Going to South America

Hello dude.

Sure, I've actually written a bit about Argentina in this site under http://www.rocketspanish.com/culture_argentina.php Check that out it's got some of the spots I know about. Argentina is a fantastic place to visit. Lots of nice people who would be more than willing to point you in the right direction once you are there depending on what you like doing. Good luck.

My wife and I recently returned from a great cruise starting in Buenos Aires and ending in Valparaiso, Chile. We stopped in Montevideo, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic, Punta Arenas, Chile, and Puerto Montt, Chile. It was a great 12 day trip, especially the penguin sites on the Falkland Islands and near Punta Arenas, Chile. However, as good as the cruise were the four days we spent before in Buenos Aires and the four days after that we spent in Viña del Mar, Chile near the port city of Valparaíso. Viña as it is known, is beautiful city on the Pacific and is full of gardens and very friendly people.
Watch out for counterfeit money in Argentina, so if you get big bills from the ATMs which are all over, make sure that you change the big bills in banks which hopefully don't pass out fake bills. Cab drivers have the reputation of giving them in change so try to pay with small bills.
All in all, Argentina and Chile were beautiful and the dollar is still worth something in Argentina especially.

Quote from chilebound
Hi,
In November I am traveling to Chile, and I want to know whether I can get by with my english & the "broken" spanish I speak! I hear they don't speak as clearly, leaving off sounds at the ends of words, etc. Also, they speak very rapidly. So, will I even get some of the meaning of their sentences?
How much studying should I do before November??

Hola y bienvenido al foro. It's hard to even try to answer your question without a lot more information. For example, how long have you studied Spanish? Can you describe your current ability more precisely than just "'broken' Spanish"? Have you completed Rocket Spanish 1 and 2? Learning Spanish Like Crazy 1 & 2? How long do you plan to be in Chile? Who are you most likely to interact with--business people? students? people used to dealing with tourists?

I've never been to Chile, but I did spend about 2 weeks in Argentina last year. I found I could make myself understood, but I often had a hard time understanding what people said to me. This was after three years of studying Spanish but relatively little experience conversing with native speakers. On the other hand, I know people who have studied for the same amount of time or even less who understand a lot more than I do. So to some extent it's a matter of individual talent, I suppose.

De todos modos, espero que tengas un buen viaje.

Quote from chilebound
Hi,
In November I am traveling to Chile, and I want to know whether I can get by with my english & the "broken" spanish I speak! I hear they don't speak as clearly, leaving off sounds at the ends of words, etc. Also, they speak very rapidly. So, will I even get some of the meaning of their sentences?
How much studying should I do before November??

I found there were more Argentines than Chileans that spoke some English, so easier to get by there.
The spanish in Argentina is a little difficult to understand, they speak very fast, and drop the "S"'s at the end of words.