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While I speak from afar at this point, I think it’s safe to say that you can fumble through without knowing any Spanish, but you would be far better off knowing at least some conversational Spanish. I am going back to school (now) to learn the basics (what little I remember of my 5 years of Spanish in school so long, long ago is but a distant memory) and from all I have read and heard, you should be at least able to have a halting conversation. This really isn’t too scary and what the heck, learning is always fun, right?
If you juxtapose your situation, I am sure you have encountered, as have I, Hispanic folks who know no English and having a conversation with them is, well, difficult.
And…….I think being a “guest” in a country implies that you will try to assimilate some of the language and culture, if for no other reason than to show the local folks you care enough to take a shot at it.
The phrase I will print on my cheat card until I get better at it will be “My Spanish is not very good, please be patient.” And I will seek to retire that card as fast as I can.
I would be in your best interest to immerse yourself in a Spanish conversation class before coming to Costa Rica. You can think of this as learning to swim. First you learn how to float then learn to doggie swim and the rest is history.
Must warn you that at first your Spanish will sound GARBLED and sometimes funny but the Ticos will not laugh at you, they will concentrate to figure out what you say.
There is a difference between the Gringo and the Tourist for Ticos’. The Gringo is the one that wants to live in Costa Rica and never tries to learn their language and culture; the Tourist is more palatable to the Tico since he makes an effort to communicate in Spanish.
Hope this helps.
I know people who have lived here for 20 years who can only just manage to order a beer in Spanish but as has been pointed out, speaking Spanish – even basic Spanish – will allow you to enjoy this country far more than if you did not …
Scott
[quote=”ddspell12″]I do not speak spanish. How much of a problem will this be![/quote]
I think beansandbooks makes good points. Our Spanish is “pidgin” and we’ve gotten along fine for seven years.
That said, anything you can learn would be helpful and it would show some respect for your environment. Too, I think an “academic” approach versus a “conversational” one is the way to go.
Spanish, for example, has fourteen verb tenses of which probably four or five are really necessary to understand. And because Spanish is what I would characterize as a “structural” language, knowing the verb constructions is important.
In English, for example, we identify who’s doing the action by a name or pronoun — [b]I[/b] eat salad. [b]You[/b] eat salad. In Spanish, the actor is identified by a verb ending — Com[b]o[/b] ensalada. Com[b]es[/b] ensalada. Sometimes, names or pronouns are used but not always.
So without understanding the verb endings, you really can’t tell who’s doing what or to whom.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”][quote=”ddspell12″]I do not speak spanish. How much of a problem will this be![/quote]
I think beansandbooks makes good points. Our Spanish is “pidgin” and we’ve gotten along fine for seven years.
That said, anything you can learn would be helpful and it would show some respect for your environment. Too, I think an “academic” approach versus a “conversational” one is the way to go.
Spanish, for example, has fourteen verb tenses of which probably four or five are really necessary to understand. And because Spanish is what I would characterize as a “structural” language, knowing the verb constructions is important.
In English, for example, we identify who’s doing the action by a name or pronoun — [b]I[/b] eat salad. [b]You[/b] eat salad. In Spanish, the actor is identified by a verb ending — Com[b]o[/b] ensalada. Com[b]es[/b] ensalada. Sometimes, names or pronouns are used but not always.
So without understanding the verb endings, you really can’t tell who’s doing what or to whom.[/quote]
I only remember a few words, phrases, mainly hte ones I learned in “Survival SPanish for Law enforcement” and likely, not too good (cant see a need to tell someone to stop or I will shoot:lol: and rather rude as a foreigner). Been trying to use what I can remember more when eating out in Mex-restaurants..at least, feel more at home using it..Spanish is at times confusing with the male/female and formal…
[quote=”ddspell12″]I do not speak spanish. How much of a problem will this be![/quote]
I spoke very little Spanish when we arrived but we found that in many casesd there is a Tico or English speaker nearby who can help.
Dealing with the day to day issues of living will improve your Spanish.After five years here I can say “Hasta luego, Amigo.” pretty well. 😆
if you are going to live in a Spanish culture, you really do need to learn the language. without out it, the humor, the irony, the political jokes, and the culture will be out of your grasp. i cannot even imagine living in a foreign country without language skills. i learned spanish before i moved to mexico, and i learned french before i moved to france. so moving here was a slam dunk, but there is always room for improvement and i spent more than a year going to spanish classes here. there is more to life in this country than hanging out with gringos, being able to order a beer, or ordering off a menu. you will miss so much of what it really means to live here if you are the outsider who can’t communicate. besides, learning a foreign language will stave off alzheimers. and what would you do in an emergency? could you call an ambulance, or the police, or run to a neighbor for help? what if your car breaks down? how will you tell a taxi where you need to go? what if you wound up in a hospital? speaking spanish might just save your life, and this old adage that no matter how well you speak it, you will always revert to your native tongue in an emergency is a falsehood. when i had to go to the ER after a bad fall and a messed up ankle, it never occurred to me to try and tell someone what happened to me in English and then risk not getting proper care. spanish is fun, and it’s a lot easier than english, and if you can speak spanish, you can then understand french, italian, and portuguese. what a bonus. plus there are more than 500 cognates in spanish. once you learn those you already have a vocabulary.
Learning a new language is easier for some people than others. I have found it a long, arduous process to learn Spanish. But I keep trying to learn more. I find that my Tico friends and neighbors feel honored than I am trying so hard to learn their language. I am not afraid to give it a try. By the same token, my Tico neighbor always is proud to try out any new English words he has learned on me. He loves the surprized look and smile that he gets from me when he does that. I always encourage my Tico friends, neighbors and even workers to correct me if I make a mistake. It seems to work well to build a better relationship all around. I would suggest making an attempt to learn as much as you can and then go from there.
[quote=”beansandbooks”] The phrase I will print on my cheat card until I get better at it will be “My Spanish is not very good, please be patient.” And I will seek to retire that card as fast as I can.[/quote]
What I have found is that many Ticos understand English but are uncomfortable speaking it because they seem to feel foolish with the pronunciation. My tack, when I get into a situation that is new or unfamiliar is to ask, with my best smile 🙂 , “Mi español es muy pobre, comprender Inglés?
I have found that the request opens them up to trying to communicate, usually with success.
The [url=http://www.translation.langenberg.com/]Langenberg translation web site[/url] is helpful because it has a vocal translation that helps with pronunciation.
Mexican Spanish is different in some ways though. The word “peso”, for instance, is a form of money in Mexico but in Costa Rica in means weight.
It has been a challenge but I have learned enough to make myself understood.
peso comes from the verb pesar — to weigh, but it also means sorrow and remorse. it all depends on the usage.
[quote=”maravilla”]if you are going to live in a Spanish culture, you really do need to learn the language. without out it, the humor, the irony, the political jokes, and the culture will be out of your grasp. i cannot even imagine living in a foreign country without language skills. i learned spanish before i moved to mexico, and i learned french before i moved to france. so moving here was a slam dunk, but there is always room for improvement and i spent more than a year going to spanish classes here. there is more to life in this country than hanging out with gringos, being able to order a beer, or ordering off a menu. you will miss so much of what it really means to live here if you are the outsider who can’t communicate. besides, learning a foreign language will stave off alzheimers. and what would you do in an emergency? could you call an ambulance, or the police, or run to a neighbor for help? what if your car breaks down? how will you tell a taxi where you need to go? what if you wound up in a hospital? speaking spanish might just save your life, and this old adage that no matter how well you speak it, you will always revert to your native tongue in an emergency is a falsehood. when i had to go to the ER after a bad fall and a messed up ankle, it never occurred to me to try and tell someone what happened to me in English and then risk not getting proper care. spanish is fun, and it’s a lot easier than english, and if you can speak spanish, you can then understand french, italian, and portuguese. what a bonus. plus there are more than 500 cognates in spanish. once you learn those you already have a vocabulary.[/quote]
Maravilla…you maske perfect sense. I am deep in Rosetta Stone Spanish presently and learning more and more each dasy. My daily telemuda news is getting easier for me to understand. I won’t be perfect but I will get by and be able to learn more as the months go on.
practice practice practice is the key. there must be a spanish language soap opera if you have cable in the States. the more you hear how they put things together, the more sense it will make to you. go to latin markets — almost every big city has a few and do your best to try out what you’ve learned. the more you try the easier it gets until eventually you are actually THINKING in spanish instead of thinking in english and then having to translate in spanish. that’s a lot of work. it’s so worth it.
Obviously there many EX pats who speak very little Spanish and say they are happy in Costa Rica just as there examples of marriages where one mate does not speak the language of the other. How many people could pull that off? What kind of personalities and conditions are required to make that work?
For me, I see no point in choosing a new home within a culture where I could not communicate effectively or even understand the intriguing nuances of that culture. For me, the people, the land and the language are intimately tied together.
For me, moving to Costa Rica will be like a marriage. I was first attracted to Costa Rica by the physical beauty of the landscape and the climate just as physical beauty first attracted me to my wife. But for me, there has to be more than physical beauty. The soul, the spirit of any country or culture is, of course, its people. How can one ever hope to know the culture without the language?
[quote=”lisamarie6987″][quote=”maravilla”].[/quote]
Maravilla…you maske perfect sense. I am deep in Rosetta Stone Spanish presently and learning more and more each dasy. My daily telemuda news is getting easier for me to understand. I won’t be perfect but I will get by and be able to learn more as the months go on.[/quote]
Another good idea is to buy some children’s books written in Spanish with the English translation included so you can see how the sentence is structured. They were kind of pricey in the bookstore, but I was able to get some on Amazon for a really good price.
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