Learning Costa Rican Spanish

22 August 2006

This post is part of a series on retiring abroad, specifically to Costa Rica. Many Americans find that living in another country is the best way to stretch their dollar further – and Costa Rica is one of the more popular destinations. The first post looked at the general reasons why people decide to retire to Costa Rica. The next one went through the first step you should take – researching some books about retiring to Costa Rica. Then, we discussed how you should go to Costa Rica to attend cheap retirement seminars from local expatriate associations. Finally, we looked at a couple of Costa Rica retirement tours that you could attend while down there with expert expatriates who show you what like would actually be like. Today, we’re looking at one of the bigger stumbling blocks for most people: learning Spanish, specifically Costa Rican Spanish.

Many Americans who decide to retire abroad do it later in life, when they get close to retirement but don’t have enough money. Most people don’t plan in their twenties on moving to some random country overseas – they may never have even heard of some of the common ones Americans go to. So it’s not suprising that a lot of prospective expatriates don’t speak a word of Spanish besides “no.” That needn’t stop you, however.

First off, be aware that it’s certainly possible to get by without knowing that much Spanish, just because there are so many other Americans there. BUT – it’s a big disadvantage. You WILL be in situations where it will be extremely useful to know Spanish, you WILL be targeted for con artist games if you don’t speak Spanish, and you WILL NOT be as able to enjoy the place if you don’t learn how to speak with the locals. So it’s best to at least try to learn the language of the country you’re planning on living in. How do you go about doing it?

First, you should take a generic Spanish course. You can find them locally in the U.S., often through a university or community college that offers night classes for continuing education for adults. Another option if you want to be able to stick to your own schedule is to use software like Rosetta Stone, which is a program that teaches you through the computer.

Second, you need to get some books on Costa Rican Spanish specifically. There are a lot of specific slang words and peculiarities. You would have some problems if you tried to learn Australian or British English and then came to the U.S., asking for the loo or the lorry. By the same token, your generic Spanish class that you can take to prepare yourself won’t be enough. There are two basic books to take a look at. First up is the Guide to Costa Rican Spanish. It’s a pocket handbook by Christopher Howard, who as we saw in the previous posts is sort of a guru on retiring to Costa Rica. Next is the Lonely Planet Costa Rican Phrasebook, which is focused on phrases from Costa Rican culture that might come in handy. It’s not as well respected, but still a good supplement.

So we’ll assume that you’ve decided to take the plunge, retire there, and have spent your remaining time in the U.S. learning at least the basics of Spanish. What do you do when you get there to keep learning?

Well, you’re in luck. It turns out that Costa Rica is one of the most popular places for foreigners to come learn Spanish, because the people speak more slowly than in other countries and because it’s a good vacation destination. So there are dozens and dozens of local schools catering to people who don’t speak Spanish – which incidentally is a good way for you to build up your social network in a country where you may not know a single person other than your spouse. How do you find a language school there?

Well, you can just wait until you get there and ask around among local expatriates you meet. I think that’s probably your best option, because it’s kind of hard to evaluate a school from abroad. The other thing is that many of them are designed for people to live with a Costa Rican family or on a campus, and you may not want to do that if you have a home there. Another tip is to check out the Tico Times – it’s an English-language newspaper in Costa Rica. Their web site doesn’t have it, but the print version has got a lot of advertisements for language schools, so you can pick one up and find something pretty easily.

There are also a number of different language schools in Costa Rica with sites on the web. A partial list is here, but keep in mind I can’t personally vouch for any of these:

Spanish Immersion Center