Category : Culture
Cable TV
Cable TV is absolutely huge in Argentina. The biggest provider is Cablevision Digital, but there’s also Telecentro and Multicanal . Their lineups are pretty similar.
DirecTV is actually satellite TV, but it broadcasts in NTSC (good if you have a TV from the US) and better choices if you want to watch shows in English. (The best channels in terms of English language programming include WB, Fox, E! Entertainment, Bloomberg, CNN, BBC World, Animal Planet, and National Geographic.)
All these options have their supporters, so check out their websites to see what suits you the best. Note that the providers usually have packages that include internet access as well.
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Everyone thought that the rise in popularity of the internet would kill the appeal of watching TV shows. But actually, all it’s done is give us more ways than ever to watch the shows we love! Nice one internet!
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Any expat living in Buenos Aires will be aware of Argentina’s open door policy towards immigration. After all, lots of us just hop over to Uruguay every three months to perpetually renew our tourist visas. Technically it’s illegal to spend more than six months per year here on a tourist visa, but no-one seems to mind.
In fact, Argentina has had an open door policy on immigration for the last 200 years, including a long period where immigration (specifically from European countries) was actively encouraged. And how’s this for a factoid: between 1821 and 1932, Argentina was #2 in the world in the number of immigrants that it admitted, a staggering 6,405,000 people. (Wondering which country was #1 in the world during this period? It was of course the United States of America, admitting approximately five times as many immigrants as Argentina!)
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Posted in Soccer on 18. Jun, 2010
It’s World Cup time. Argentina could win. And you’re living in Buenos Aires – your timing is impeccable!
As I write this the Albicelestes have just played their second game in the group stages of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It was a convincing 4-1 thrashing of South Korea in which superstar Lionel Messi shone and teammate Gonzalo Higuaín hit a hat-trick of goals, the first so far in the competition.
But you knew all that, right? It’s pretty hard to live in Buenos Aires and not get caught up in Mundial fever with 40 million people shouting ‘gooooooool!’ in perfect harmony every time the blue-and-whites find the back of the net!
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No, don’t worry, we are not suggesting the Spanish learning product featured in the above photo. It is just an awesome photo. It must be from the early 90’s, no? I am not sure, but that boy sure is having fun learning Spanish. And so can you!!!! 
Ok, enough with that, just kidding. Lets cut to the chase!!!
A lot of things are helpful when you’re learning a second language. A great teacher is one. An inability to feel shame (or at least, to be able to quickly dismiss it) when you make embarrassing mistakes is another.
And then there are these five resources. True, none of them are essential, but together they make a pretty damn fine package. Three are websites that are free for anyone to use, while the other two are books that are easily worth outlaying a few dollars on. Enjoy, and please share your comments if you have used any of them.
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I have recently started to use Bueno, Entonces to supplement my Spanish learning here in Buenos Aires and I have to say, it makes learning Spanish A LOT more fun. While there is no substitute for getting out and speaking the language as much as you can, it doesn’t hurt to supplement your learning with different tools.
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Posted in Soccer on 11. Jun, 2010
Awwww yeahhh! For the round-ball lovers amongst us, June and July 2010 represent something we’ve been waiting four long years for: the World Cup. Woooot!
Whichever way you slice it, the World Cup of soccer is waaay bigger than any other event in world sport. Bigger than the Olympics. Bigger than the Rugby World Cup. And definitely bigger than the World Series (which, let’s face it, is highly inappropriately named!).
There’s no doubt that many, many expats living in Buenos Aires will want to watch as many World Cup games as possible. So to help you do so, we’ve put together this handy, all-in-one guide to watching the World Cup 2010 in Buenos Aires.
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Posted in Soccer on 04. May, 2010
If you’ve ever been to a soccer game in Argentina you’ll have noticed that elements of the crowd can get somewhat “enthusiastic” during the match. Drums, flares, singing, wielding giant banners and flags and so on are par for the course. So who are those people? They answer is that they are the barras bravas.
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Posted in Art on 15. Apr, 2010
FILETEADO. What is it? Well if tango is the distinctive porteño dance, and steak-and-Malbec is the distinctive porteño meal, then fileteado is the distinctive porteño artwork. But actually, it takes a while to realize that fileteado is a distinctive style at all. That’s probably because it’s a style of artwork that decorates things – buses, cars, signs, shop windows etc. – and so it takes a back seat to what it’s decorating. You’d never see fileteado hanging in a gallery; it lives on the street.
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You might have noticed that Argentinians love to talk: all day, every day, with anyone who’ll listen! For this reason it’s no surprise that the Rio Platense Spanish that has developed in Buenos Aires is full of unique words and idiosyncrasies. Unfortunately that can make things difficult for the Spanish leaner who wants to be able to communicate here.
Explaining all of the differences between the Spanish in Buenos Aires and the Spanish in, say, Madrid would of course fill an entire book, but then again some words are much more common and important to know than others. Here are the top five:
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