BootsnAll Travel Community

Wasn't sure where to post this, so here goes:

Im off to South America for an extended bike tour, but would like to do a couple weeks of spanish classes first.

Originally i was recommended to go to Cuzco and fell in love with: http://www.machupicchuschool.org/english/traveltips.asp

There i could get 2 weeks of training (4 hrs a day, 5 days a week with a class of 4 people), stay with a family and get 3 meals a day... for $410

However, ideally... i would like to start my bike tour in Argentina and was considering finding a school there. - they seem much more expensive and touristy than the machu picchu school..

I was originally drawn to the small class sizes and the cheap accomodation..

Wondering what your all's thoughts are?

Better to learn in Peru than Argentina? Anyone have any schools/programs they could recommend in either..

Please share your spanish abroad learning experiences!

I'd strongly recommend becoming a member of South American Explorers (saexplorers.org). For $50/year, you have access to all of their clubhouses scattered throughout South America, internet access, and a wealth of information for independent travellers not to mention member discounts. That said, I took a class in Quito, and the savings per hour paid for my membership. Their website recommends several places in Buenos Aires and the rep for the Buenos Aires office, Lucy, is really great and knowledgeable of the area.

PS - Learning Spanish in Argentina will be different (in pronunciation) since the 'll' and 'y' is a like a 'j' and the 's' tends to have that Barcelona lisp to it.

Ditto on the SAE membership. I met several of "them" while living in Buenos Aires last summer---an awesome group, with a LOT of great programs/activities/etc. going on.

I used Latin Immersion, thru ECELA, www.latinimmersion.com and had a really good experience, a few hours a day of classes, optional add-on 1:1 spanish lessons, free evening seminars on Argentine culture (cooking, soccer, history, etc.), optional add-on tango lessons, options for weekend outings, etc.

I'd also suggest simply snagging a audio language course (book on CD or mp3) from your local library & listening to it in the car, while at work, etc.

You could probably get a stop over in Peru or Ecuador on your way down to Argentina. That way, you can take your course then work your way back overland.

Either Peru or Ecuador would be much better than Argentina if you don't already know Spanish. The local Argentine variety of Spanish is very challenging to learn.