Retirement in Costa Rica – Learning Spanish Paso a Paso
I have been studying Spanish on and off for two-and-a-half years step by step, or paso a paso. I started six months before I moved to Costa Rica, while I was still in Florida. I enrolled in a course at an adult education center just to keep my brain cells active, but then I decided to move to this Spanish-speaking country, and I got serious about my studies.
Most native-English-speaking people who come here to live understand Spanish better than they speak it, but I speak better than I understand. I think I’m the opposite because I teach English, I teach writing, I write essays like this one, and I write web sites and marketing materials – all in English. I think about English grammar and expressions a lot when I plan and execute my classes. So my brain has to work overtime when I switch gears to Spanish.
Even though it’s a challenge to learn Spanish, and even more so because of my age (57), I enjoy learning it. I feel good when I knit sentences and paragraphs together. The other night I was at a Tico party where I was the only Gringa. I had an interesting conversation with someone about the TLC (the controversial Central American Free Trade Agreement).
We spoke to each other for about 20 minutes, all in Spanish. I understood enough of his words to be able to piece together his meaning. And apparently he understood me because he responded to what I said. I came away from that exchange smiling.
I am at the point in my learning where I am learning nuances, i.e., slight differences shown in the degree of words. For example, Costa Rica has several names for the types of rain we get, just as Eskimos have names for different kinds of snow. Pelo de gato means cat’s fur and is a light mist. Garua is drizzle, aguacero is a downpour, and temporal is the steady rain that we get for two to three solid days in October.
Because of the real threat of earth movements, we might feel sacudidos, or shakings. Stronger tremblings are called temblores, and a serious earthquake is a terremoto.
My Spanish teacher, whom I see once a week, also teaches me word families. For example, the verb to crunch is crujir; the noun crunch is crujido, and the adjective crunchy is crujiente. When I introduce a new word to my English students, I teach the same way, using word families. This method helps people remember vocabulary.
If someone is late, we say they follow hora tica, or Tico time. When I used to vacation in Aruba, I called it island time – the casual lateness that people living in a warm climate seem to live by. On the other hand, punctuality is called hora americana, or hora exacta. Language classes start exactly on time in both English and Spanish, and if you’re late, you miss part of the lesson. Or as we gringos say, you snooze, you lose.
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Written by Margie Davis retired in Costa Rica.
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to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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