“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
