“Christopher Howard’s Guide to Costa Rican Spanish”
By Steve Silver
Special for Costa Rica Today
Christopher Howard first became fascinated by the Spanish language and culture while studying in Puebla, Mexico over thirty years. Mr. Howard’s latest 160-page guidebook reflects his
Out of Sight Out of Mind
Fuera, the first and third person singular of the imperfect subjunctive form of the verbs “ir” ( to go) or “ser” (to be), is often used in many idiomatic expressions.
Here are a few of them:
¡Fuera! – Get out (leave)!
¡Fuera abajo! – Timber! (when a tree is cut).
¡Fuera bombas!
Spanish Expressions Part I
You may find it hard to believe that there is almost as much difference between the Spanish you learn in school and the Spanish spoken in everyday life, as there is between Spanish and English.
Many students spend years studying Spanish in a formal setting only to find they cannot understand native Spanish speakers. Spanish like English has become
My House is Your House
If your goal is to speak Spanish fluently, sooner or later you will have to know the names of all of the parts of a house.
The survival vocabulary below is especially useful if you are currently living or plan to reside in a Spanish speaking country. Undoubtedly, you will have to use some of these phrases in order to communicate with Spanish speaking
Part II – You know you are a Tico Costa Rican when:
- You are in shock and awe when someone shows up “on time”.
- You are in shock and awe when YOU show up on time.
- You haven’t looked at your wrist in years to see what time it is.
- You forgot that there used to be a watch there…You haven’t had a tan line where the watch used to be in years….You
