I’m getting close to around a year now of studying Spanish, largely here on LingQ. I plan on spending several months in Buenos Aires starting in April. I want to focus my efforts from now to then at least in part on being able to hear the Spanish spoken there, picking up on the many localisms, and of course, mastering the differences in words, spellings, grammer, etc. Frankly, I find the Argentinian accent and pace more difficult than that of most other Spanish speaking countries. If anyone has any ideas on material I can use for this, whether here on LingQ or elsewhere, I would be appreciative to hear your ideas.
Go to the Spanish Library and open up Extra Filters, or else click on +New course from the Learn page. Then choose Argentina from the Tag cloud. This will take you to the SpanishLingQ podcasts. From about #14 on they are mostly in Argentinian Spanish. There are lots of them. Enjoy.
Okay, will do. This gives me an opportunity to ask something I was wondering for awhile that is technical. When using Chrome, and I do what Steve indicates, i.e. choose the tag Argentina, it takes me to some choices. Then I choose a lesson, and do it. When I try to go back from the lesson to the same page that shows all the choices from Argentina, I end up getting a library page that is the default, not the listing of my search (for Argentina in this case). Is there a way for me to toggle back and forth between my search results and lessons I choose?
Our library is less than ideal and fixing it is on our list.
The best thing to do, once you find a Course that you like, is to stay with that Course. It will automatically show up on your Learn page whenever you log in. Since the Argentinian lessons start about lesson #14 in the SpanishLingQ series, I would go the Gear symbol at the top of your lesson page, when you are on a lesson from that Course, and from the drop down list from that Gear symbol, choose “open next lesson” or whatever it says. This way you will keep going in the Course.
You can also click on the name of the Course at the top of the lesson page to get to a list of all the lessons in the Course.
Hi CTaylor. I’ve been living in Argentina for 7 years. One thing I would recommend is listening to music. That will definitely help you get used to the “rioplatense” accent. In the next day or two, I’ll compile a list of different groups and styles that will help. Also, I ran across a couple of Lingq podcasts that were definitely in “argentino.” I’ll go back through the list and send you the links also.
Beyond vocabulary and accent, the main difference is that people here use “vos” instead of “tu” and “sos” instead of “eres.” There is actually a whole conjugation of the 2nd person singular present that takes a while to get used to.
If you have any questions, let me know!
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Here are a few links to get you started:
I chose these because they have a very thick “porteño” accent. But there are zillions more. There is a lot of music here!
Thanks for the links. Will check them out for sure. c
Here is the podcast I mentioned:
It is good because it talks about various neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, etc. and has lots of Argentine-specific vocabulary.
One thing to note: the 2 podcasts of “Guillermo and Mariano” that I listened to are not particularly “politically correct.” In this one, for example, they are complaining about immigrants from China. However, it’s the kind of thing people complain about much more openly than in North America. In that sense, I think it is a good cultural as well as linguistic introduction to Argentina.
Hope it helps and let me know if you have questions.
steven, are you still in Argentina. My wife and I are thinking of going there one day. Any advice?
Hi Steve! I’m here until the end of February, then it’s back to the US for a (hopefully short) while.
Argentina is an amazing place. There is a lot of natural beauty. Here are some of my favorite places, in no particular order:
These are the main sites, but there are dozens of other lesser-known places that are also impressive. Also, there is a lot of indigenous culture in the north, especially the northwest. I grew up in New Mexico and it has a very similar atmosphere.
Also, Buenos Aires is an amazing city. A lot of culture, architecture, music, etc. The economy is not doing to well right now with high inflation, etc., but as a tourist with dollars, euros, or any non-local currency, it’s not too expensive.
Let me know if you have any specific questions!
Maybe this blog will be helpful too! www.rioplatofonia.wordpress.com 
Happy learning and best of luck in Argentina!
hola, yo soy argentino (de mendoza) si quieres contactar conmigo para practicar, sería un placer, podría enseñarte varias cosas. como hablar “alverre”
I like to listen to the ‘Tango City Tour’ podcast. It allows me to listen to the thick ‘porteño’ accent of the presenters, while also listening to some good Tango music.
As mentioned before, a lot of the material in the LingQ Spanish podcast was made by speakers from Argentina and Uruguay.
The following website also has some good material for getting acquainted with the accents from different Spanish speaking countries, including Argentina:
Finally, try listening to music from ‘Los Auténticos Decadentes’, for instance:
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