Day 14: What you've got to know about Argentine Spanish

So, this doesn't have much to do with what we actually learned today(which was handy 'putting sentences together' stuff), but about the program in general. I just realised how useful it is that everytime they use a pronunciation that is specific to Argentina, or Buenos Aires, the thoughtful folks at Bueno, entonces... highlight it with a little flag. I can't begin to say how useful this is. Not because there are loads of differences, but because for anyone coming here that think they've got a basic grasp of Spanish from Spain, the few differences are so different that they can really throw you off.

For example, the most obvious is the pronunciation of the 'll' or 'y' in the middle of a word. The other day, I was asking for directions to avenida de Mayo (as in, the condiment) and the shopkeeper was like "huh, masshhjjo??" and I was like "no MAIY-O" and on and on. Same for the tube stop "Callao". In the beginning I thought I was being really smart by not saying "CaL-lao" but "cayao", like it would be in Spain. But oh no, those pesky Argentinians have a surprise up their sleeve for this one, it's actually "Casjhho". Ok, I'm sure that the spelling doesn't quite capture the sound I'm making in my head, but you get the idea.

So, all that just to point out that this is a clever spanish program! Not just because it's the only fun series in the Castellano dialect (that's Castejjshano, by the way), but because they keep pointing this out, just in case we end up in Barcelona, and need a 'pollo' or some such thing. Ah, you get the point....!