16.03.2008

Getting Schooled in Buenos Aires

The New York Times has put out its biannual article about hipster living in Buenos Aires, so it seems a good time to post about two wonderful places you will never read about in the Times that have made my stay here especially enjoyable.

If you want to study Spanish in Argentina, I would recommend you arrange classes at Español al Sur, a very small school run by a crypto-Polish Swiss woman with a small Justice Team of tutors. They are the usual mix of musicians, dancers and artists; however they are also very adept and dedicated language teachers. The learning materials are Argentina-specific, too, so you have the option of learning Spanish in the lovely rioplatense dialect. I can't vouch for advanced levels, but the quality of instruction for beginners and intermediate students is excellent. The school's one weak spot is Iguazú the cat, who is somewhat too high strung and jittery for a language school mascot, especially considering the number of available sunbeams. The school is on Pinchincha, near the Pinchincha subte stop; classes run from $6-$10 USD per hour.

If you are interested in learning to tango, there are excellent sparsely-attended group lessons three days a week at 1456 Defensa in San Telmo (near the San Juan subte stop between San Juan and Brasil). The lessons are deep inside a tourist pavillion, and are advertised with a gaudy street stand at the door that screams out "tourist trap", but inside you will find excellent and inexpensive dance lessons. Armandito, who runs the show, is eighty years old masquerading as sixty. His partner, Monica, is a professional tango dancer with real a gift for teaching. Again I can't vouch for advanced levels, but if you are that good a dancer you don't need help from me. You should come with at least minimal Spanish in order to understand why you are being yelled at. Private lessons can be arranged for eighty pesos (~$25 USD), group lessons are ten pesos ($3 USD) and take place Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 6PM. There is a free tango show Sundays at five, populated mostly by elderly Argentines.