Quick tips to understand Argentinian Spanish
The Argentinian dialect was formed by old Castillian Spanish mixed with Portuguese and other languages that made their way to the port of Buenos Aires in the XVIII and XIX centuries. Therefore, grammatically, Argentinians use VOS instead of tú or usted to address a singular person in an informal way. This means that verbs are conjugated slightly differently than in regular Spanish when addressing the VOS subject - for example: instead of “tú tienes”, Argentinians will say “vos tenés”.
Buenos Aires en Octubre - Jacaranda trees
Some points to keep in mind when hearing this accent for the first time:
The common sound for LL or Y, that normally resembles an /i:/ or /d͡ʒ/ sound in English, sounds like SH(/ʃ/ or /ʒ/).
Argentinian dialect is characterised for an “aspiration” of the S sound when it’s followed by another consonant - for example: Estados Unidos sounds more like E’tados Unidos. If you speak French, this can sound familiar to you.
The letters S, C and Z all sound the same: /s/
Okay... You are ready to listen now:
