Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

“Christopher Howard’s Guide to Costa Rican Spanish”
By Steve Silver
Special for Costa Rica Today

Christopher Howard  first became  fascinated by the Spanish language and culture while studying in Puebla, Mexico over thirty years.  Mr. Howard’s latest 160-page guidebook reflects his life-long interest in the subject.  It is a must read for anyone thinking of spending long  periods of time in Costa Rica.

When Mr. Howard moved to Costa Rica in the early 1980s he quickly realized that he would have to learn Costa Rican-style Spanish. Despite having an advanced degree in Spanish, having studied and lived in Mexico and having traveled to every country in Latin America he quickly realized that Spanish was spoken a little different here.  First, he noticed that  there were a lot of local expressions and vocabulary with which he was not familiar.  So he set out  learn all the nuances  of the local lingo.   His new guidebook is the result of almost 25 years of research in the field of Spanish as a second language. By no means is it a complete course in the Spanish language, but does provide neophytes with the basics to  survive here.  Travelers, students, full and part-time residents as well as serious language students will all benefit from the information in this handy book. Howard has taken some of the material from his weekly newspaper columns “Learning the language” and “Short Cuts for Learning Spanish.”

The book is divided into different sections.  The first part deals with pronunciation and has some handy drills to help students sound  more like native speakers.  The next section contains essential Spanish survival phrases you will need for  most daily situations you will encounter in Costa Rica. There is another chapter which shows how Costa Ricans use the vos form of verbs instead of the tú form to address friends. Then there are two chapters dedicated to Costa Rican street slang and useful idioms.  You won’t be able to find most of this material in a standard Spanish dictionary or any other source in English.

The next chapter contains a section on piropos or phrases used for flirting.  Two great sections follow where Chris gives his  secrets for learning  the language.  At the end of the guide is a list of good books  and other sources for learning the language. Finally, the is a short English- Spanish, Spanish-English dictionary.

This guide is pocket-size so you can take it with you wherever you go.

It is available  in Costa Rica through 7th Street Books, Librería Internacional and  Librería Universal. On line it can be obtained through  Amazon.com or www.escaprartist.com.  It can also be purchased in U.S. and Canadian bookstores. Worldwide distribution is through Book Surge.

Mr. Howard has also authored: The bestselling “New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica.”,  the equally popular “Living and Investing in Panamá.”  the one-of-a-kind “Living and Investing in Nicaragua” and  “Living and Investing in Cuba,”  He has co-authored “Driving the Pan-American Highway to Mexico and Central America”  and the soon-to-be released  blockbuster “The Official Guide to Costa Rican Real Estate.”

October 2005

Fuera, the first and third person singular of the imperfect subjunctive form of the verbs “ir” ( to go) or “ser” (to be), is often used in many idiomatic expressions.

Here are a few of them:

¡Fuera! - Get out (leave)!
¡Fuera abajo! - Timber! (when a tree is cut).
¡Fuera bombas! - Bombs away!
fuera de broma - all kidding aside
fuera de cámara - off camera
fuera de combate - out of action (figurative)
fuera de esto - aside from this
fuera de mi alcance - beyond my reach or means
¡Fuera de mi camino! - Out of my way!
Fuera de vista fuera de mente - out of sight out of mind (literal translation). However, most often people say “Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente.”
El perro tiene la lengua fuera. -The dog has his tongue hanging out.
estar fuera - to be out or away (not home)
estar fuera de mi vida - To be out of my life (person)
estar fuera de onda - to be out of touch with things
estar fuera de sus cabales - to be crazy
estar fuera de práctica - out of practice or rusty (oxidado)
estar fuera de quicio - to be crazy
estar fuera de serie - unusual, uncommon
estar fuera de si - to be upset
por fuera - on the outside
tiempo fuera - time out (sports)
cambio fuera - over and out (when communicating by two-way radio)

Tiquismo: Mear fuera del tarro - To not know what one is talking about (vulgar).