www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Phoenix Rising,

Gringo, ?que estas insinuando? Actually you and I must be a little closer to 4 since we both seem to understand your "amigovia". As you said, she 'nunca cerada la boca' y tambien ella habla muy pero muy rapida . The thing I have noticed with her and with my exnovia is that they seem to assume we will understand them. They both speak slower when talking to other gringos.

I also agree with you about the benifits and need to speak at least some espanol if one is living here or visiting here frequently. Also, just as I have a "deep southern Arkansas drawl" and some "yankees" talk even funnier, jejeje; spanish speakers from different countries and different regions of the same country have very different dialects and accents making it an even more difficult language to master.

Hell, after 25-30 years of nothing but spanish speaking employees, a Colombiana ex wife, 10 or so years of dating nothing but latinas, working as a certifyed translator part time for 10 years and now living here, I am still trying to learn spanish. And, yep, I am a SLOW learner

_________________
Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

I'm not so good, just trying & learning. But I hang w/ a longtime wingman
(MythicBrew) who is fluent in spanish & portugese.
I continually witness the girls just loving this guy.
I am convinced it's his ability to chat them up in their
native toung.
It helps me too because I am with him. Plus he is
tutoring me all the time we are cattin around together.
Every week I learn a little more.

Stratone

_________________
ALL FLASH, NO CASH !!!!!!

Like many others, I am at level 3. I can usually make myself understood and I am getting to the point to where I can actually carry on extended conversations with amigas sometimes. Like others, it is understanding spoken Spanish that is difficult. I know I could improve that aspect by watching more Spanish language television, but IT HURTS MY HEAD!

_________________
"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

How much Spanish I speak ?

Usually I would just say this to ticas that I just met,

" no entiendo nada ."

Filtered a few bad apples already.

_________________
- must not waste chalk.

Almost exactly one year ago I returned from my virgin voyage to CR. I knew almost no Spanish a month before I left for that trip.

I took a one-night-per-week adult enrichment class at a local high school and had maybe four classes before I set foot on CR soil.

I knew very little Spanish at that time. One year and four trips later and with minimal effort I now seem to be able to deal with a lot of circumstances that a year ago would have been impossible for me.

It has been fun just diving in when in CR and trying to communicate with Ticos who don't speak a lick of English.

Any advice I would give a newbie would be to concentrate on learning numbers up to the tens of thousands, and learn to make the USD to Colones conversion quickly.

Agree absolutely.

iTune has quite a few free podcast Spanish lessons , and some of them are actually very good, well paced for newbies.

_________________
- must not waste chalk.

On my first trip to CR 4 years ago, the only Spanish I learned was "Quanto", "Leche" and "Gracias". I used those words, usually in that order, several times a day. Over the years, I have used the Pimsler's CD's, but kind of got stuck at one point, so most of what I know is strictly Del Rey Spanglish, mixed with some pillow talk. The funny thing is that now I will struggle with the language until I have a few drinks, then it becomes WAY better. It's the same thing when I shoot pool, my brain seems to be hard-wired to only excel when I am drunk.

Like most of the guys I have a lot easier time expressing myself, then understanding what is being said. This is especially true of Nica's, Dominican's or even Mexican girls. As Rainman pointed out, Paisa's and Tica's seem to speak a little slower with less blending of words. I have dated a couple of non-pro non-english speaking Ticas, and keeping converation for an entire night was really tough. By the end of the night, I would just be menatlly exhasted. I also notice that I have a much easier time with Spanish in person than on the phone (even if I'm drunk). We probably underestimate how much body language and facial expressions can cue us as to what someone is saying.

A,

I totally agree. Whenever I talk to my novia on the phone it is always such a struggle. Body language and facial expressions are able to communicate so much to another person. Like you there are many things I do better when I am a little drunk; shoot bullshit, shoot pool and speaking Spanish are just a few. I was really proud of myself on my 2nd trip to MDE when I could get out and function by myself and find appropriate companionship without the need for anyone to hold my hand.
PIMSLEUR WORKS!
Rainman3

Wow Rainman,
The last time I hung out with you, the only Spanish you knew was "por favor", and you even said that with your god-awful Louisianna accent! Now you are cruising the shopping malls of Medellin, seducing store clerks. I know that Colombia is your thing now, but I just booked 6 nights at the SL starting March 13th, how about joining me? I could really use you back as my wingman.

can i post this

http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/

http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/Spanish.aspx

free foreign service institute language courses

_________________
gone fishing

Tom,

When I say "speak Spanish," that obviously includes comprehension.

Perhaps I should have said it as "understands Spanish," but I think the colloquial meaning should be clear.... how well do you communicate in Spanish.

Another thing that affects my Spanish, and I expect would be true with others, is the matter of context and contextual cues. For instance, face-to-face communication is far easier for most of us than talking on the telephone. Why? Because the telephone conversation lacks the visual cues found in face-to-face conversation. Also, if you're discussing about which you have knowledge (i.e. sex, food) it is often easier to comprehend what is being said than if you're discussing about which you have little knowledge.

Actually, when I took the State Department/Foreign Service Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) - <insert joke here> I tested at the lowest sub-level of the highest class i.e. Superior Lvl. 1. This would in fact classify me under #4 (fluent non-native), but I'm tentative about my Spanish sometimes.

_________________
Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.

Duplicate. Oops. Sorry!

_________________
Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.

Good question and discussion El Ciego.

I rate myself a 3, although that category seems quite broad. I consider you a 3, although some others who rated themselves a 3 are nowhere near your fluency level.

I live in an area that is historically hispanic, so that even gringo newscasters pronounce Spanish names correctly. However, a generation ago, many of the natives, my relatives included, deemphasized learning Spanish in the home in the hopes of upward mobility. Nevertheless, growing up and hearing relatives speak Spanish on occasion, did give me a familiarity with the language that was probably helpful.

I took about 30 hours of Spanish in college and obtained a solid grammatical foundation, including writing and phonetics. However, without practice, the foundation crumbles.

Fortunately, my 10 trips in a year and a half to CR have improved my Spanish skills. I have a favorita who speaks only Spanish, so I have spent a lot of time practicing with her. I speak with her occasionally on the phone and we communicate well, although "in person" is much better. She comments that her family laughs at her when I am on the phone because she speaks slowly.

I downloaded the first 30 pimsleur lessons. I listened to #30 to determine how fluent I was and thought that it was fairly elementary. However, they are a means to practice. I suspect that someday I will buy the next two pimsleur volumes.

Ciaociao

A short funny (or not so funny) story about the pitfalls of Spanish "Booklearning", as opposed to practical conversation learning.

99% of my Spanish comes from "Booklearning"

On my 1st CR trip Jan 2008, In a short conversation, I referred to the hotel maid as a "criada". Two people's eyes got big, and I didn't know why. I was then told by one of them not to use that word. I asked why, and was told that "that's how we used to refer to black domestics years ago when it was socially acceptable to talk down to them".

Naturally I aplogised and told them I had picked up this word from a dictionary, and that I didn't know it was a pejorative term.

They knew then I wasn't trying to be offensive, but I was once again reminded of the dangers of "Booklearning".

CdrTom

When I voted I rated myself as fluent, but I am actually a little bit less than fluent, but also more than simply 'comfortable'. I can pretty much discuss anything I want in most cases. However, If I hear a local slang (dichos) that has a double meaning I get easily stumped. It is the same for Hispanics who don't understand our colloquial expressions. That said, I can pretty well understand most folks in Latin America, but Puerto Ricans and Cuban can really throw me with their fast talk, cutting off word endings etc.

_________________
Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.