www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Before you all flame me, I find this to be a legitimate topic. First, I know it's a good idea to speak Spanish while you're in Costa Rica.

My question is in regard to finding a prospective GFE/P4P. I know it's a mistake to go to bed with the first woman to come grab you and hit on you. I want to go up and talk to some ladies and get to know them before I spend money on them.

And of course to get to know someone you need to talk to them. So how do you get to know someone well enough if you don't speak Spanish too fluently? Do most of the ladies try to speak English too? I'm willing to try to speak Spanish, but if I'm paying for a good experience, I'd hope she'd at least try to speak English too.

On a related note, my wingman hired two ladies at once and said he found the experience lacking, as the ladies talked to each other in Spanish the whole time, leaving him feeling left out.

Thanks for your help, leaving for CR on the 12th for my virgin trip!!

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Join me or die! Can you do any less?

I'll be going there for my first trip mid October. I know perfect spanish, but I would never let the girls no that, unless of course I can get a major discount. I'll give you a report when I get back.

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"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance & conscientious stupidity."
~MLK Jr.

I don't think there's any good reason to hide your perfect Spanish. If you think you'll find out secrets by hiding your Spanish, well you probably will. But what you'll find out is a lot less and a lot less important than you'll find out by just talking to the girls in normal conversation. If you approach the situation as if you are dealing with an enemy, I don't think you'll get the most out of your time and money. Even if you think of them as enemies, do you think the CIA conducts it's interrogations by pretending they don't speak the language?

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

JMoon- unfortunately unless you are secretly Vince Neil (circa 1985) I do not know if you will be getting discounts (especially "major") based on your fluency in the native tongue. I am curious why you want to withhold this info from the ticas, as it should facilitate the dealing and increase your enjoyment. Just my thoughts. Have a great trip.

While the forum covers this, I believe this to be a fair question unworthy of flames. In my very limited experience, generally, you do not need Spanish for the HDR girls. Now, having said that, the ability to speak basic Spanish helped me. I would not have done as well with the MP girl that I saw over a few days if I did not speak Spanish, because she spoke no English. She was, IMHO, a superb GFE. In fact, she was far better than the two HDR girls that I had.

One of the things I have noticed is that there seems to be a direct correlation between the amount of English a chica knows and how much money she will ask for/accept.

Also, to echo the Professor's point, the Del Ray girls all know some English, but a lot of the girls in the more tico oriented places don't and knowing some Spanish is a BIG help there.

From my experience as a white-bread gringo who has struggled for 39 years to become as fluent as I am in Spanish, here are my opinions/observations.

Speaking Spanish is not as big an asset as one might think, nor is speaking no Spanish as big a liability as one might think.

Most hotels have English-speaking employees. The level of English will run from rough (Amistad, Don Carlos) to near-perfect (Presidente, SL). Taxi drivers will rarely speak English. Hookers: 1 in about 18 in the del Rey speak enough English to get the job done, including the nasty words and bedroom directions.

What you gain with speaking Spanish is a degree of extra safety and convenience, and better warm-ups with the girls.

Since this about men and women, sex and fun, speaking Spanish will often get a better performance out of your companion. Speaking Spanish may or may not get you better deals. I do believe that communication is key to great sex.

Here's an example. This last trip I was with a lovely tica who speaks pretty fair English. Things got hotter/better during our six nights together when I finally figured out that pillow talk, sighs and whispers in Spanish got her hotter in bed. This was initially uncomfortable for me and required mid-stroke concentration to accomplish, but I can tell you it was worth it!

What you lose by speaking Spanish:

1. If you speak good enough Spanish to carry on a conversation, you'll be much more likely to be treated to chica drama and bull*hit. Sob stories will quickly start coming at you.

2. If the locals know you speak Spanish, they will indeed often conduct their conversations very rapidly (beyond your ability to comprehend) or lapse into pachuco (common slang) to exclude you from the conversation. This is the only reason I can see that one might want to hide one's Spanish abilities.

3. Many native speakers will presume your Spanish is better than it is, particularly if like me, you speak better than you comprehend. This can be frustrating for both sides of the conversation until the native speaker figures out your actual level of Spanish comprehension. When they do... see point immediately above.


What to do:
If you speak no Spanish, here's what I would do:

1. Carry business cards with directions to your hotel, favorite clubs etc. and show them to the taxi drivers. Better yet, travel with a Spanish-speaking CRT wingman. Many of us speak at least passable Spanish, and there are several native Spanish-speakers in our ranks.

2. Find a trusted bilingual wingman to help you with negotiations. This works well particularly in a casual situation, like sitting around a table or at the bar at the SL.

3. Smile a lot and use gestures, hopefully not obscene ones. Nods and shakes of the head mean the same thing there as here.

4. Get a Franklin pocket electronic English-Spanish translator. They can be bought almost everywhere and for very little money. IMHO they're more convenient than a phrase book, which might also be a good idea.

5. Don't be afraid to ask your Spanish-speaking CRT bros for help. Most of us are helpful, friendly, courteous and Kind...sort of like perverted Boy Scouts.

6. Learn some basic Spanish, especially the numbers. As Don Gordo says, he knows enough Spanish to deal with comida (food), bebida (drink), mujeres (women), dinero (money) y taxistas (taxi drivers). To help you with this, try a language course on CD like Pimsleur. You can get the introductory 25 lesson package for under $20.00 retail. It's worth it if you've got a couple months before your trip and are willing to commit 20 minutes per day to learning the basics.

7. While you're learning a little Spanish, learn a little about Costa Rican social culture. For instance, nearly every friendly woman will call you "mi amor'" (my love). This doesn't mean she's into you... it's just their way.

Hope this helps.

Muy buena suerte / Very good luck.

Y bienvenido a CRT / And welcome to CRT!

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

I'd say that speaking Spanish is not the problem, as most of the time we're the ones leading them in that direction (the drama) with the questions we ask. Just keep the conversation on the fun side no matter what, after all, we go over there to have fun, don't we?

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Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly!

Great stuff El Ciego....Im sorta like DG at this stage, but am slowly improving to other areas, which in turn improves the DG categories also. I found knowing some of the language in Asia was a big help, I think so in Latin American also. Level 1 is MUCH MUCH better than Level 0, but level 2 is not that much better than Level 1 in most simple contact a visitor has...if that makes any sense.. Appreciate your perspective greatly.

All I can say (for me) speaking the language is a great asset in the bedroom, in between sessions, and especially with moresomes.

I would not have the same type of time if all I knew was Hola and no cien..


Cujo

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"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

No question, as my spanish has improved my fun in costa rica has improved 10 fold.

Now I am nowhere near mi amigos such as Cujo speaking the language but I try and it goes a long way with the chicas and the locals.