www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Many of us have learned that as our language skills get better so do our experiences with the chicas, but here is yet another good reason for us to commit the time and effort,


http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/22/w ... lzheimers/

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Rainman3

Good timing for the post. I just came home last week after going to CR for the first time and decided I should learn Spanish. I'm interested in opinions on the best way to learn while back in Northern California. I know there's college classes, Rosetta Stone, etc. i know ideally it's probably to immerse oneself in surroundings where folks speak Spanish, but I won't have the chance for that...well, except for classes or lessons.

Thanks.

Books, audio, and online courses are good starters, but to really learn (and be able to think in the another language), you have to practice speaking it on a regular basis. Find somebody who you can speak with on a regular basis. You can probably find somebody on facebook, people would love to practice English while you practice Spanish. You can alternate languages and help each other.

Thanks, Orange. Good idea.

Que?, yo no entiendo Soy un poco lento

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“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” And we are the guys that keep them in Eggs & Grits

Take college courses and private "conversation" lessons. Try real hard to get a latina GF. Study vocabulary daily. Then read novels in Spanish. I'm now in my last college Spanish course to qualify for a degree in Spanish. I've been seeing Isabel for four years and my Spanish is better than her English, so we always speak Spanish. Studying Spanish has become my hobby; I'm lovin it!

I'm going to use the same formula for success I used in Japan. Start learning the basics a few months before I move there, and listen to stuff in Spanish all the time (easy to do here in Houston). Once I get there, avoid hanging out with Americans and gravitate towards the locals. Listen to everything they say to pick up idioms, inflection, common useage, and rythym of the language. Take more classes once I get there. Watch the news in Spanish as much as possible.

What this did for me in Japan worked wonders. After 90 days I could get around on my own with no English. After six months I was speaking Japanese like a local semi-fluently. When I returned to the states, for years afterwards, Japanese who had moved to Houston commented that my Japanese had a Sanuki accent (kind of a hick accent). My reply was that I was proud of that, I wanted to sound like a local, hick or not!

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Man I'm living life like a great white shark swimming with minnows! It's all about panocha, great scotch, fine cigars, loud-ass rock music and speed, speed, speed - plus spending as much time as possible in paradise on earth, Costa Rica!

Probably smart I once had a Chica tell me she was embarasado. I told her I wasn't proud of being seen with her either.

embarazado?
pregnant.

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It is cheaper to pay now and get it over with.
It is also easier to get them to leave.

Joking.

Spanish. It helped save my ass in Colombia

just wanted to add my 2 cents

IMHO, the guys that are starting to learn Spanish need to remember a few things.

1) It isn't how much you know. It is the fact that you are making an honest effort to improve daily

2) Even if you only know say, 10 words in Spanish, PLEASE PLEASE learn to pronouce the words correctly!! Practice those vowels and learn to leave those crazy-ass gringo accents out ! (sorry, NY'ers, Boston, Chicago. Texas, Alabama, etc etc)

JMHO

Pura Vida

EdB

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"You will never run out of good things because there is more than enough to go around. Life is meant to be abundant"
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