www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Let me just say after just completing my first trip to CR I truly appreciate all of the input and support I received during my visit. My main problem is I am language challenged....!!! Despite this rather obvious deficiency I still had a blast but I cannot imagine HOW MUCH BETTER this trip would have been if I knew some Spanish.... I am therefore committed to learning Spanish as quickly as possible. I do recall seeing a thread where a member listed essential Spanish phases and terms that a gringo should learn before visiting SJ.... I cannot find it now.... Can someone please post the link to this thread? My next question is how does one go about learning a language like Spanish "quickly". Nothing like planning a return trip to motivate youself....right.!!!!

Books:
Spanish for Dummies
Spanish Grammar for Dummies
Barron's 501 Spanish Verbs
Correct Your Spanish Blunders

Flashcards:
Berlitz Spanish Grammar Study Cards
...separate them into verbs, adjectives, prepositions, and nouns (subdivided by subject matter)
...separate the verbs into regular (ar/er/ir) verbs and irregular verbs
...memorize the regular verbs, and practice the present tense conjugations

Learn the use of ESTAR vs SER. It is the single most-important verb(s).

Know how to form the present participle of regular verbs (the "ing" form in English).

Know how to form the false-future-present form ({estar form} + pp of IR 'yendo' + infinitive of active verb) .

Once past that, (and NO it's not that hard), memorize the adjectives that are important to you.

I can send you some WORD templates of prepositions to memorize too, if you wish.

Once you feel comfortable with this, you need to jump into the pronoun forms. They have 10 classes, but the difficulty only comes from the direct/indirect object, and prepositional reflexive classes. Speaking them is easy, but hearing them spoken takes serious practice, especially the d/i Obj class.

None of this is difficult, as it is just memorization. Once you have a vocab ready at hand, you can begin speaking like a retard. Only then will you learn that the Spanish language requires a different way of thinking about your subject. THAT ... is the next level.

[EDIT] at present, I can only speak like a retard, and I had excellent sessions from all providers ... even the ones that spoke English. The chicas really appreciate a guy that tries to communicate with them.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Here's a start with some basic words and phrases: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12923

Sorry about all the phucking characters and symbols that seemed to have been inserted/converted after the last board software "upgrade".

Thanks Bashful...I'm gonna make you and BangBang proud ... promise !!!!!.... Does B___T interact on CRT forums if so what is his handle...?

bud:
you know how to find the MPs,
you handle indies like a pro,
you pulled off a tripla,
your black book is probably bigger than mine,
you didn't impregnate anyone,
you only bled a little into the waterfall,
you went first on the inverted zipline,
you kept your cool in the face of blatant disrespect at Cocal,
you survived nailing a chica in the backrooms of Le Grillon,
you helped me run up a $400+ tab at Scores, and a $500+ one in Le Grillon (in the same night),
and you're one of the coolest MF'ers I've ever hung out with.

You got nothin' to prove to me or BB57. You already have our respect.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

THE ONLY THING I would disagree with is that It was MY privildage and absolute pleasure to hanging with you guys....cant wait to repeat....!!!!!!! you got a lot of class BD....and I could never do 6 chica's in one night without needing to be revived...!!!!

Awwwww ..... GROUP HUG!!!

_________________
bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Tippin,

I have to agree with BD, in that you were one of the most NON newbie newbies I have ever seen working the scene here in SL. You did it much better than many long time SJ mongers I have seen! If I had not known I would have never believed it was your first trip here. Even with the lack of Spanish you handled the chicas like a pro, you were at ease and never let on to them that you were a newbie, your self-confidence without conceit was evident, you were gracious and kind to the chicas and as a result you were like a magnate to them!! Look forward to spending more time with you on your next trip!!

As for BD doing 6 chicas in one night--he has a death wish even if he is still a young guy!!! Hell after the first 2, maybe 3, it becomes just "work"-all the "pleasure has been blown"!! But I am not being critical; I vaguely remember way back when I was young and acted like(thought) I was going to lose it if I didn't use it!!!

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

I have bought books, tapes, flash cards and taken courses at the community college. By far the best is my Skype tutor. She lives in Ecuador and charges me $10 per hour. Besides grammatical lessons, we have conversations during out weekly lesson. If you dont have a way of reinforcing what you learn, you lose it real quick. Outside of total immersion, I know of no other way of effectively learning.

If anyone wants a link to her, I would be glad to provide.

you are absolutely right. I live in South Florida, where Spanish is spoken everywhere. However I find that the people have little interest or patience in helping me to practice my skills, whether it is ordering a meal, to just asking directions or trying to make small talk. Knowing I speak English, they switch to it immediately. One guy got offended thinking I was under the impression that he could not speak English. Once I apologized and explained, he was cool but also didn't want to attempt to converse with me in Spanish.

_________________
bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

Wow.....!!!! Mucho Gracias Bang Bang ....wow...
while I'm somewhat humbled by your response let me just repeat that NONE of the success I had would have been remotely possible without the support and insight of you and Bashful......I repeat... nana...lol. I had almost as much fun hanging with you two and the rest of the guys as I did the chica's. i've been back state side for only two days and if my circumstances right now were just a "little different" I would be flying back this weekend....lol.....

Can't wait to get back....!!!!!

It is sometimes amazing the different responses different people get. For years every time I have been in South Florida EVERY Latino I have come in contact with (in stores, malls, restaurants, on the streets, everywhere ) has talked to me in espanol and in most cases even before I had said anything (their greeting was in Spanish)! I have always responded back in Spanish and maybe that is the reason they then continued the conversation in Spanish. Problem use to be that my Spanish was not very good (still not great) and I had trouble understanding them, especially the Cubans who tend to talk very fast and with an accent I am not use to!!

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

in line with the subject of this thread, I think it has a lot to do with the size of your vocab and the understanding of how to use it. I am still fledgling here, and I suspect that is why I do not find much empathy in the streets.

As I gain a bigger vocab, and absorb written Spanish, I will learn to phrase things appropriately and expect to be more accepted by the latino community at large.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

HAH! Grandpa! Maybe it becomes 'work' for you ... but when I see a chica that I haven't been inside of before ... well, all that matters is whether the internal body signals are in working order.

And for the record, the '6' was over a 27 hour period (no sleep), so #6 should come off and be considered a part of the next day. That would make the 2-day run a 5+5 instead of a 6+4.

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

@ bashful....no matter how you slice it that was still pretty impressive .....hell it would take me a full day just to schedule that many back to back sessions.....let alone excute on them because I strive to give as good as I get ...no wonder youre having troble getting back into a normal routine.....youre body is still in overdrive....!!!