Although many of Costa Rica’s well-educated people speak English, (and more than 30,000 English-speaking foreigners live permanently in Costa Rica), Spanish is the official language. Anyone who seriously plans to live or retire in Costa Rica should know Spanish — the more the better. Frankly, you will be disadvantaged, handicapped and be considered a foreigner to some degree without Spanish. Part of the fun of living in another country is communicating with the local people, making new friends and enjoying the culture. Speaking Spanish will enable you to achieve these ends, have a more rewarding life, and open the door for many new, interesting experiences.

Most English speakers who come to Costa Rica will find it hard to understand and communicate with the locals. Even people with knowledge of the Spanish language have a difficult time with the local slang. Like English, Spanish has become very idiomatic. Everyday conversations are filled with local jargon called, tiquismos. This guide will help you decipher most of the local idioms and enable you to communicate on a basic lever. It is the result of twenty years of experience, experimentation and research in the field of bilingual education. Tiresome grammar and tedious exercises have been eliminated to both accelerate and facilitate the learning process and make this book more enjoyable. Thus, people of all ages and from all walks of life can profit from it.

It must be pointed out that this book not be considered a complete course in the Spanish language. However, with the regular practice of the pronunciation exercises and memorization of all the indispensable vocabulary and useful phrases, you should be able to communicate and handle most daily situations you will encounter in Costa Rica.