Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

Plato means plate or dish in Spanish and is used in a variety of interesting expressions.

comer en el mismo plato – to be good friends
Del plato a la boca se pierde la sopa – easier said than done. Del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho is also used to express this idea
Nada entre dos platos – much to do about nothing
Pagar los platos rotos – to pay for something (figuratively)
plato frutero – fruit dish
plato fuerte – main course
Plato giratorio - turntable
plato sopero - soup dish or bowl
platos – the dishes or courses of a meal
Ser plato de segunda mesa - to be second-best or second fiddle
tener cara de no haber roto un plato – to look innocent

By the University of Chicago news service

A foreign accent undermines a person’s credibility in ways that the speaker and the listener don’t consciously realize, new research at the University of Chicago shows.

Because an accent makes a person harder to understand, listeners are less likely to find what the person says as truthful, researchers found. The problem of credibility increases with the severity of the accent.

“The results have important implications for how people perceive non-native speakers of a language, particularly as mobility increases in the modern world, leading millions of people to be non-native speakers of the language they use daily,” said Boaz Keysar, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago and an expert on communication.

“Accent might reduce the credibility of non-native job seekers, eyewitnesses, reporters or people taking calls in foreign call centers,” said Shiri Lev-Ari, lead author of “Why Don’t We Believe Non-native Speakers? The Influence of Accent on Credibility,” written with Keysar and published in the current issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Levi-Ari is a post-doctoral researcher at the University whose work focuses on the interactions between native and non-native speakers.

To test the impact of accent on credibility, American participants were asked to judge the truthfulness of trivia statements by native or non-native speakers of English, such as, “A giraffe can go without water longer than a camel can.”

Simple prejudice could affect ratings of truthfulness, so the researchers tried to minimize that effect by telling participants the information in the statements was prepared for the speakers, and was not based on the speakers’ own knowledge.

Despite knowing the speakers were reciting from a script, the participants judged as less truthful the statements coming from people with foreign accents. On a truthfulness scale prepared for the experiment, the participants gave native speakers a score of 7.5, people with mild accents a score of 6.95 and people with heavy accents 6.84.

“The accent makes it harder for people to understand what the non-native speaker is saying,” Keysar said. “They misattribute the difficulty of understanding the speech to the truthfulness of the statements.”

In a second experiment, researchers tested whether awareness reduces the impact of accent on perceived truthfulness. Researchers told participants that they were being tested to see if accents undermine credibility.

That experiment was conducted with identical recorded statements, but with different results. While participants rated statements with mild accent just as truthful as statements by native speakers, they rated heavily accented statements as less truthful, Lev-Ari said.

Accent is one of the factors that influences people’s perception of foreigners in a society, Keysar pointed out. But its insidious impact on credibility is something researchers had not previously known, he added.

Most people think English is Costa Rica’s second language, but surprisingly that is not the case. In Costa Rica the word pachuco refers to a person who has manners that are socially unacceptable and often uses shocking language when speaking. Pachuco is also a pejorative name given to certain colloquial words and expressions. Some consider pachuco and its pachuquísmos to be Costa Rica’s second language. There is a place on you tube where you can listen to a tico doing a humorous monologue by using an exaggerated form of pachuco titled “Nuestro segundo idioma el pachuco” (“Our second language pachuco”). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU8A0VYZ_OE

Below are the English translations of some of the words and expressions from this link.

Alzar un culo – to pick up a girl
Avisparse – to get smart or be alert
Baldazo – a rain storm
Carne de tavo – a person who is in jail
Cascabel – a rattle snake or mean woman.
Chante – a house. Choza and cuna are synonyms in pachucho
Compinches –friends or buddies
Comprarse una bronca – look for or get into trouble
Coronar la misión – to have sex
Creerse la última chupadita del mango – to think you are hot stuff. Other ways to say the same thing are: Creerse gran cosa, creerse la última Coca Cola en el desierto, creerse la gran caca (think you are big shit) or creerse muy sabroso.
Cuatro Plumas – Cacique the national liquor of Costa Rica. It is called cuatro plumas in tico slang (four feathers) because the Indian on the label has four feathers on his head.
Dar color – to embarrass
Darle pelón – to flirt with someone. It is more common to use dar pelota.
Dejar buey – to make someone feel stupid
Dejar como un domingo en la Sabana..solo pelotas – to get beaten up physically. To leave someone like the Sabana Park on a Sunday full of soccer balls (bumps)
Dejarle a uno más cruzado que el saco de Gardel – to get very high on drugs
Detrás de lopa – behind the eight ball. The expression is “Detrás del palo” but pachucos often reverse the syllables of words, thus lopa instead of palo
Echar el ruco – pick up girl. Ruco is slang for horse. Echar el caballo or echar los perros is also used here.
En menos que canta un gallo – fast or in a jiffy. I have also heard, “En menos que el presidente hace mil promesas.” In less time than it takes the president to make 1000 promises.
Enjacharle a alguien – make a face at someone. Jacha is slang for face in Costa Rica. Hacerle una cara a alguien is the correct way to say it.
Enroscarse – to sleep. Rulearse is also used in Costa Rica to mean the same thing.
Espomosita – beer (foamy). Una friá or un águlia is also used here.
Estaca – a tight-fisted person.
Estar como agua para chocolate – to be boiling mad
Estar como Bagaces de Liberia – to be lazy
Friquear – to freaked out
Gallada – bunch of guys
Gargantillas – a bunch of women
Guatazo – a quick bath
Hacerle daño – to have sex
Hacerse el Soviético – a variation of “Hacerse el Ruso” or to play dumb. Hacerse el maje is more common.
Harinón – a lot of money. Harina is more common for money. Un hueval de plata is also used.
Jema – means maje but backwards. Remember pachuchos like to reverse syllables.
La clase Burger King – word play on Burgesia (middle class or bourgeoisie).
La manteca – wife
La pulpe – pulpería or small corner grocery store
Lance – the opportunity to seduce a woman
Lolo – stupid
Manda güevo que – I don’t believe it or it is incredible. For example: Manda huevo güevo que BIll Smith no hable inglés. It is impossible that Bill doesn’t speak English.
Masticar – speak a language. It literally means to chew or masticate.
Muy kilometrado- a person who is over the hill. To have a lot of millage in this case kilometers.
Nido – slang for house. It literally means “nest.” Choza and chante are synonyms
Oler a quemado – sounds boring
Palmar – to kill
Parecer una bolsa de de leche – A woman who has no waist. She looks like a “bag” of milk.
Pelliscado – alert or smart. Vivo is a synonym.
Pichel – a person’s face. Cara or rostro are the correct words for face
Ponerse de jetas – to say stupid remarks
Ponerse en Venus – get high on drugs or literally go to the planet Venus
Raspar las ollas – to eat (literally to scrape the bowl)
Robar pasto – steal a girl from another guy
Ruedas – car (literally wheels)
Se le mete la guata – a version of se le mete el agua which means to go crazy. Guata is pachuco for water instead of agua
Ser como el cuchillo de Tarzán – to be as sharp as Tarzan’s knife or to be hungry
Ser todo orejas – to be all ears
Sobre – bed Cama or lecho are the correct words for bed. Lecho is used this way. El hombre está en el lecho de la muerte. The guy is on his death bed.
Solo good – a version of Solo bueno which means “Things are only good or only good things are happening”
Soltar el violín – to inspire pity
Tirar al baúl de los recuerdos – to get rid of a girlfriend in this case
Tirar la toalla – to give up or “throw in the towel.”
Tucos – legs
Volverse camote – to go crazy
Yodito – slang for coffee in Costa Rica

Being a former Spanish teacher at all levels with two graduate degrees in the subject, I am always looking for good programs for learning the language. About two months ago I took a group of potential retirees to Conversa’s campus in Río Oro de Santa Ana for lunch and to view a demonstration of their teaching methods. During the demonstration both my clients and I were truly impressed by the school’s level of instruction, professionalism and innovative methods.

Conversa also offers live one-on-one Spanish courses online using video teleconferencing software. If you can’t come to Costa Rica to study or feel uncomfortable in group situations, this makes it possible to learn Spanish from the comfort of your home or office. This approach to teaching Spanish integrates live instruction with a valuable Spanish Resource Portal called “ConversaConmigo.” All you need is a high-speed internet connection and a headset.

By the way, the school was founded in 1975 by David Kauffman who is the former coordinator for a Peace Corp Center and also has a graduate degree in Spanish Linguistics. Most of the Spanish schools and teachers in Costa Rica do not have this background, experience or qualifications.

Check it out.

A telenovela or novela is a Spanish language soap opera. Telenovelas seem to be the opiate of the masses in Latin America. The first telenovelas were produced in Brazil, Cuba and Mexico in the 1950s. The most popular ones last about an hour and appear Monday through Friday evenings (7 to 10 PM) on most Spanish TV networks. In Spanish-speaking-countries major television stations show at least four to six of novelas per day. One series will typically run for seven to fourteen months.

Spanish soap operas are even becoming popular in other countries where they are dubbed into different languages. The first global telenovela was Los Ricos También Lloran (“The Rich Cry Too”, Mexico, 1979), which was exported to Russia, China, the United States and other countries.

The final show (desenlace) of a novela typically features a wedding between the two leads, some horrible death or fate for the villain and redemption for the bad guys who were less evil than the villain. The good people are always rewarded in novelas.

Telenovelas have a sociological component because they reflect many real life situations and issues in Latin America. Narconovelas are a new phenomenon that have come from Colombia. Recent productions like El Capo, Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso and El Cartel de los Sapos are social commentaries about real life problems that presently plague Colombia. Some have criticized the wave of Colombian soap operas for glamorizing the life of drug lords and for selling the drug culture as a risk-free entree into the high life.

The Novela is also a valuable learning tool. In the April 10, 2010 edition of La Nación there was an article about the benefits of watching soap operas for native Spanish speakers. According to Jorge Ignacio Covarrubias, the secretary of North American Academy of the Spanish Language, telenovelas enrich and spread the Spanish language. They help increase the viewer’s vocabulary, teach new ways of saying things and improve channels of communication.

Novelas also benefit non-native Spanish speakers who learn learn dialog in a real life context and build their vocabulary, especially idiomatic expressions. This method is free, fun, and not boring. On thing is for sure. If you are serious about learning the Spanish language, telenovelas are one of the better vehicles. Once you have a basic Spanish vocabulary you should be able to get the gist of what the characters are talking about in any soap opera. By watching telenovelas you will be exposed to how the language is really spoken and not boring textbook Spanish. Your ear for the language will also improve. The more soap operas you watch the better you will speak Spanish. Novelas are very melodramatic and visual. The facial expressions are more exaggerated than other kinds of programming, giving you visual clues about the content. When the hero physically throws the bad guy out of the house and says, “Lárgate! (Get your butt out of here!),” you know he’s not asking him out for a beer! Dialog is surprisingly easy to understand when accompanied by action.

Telenovelas is one of several Spanish magazines where you can read to keep up on all of the gossip about Spanish soap operas. In case you miss an episode of your favorite novela, there are Internet sites that summarize the daily plots.

Novela-related Vocabulary

Actor -actor
Actor de reparto – member of the supporting cast
Actriz –actress
Argumento or trama – the plot of a movie or soap opera
Culebrón – another name for a soap opera. Culebrones (“long snakes”) got their name because of the convoluted plots.
Desenlace – ending
Episodio – episode
Estelarizando or estelarizada por – starring…
Final feliz – happy ending or denenlace feliz
Final triste – sad ending or desenlace triste
Galán – leading man
Héroe – hero
Hora estelar –prime time
Novela – a Spanish soap opera
Novel por entregas – a serial
Novelero/a – a person who watches a lot of novelas
Personaje – character in a novela
Protagonista – person who has the leading role
Refrito – a remake of a previous novela
Televidentes – those who watch television
Villano/a or malo/a de la telenovela – bad guy or bad gal.