Here at AMAUTA Spanish School we pride ourselves on our top quality Spanish courses and volunteer programs. For us, quality has always been very important and that is why we are so pleased to present our new and improved website! AMAUTA means teacher in the native Quechua language of the Peruvian people and it is our aim to teach anyone who wants to learn the Spanish language and about Latin American culture.

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Where the rich – dead and alive – reside

Buenos Aires is famous for its eclectic neighborhoods, and one such famous barrio is the Recoleta neighborhood. Here, the city’s aristocrats live in expensive apartments characterized by impressive French architecture. See the neighborhood through this student’s eyes and read about her experience in Recoleta!

Today we got a Recoleta tour from the people in AMAUTA Spanish School! The girls from AMAUTA showed us places like the Bellas Artes Museum, the Facultad de Derecho, Palais de Glace and, of course, the Recoleta Cemetery! The tour greatly surpassed my expectations, and it added to my experience of studying Spanish in Buenos Aires since I got to know another one of this city’s diverse neighborhoods.

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The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano, la Copa América,is the highlight of Latin American football. The tournament is held one every 4 years, and this year it will take place in Argentina from July 1 to July 24. It is the continents longest standing championship, founded in 1916 by the South American Football confederation. Traditionally 12 teams battle it out for the cup – South America has just 10 country teams so 2 countries from outside the continent are invited to participate. For 2011 the two invited countries will be Mexico and Japan. The last championship was held in 2007 in Venezuela and was won by Brazil.

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Argentina has the world’s highest beef eating consumption rate in the world, at 65 kilogram per capita annually.The people from the United States eat 40 kilogram per year and those in Europe only 17 kilogram. Argentina is the third largest exporter of beef in the world after Australia and Brazil. The Pampas region,due to the humid and hot climate, is the most important and best-known cattle-producing area, as it has vast and open pastures. It’s a tradition in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil to eat beef on a grill (parilla).This form of barbequing is called asado, which is a preparing technique, as well as a social event.

If you learn Spanish at AMAUTA Buenos Aires you will not only learn Spanish; most likely, you will also learn some “lunfardo”. Lunfardo is an argot or slang of the Spanish language, which developed at the beginning of the 20th century in and around Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lunfardo developed with the arrival of many immigrants from Italy, Spain and France. Most immigrants spoke their own dialect instead of standard Spanish and Italian.

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There are various Argentinean Christmas plates. On December the 24th, Christmas evening is celebrated with a large meal. Normally Argentineans enjoy a late meal consisting of cold meat and vegetable and fruit salads. They take their time to eat and also their time to prepare. It’s a tradition to eat outside because of the heat during summertime. A few Argentinean Christmas plates are ‘Ensalada Rusa’, ‘Pollo a la Provenzal’, ‘Empanadas’ and ‘Pan Dulce’.

“Pollo a la Provenzal” is a chicken marinated with onions, parsley, garlic, rosemary, sage pepper, salt and finally wrapped in bacon. It is a typical dish that comes from the north of the country, often accompanied by a cold salad, like Salada Rusa. This cold salad consists of carrot, potatoes, peas and mayonnaise.
After the Christmas dinner, Pan Dulce is the preferred Christmas dessert in Argentina; Pan Dulce is similar to fruitcake or muffin with raisins and candied fruit .

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The project Amauta placed me in, involves working with teenage girls between the ages of 13-17. Generally there are anywhere between twelve and eighteen girls. The girls are Extremely enthusiastic to have volunteers around. men. Only a handful of them attend school and have the privilege to leave their home, so all visitors are happily embraced. You do need an intermediate level of Spanish for this project or else you will end up feeling fairly lost. Most of the girls are fairly patient and love helping you look up words in your dictionary if you are struggling with your Spanish. There is little structure to your volunteer actual time in the project, so you need to be comfortable with a more low key environment and building relationships. Otherwise it is great to come up with your own project to do with the girls. Half-way through this project I decided to start an art studio for the girls with money donated from friends and family. They have a large room for making paper which is now a perfect spot to create an art studio. The girls are very excited about this studio project and it was the first time I was able to actively engage all of them at one time for a two-hour stretch period and see them both animated and happy. It would be great to find someone to continue this project after I am gone. While these girls were prostitutes in the past, overall they are normal, hyper, and sometimes moody teenage girls. They love to hug, chat about your love life, giggle, and play volleyball. I you have some time available, I’d recommend you stay at least 6 weeks, as it takes a while for the girls to trust and embrace you. Thanks for organizing this, Amauta, this is an experience I will never forget!

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Participants of our Spanish TEFL course, learn or improve their Spanish while obtaining their TEFL certificate in Peru or Argentina, with which they will be able to get a job as a certified English teacher everywhere in the world. This course is thé passport to living your dreams abroad, teaching English in exotic locations in Latin America and all over the world.

During the first two weeks, you will be studying Spanish. Our Spanish group lessons offer customized instruction at the level and pace that best suits you. AMAUTA is well known for its interactive, clear and personal teaching methods. The second part of the program (starts on Monday or Wednesday of week 3) consists of your TEFL course. This International TEFL Certificate course is a practical and thorough course designed for candidates that have no or little previous experience in English teaching.  During the 4 week TEFL course you will become familiar with the principles of successful EFL teaching and start developing the practical skills that you will need to teach effectively.

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AMAUTA has been offering successful and communicative Spanish Classes in Peru since 1998 and in 2008 we proudly added Buenos Aires (Argentina) to our destinations. At the same time, we started working closely with our affiliated Spanish schools in Lima (Peru), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Bariloche (Argentina).  Now, we are ready now to start planning the opening of our third AMAUTA location, which we hope to open in 2011.

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Many Spanish students might think Mo ight of the week. But hey, if you are in Buenos Aires studying Spanish at our Spanish School right now, you are totally mistaken. Join your fellow students and head up to Cultural Center Konex, and Monday nights will become your favorite night of the week. Your week will begin with rhythm, dance and loads of energy.

This is a tribal party where sounds come mostly from the drums and the added elements of dance music. La Bomba de Tiempo is a tropical cocktail with a mix of Indian, Moroccan, Brazilian, Argentinean and African sounds. (más…)