Language

Argentine Spanish has a rich, almost Italian sound, with the double "ll" and "y" pronounced with a "j"-like sound. So llave (key) sounds like "zha-ve" and desayuno (breakfast) sounds like "de-sa-zhu-no." Usted (the formal "you") is used extensively, and vos is a form of "you" that's even more familiar than tú (informal "you"). Peculiar terms you may come across only in Argentine include: bárbaro (very cool); Porteño (a resident of Buenos Aires); pasos (steps in a tango); bandoneón (a cousin of the accordion, used in tango music); and subte (the Buenos Aires subway). Uruguayan Spanish closely resembles the Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires.