average a year. I find that hard to comprehend as a concept, but then again the beef here IS really quite incredible. The portion sizes are also quite incredible. When you order a bife de lomo you get enough to feed a small village back where I come from. It also turns out that the other David from Bueno, entonces... (el productor) knows a thing or two about wine and likes ordering really nice bottles of wine. OOOh this is heaven...mmmm Malbec.

Get to know more Vibe's experience on beadventuresinba.blogspot

Andes Air - Cheap Flights

I flew Andes Air during the July vacation period when I had family in town. We flew from Buenos Aires to Salta during the high-season and paid around 800 pesos round trip which was a significant savings from other airlines. (FYI: Taking the 22 hour bus was about 650 pesos round trip.)

Andes serves the Northwest Region, Iguazú and Puerto Madryn. I was initially pretty nervous to fly an airline that I had never heard of before, but after talking to a travel agent friend they assured me that it is a legit company.

Although their website is pretty terrible and they sometimes don´t answer their phone (oh Argentina!) I am satisfied with the service. The plane was much bigger than expected -- 3 seats on each side of plane!

Even better is that they did not charge a different price for foreigners, it was all the same fare! If you travel in low season they had some excellent promotions as well.

Here´s the link: http://www.andesonline.com/

I would recommend going to the agency in person to book the tickets. It is located on Córdoba 755.

To read more go to budgetba.blogspot

The Bueno, entonces Formula: Engaging + Interesting + Funny = Retention

1. Make The Classes Interesting & Engaging
Engaging students is crucial to learning and remembering material. Using wit and charm, Bueno, entonces… not only engages; it keeps you thinking about the last lesson and looking forward to the next one. Like your favorite teachers, David & Jimena know learning doesn’t have to be dry and boring.

2. See The Words As You Hear Them
Some people are audio learners, others learn visually – most people need both, absorbing different concepts in different ways. With Bueno, entonces... every word is on-screen so you see the spelling while hearing it pronounced.

3. Color-Coding.
Words on-screen are color-coded in Spanish and English to help you understand word usage and sentence structure. You’ll quickly see, hear, and understand how words in Spanish correspond with English ones, and how they are used in sentences.

4. Symbols & Illustrations.
Verb tenses and grammatical concepts are represented by clear symbols so you quickly learn and understand their usage. Iconic illustrations easily associate images and words, burning vocabulary into your brain.

5. REPETITION - The Key To Languages.

Any teacher will tell you this, and here’s the problem with old audio books and language software – they’re mind-numbingly boring, making them painful to repeat. Bueno, entonces… is engaging, fast-paced, and fun. You’ll repeat all 30 classes over and over, learning more each time – as your Spanish progresses, you pick up more of the humor, making it easier to repeat.

To get more info, go to General Linguistics.

Che Malambo Traditional Dance

It's a very Argentine dance, not from Buenos Aires though. Look at their feet. They imitate how the gauchos used to dance.




For more videos go to Youtube.

From the North of Argentina to the World!

Check out more pics on Flickr.

Spanish Language

LANGUAGE Spanish (Castellano or Castillian) is spoken by approximately 275 million people in 19 countries and it is the official language in Argentina, but Argentinian Spanish have some differences from the Spanish spoken in Spain and other areas.

In the areas around the Rio de la Plata, including Buenos Aires, is spoken the Rioplatense Spanish dialect, that is Castellano language with influences of French/Italian/English and pronounced with a slight Italian Accent, it is one of the things that differentiate the city of Buenos Aires from the rest of the Spanish-speaking world; to the north out of Buenos Aires, the type of accent is most related with Latin American style Spanish.

Other languages spoken in Argentina are: Italian, German, English, and French. Indigenous communities have retained their original languages, like Tehuelche, Guarani, Quechua and Aymara. Also, exists immigrants communities whom speak their native languages until today

PRONUNCIATION

The accent of the Porteños, as the inhabitants of the Argentine city of Buenos Aires are called, has similarities with the Neapolitan dialect of Italia. This match with immigration patterns. Argentina, and specially Buenos Aires, accepted an ample number of immigrants from Italia in the beginning of the 20th century. The Italian immigration had a profound influence on Lunfardo. Before that, the Argentine accent was similar to that Andalucia, Spain.

You could try to learn about Argentine pronunciation, watching Argentine films, like "El Hijo de la Novia", "Nueve Reinas", "Valentin" and listening to Argentine radio stations in Internet.

Some features in the Argentine Pronunciation are:

• In Buenos Aires, "ll" = "y", and it is uttered with a sound between "sh" (shop) and "s" (pleasure). Effect known as "yeísmo", nowadays, "yeismo" is becoming "zeismo", with the increasingly use of the "zh" instead "sh", almost an English 'j'.
• The "v" = "b" = In some Spanish-speaking countries the "v" is like the English sound (as in "very"). In Argentina, this rule is not full-filed, with one exception: when someone is spelling a word they may pronounce it as in "very" for clarification.
• The "j" and "g" (before an "e" or "i") can also be pronounced like a German "ch" in "ich".
• There is no "th" sound (as in "thick") in Argentinian Spanish.
• "s", in the end of a word, before a consonant, is uttered with a sound like the "h" in Hardware, except at the end of a word before a pause or a vowel.
• "cua" is pronounced as in "quantum".
• "qu" is uttered like the "c" in cat;
• "z" sounds like "s".

To read more go to Argentina Travel.

Bueno, entonces review on Facebook

I've tried a whole slew of resources to maintain and improve my intermediate-level Spanish - magazines, private tutors, group classes, self-learning CDs, Spanish podcasts - but this is the first method I've tried that actually keeps me engaged and motivated. The characters Jimena and David are so charming, you are practically transported right to Buenos Aires with them. The visual component makes it about five times easier to learn and remember new words and grammar (versus most rich media language applications which are audio only). I'd strongly recommend this app to anyone looking to boost his/her beginning to intermediate level Spanish.

Check out more reviews on facebook.com/buenoentonces