Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

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 [...]

In the April 10th edition of La Nación there was an article about the benefits of watching soap operas called telenovelas or culebrones. 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 [...]

Saint Patrick’s Day is an annual feast day that celebrates the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on 17 of March.
Legend has it that St. Patrick became the patron saint of Ireland for, among other things, raising the dead and driving snakes out of Ireland. In the United [...]

LEGAL TERMS / TERMINOS LEGALES
Due diligence – Diligencia debida
Easement – Servidumbre
Executor – Albacea
Execution of the verdict – Ejecución de la pena
Embezzlement – Desfalco
Encumbrance – Gravamen
Evidence – Evidencia or pruebas
Eye witness – Testigo ocular
False witness – Testigo falso
Fees – Honorarios
Felony – Delito mayor
Fight case – Pelear el caso
Find guilty – Encontrar culpable
Find innocent – Encontrar inocente
Fine [...]

Terraza – a deck
Texturizar – to texturize
Tierra – earth or dirt
Tina or bañera – a bathtub
Toma de corriente – wall plug tomacorriente in Costa Rica
Tragaluz – a skylight
Travesaño – crossbeam
Tubería – pipes
Tubo – pipe
Tubo de drenaje – drain pipe
Umbral – threshold of a door
Varilla – rebar
Vestidor or walk in closet
Verjas – bars for windows
Vidrio – [...]