If I want to visit Costa Rica, which version of Spanish should I learn?

Question

The only options are Mexican Spanish and Spanish - Latin American Spanish is not available... Which one would you suggest and why?

Answer 1

Costa Rica is noted for having the largest percentage of Spanish population in Central America. The Meseta Central, with more than half the nation's population, is the most predominantly Spanish region in both its manner of living and its ancestry. Spanish is spoken with distinctive national accents and usages. In Central America, a Costa Rican is called a Tico, for Costa Ricans replace the diminutive ending -tito with -tico, a practice known elsewhere but uncommon in Central America.

The population of Guanacaste provincia, which makes up about 8 percent of the country's total, is a blend of colonial Spanish, Indian, and African peoples; their spoken Spanish is more like that of Nicaragua than that of the Meseta Central.

People of African ancestry live mostly in the Caribbean lowland provincia of Limón, which contains overall about 7 percent of Costa Rica's population. They are the descendants of workers brought from the West Indies to build railroads and raise bananas, and most of them speak both Spanish and a Jamaican style of English, the majority being descended from people who came from that island.

Answer 2

Spanish grammar is quite consistent throughout the Spanish speaking countries. There are distinctive tonal inflections and local slang. The Costa Ricans tend to speak a bit slower and more distinctly than some other nationalities.

As for vocabulary, some nouns are distinctive by country, even within Central America. For example, the words for hangover, hill billy, private parts and twine are generally different everyplace.

The Mexican Spanish is littered with phrases and colloquial words that are not used in Costa Rica. You will be better off learning Castellano, the Spaniards Spanish.

Answer 3

OK, there is no such thing as "Mexican Spanish" any different from "Latinamefican Spanish". One category includes the other, mexico is a latin American country. The spanish spoken in costa Rica or in mexico are exactly the same with a few differences only in idioms and in slangs, but grammatically they are the same, just as in Venezuela, Colombia or Peru, Spanish is Spanish and period. If you go to Costa Rica you will probably start inflecting (accenting) spanish as they do but this doesn't make it any less good or worst than the rest of all.

Good luck!

Answer 4

The Spanish spoken in Latin-America and most of Spain is only one: Castillian (Castellano).
The grammar will always be the same. What change are some words because of the country's native words. This happens in each country in Latin-America so if they actually taught 'Latin American Spanish' they would actually be generalizing the language. (Just imagine if your school offered English, British English, Australian English or Jamaican English).
I think when they offer Mexican Spanish they are basicly teaching you the same grammar but with some phrases from Mexico.
The only way of learning the common phrases in Costa Rica is by going there and speaking with people. I know many of them and are very nice people so don't be a fraid of asking if you don;t catch something.

Answer 5

There is only one spanish language. There is no difference between the spanish spoken in Mexico and the one from Latin America, except for some slangs used in each country.
I think you should study SPANISH, not mexican-spanish, colombian-spanish or costarican-spanish.
If you speak spanish, everybody is going to understand you, and even if you don't, a wide population of costaricans speak english fluently.
Good luck in Costa Rica!

Answer 6

If you study the Spanish spoken by Mexicans, then you will have no problem understanding the "Ticas" (the affectionate name Costa Ricans call themselves) because their Spanish is much clearer and they speak more slowly and do not use as much slang as the Mexicans do. I have lived in both places and have an advanced degree in Spanish, so trust me. Costa Rica is "pura vida" (as they say there), and you will enjoy the friendly people there!

Answer 7

If you want to visit Costa Rica, I want to offer you our concierge service, our team is prepared and ready to assist you in everything you need. We'll take you to the best restaurants, clubs and will have all activides and tours available with the best quality service in Costa Rica, contact us to our mail: [e-mail]
And remember to visit our website www.costaricadtours.com