Speaking Spanish in Costa Rica

My wife has class for five local ladies learning English.  She learns more Spanish than they do English but they do eat well.  We teach as volunteers once a week at the high school as English teachers and have teens over every Tuesday for advanced English, this helps immensely.  You can't help but pick up the language slowly.  I use DouLingo and that helps me.  I also volunteer in our community for projects so I learn specific Spanish skills ... plumbing, electrical, outdoor, etc.  It, however does not prepare me for conversational Spanish.  ONLY interaction with these wonderful people can do that!

I also volunteered at a local rural school and helped some older students at our home, who were at that time, attending 'night school' that  came to our home and who could write in English but not comprehend it...and were apprehensive to enter into conversations.

Living here, to make the most of your experience, you do need to learn Spanish.

Whether you become fluent is not important.

I took night classes once or twice a week in the USA for a couple years - just a few months at a time. I used audio tapes from the book store (library and internet also has this). I listened and repeated in my car when commuting.

Then I studied at COSI near San Jose on the edge of Zapote for 6 weeks, 4 hours a day and home work and living with a Spanish speaker full time during that period.

Then I practiced with people in Costa Rica.
My wife - who I mate later -  is also Latina and that boosted my skills but the aforementioned got me to the point where I met her and could communicate with her.

Now that I'm here I get complemented a lot on my speaking skills but my listening and understanding skills are often not super good because many people here speak very fast and with different accents. The people in the campo speak less well, less clear, less slow overall than the people from the city in my experience.

I can understand most taxi drivers for some reason. Talking on the phone is still a struggle for me at times, when they talk too fast etc. Sometimes my wife even has trouble understanding people who talk super fast!

I do not understand tv or radio still but don't try too hard because I have better things to care about. I like to relax when watching tv, not study, so I watch in English.  I undestand my wife 100%, my best (Tico) friend 85%, and most people 90% and they understand me 95% so I figure I don't need to work too hard at it now. Eventually I'll get better just by every day practice. Little by little I am understanding more.

Many of the people who return to the USA are people who don't learn the language very well. It's very important to just start in and learn as much as you can as fast as you can. As long as you make an effort Ticos  will appreciate that.

I have lived in Costa Rica for 40+ yrs. and speak Spanish quite fluently.  When I first arrived here I could get along fairly well due to college Spanish classes but with time and having to support my Costa Rican family I rapidly improved my language skills.  I am sure that without being able to communicate I  would have packed my bags and left long ago. 
I can't imagine having to depend on a translator just to get by.  Best investment in time and effort I ever made.

When Ticos ask if I speak Spanish, my answer will most likely always be the same - "Mi Espanol es no tan bueno."  ...not so good.  I have a traumatic brain injury, TBI,  from a severe car accident in 2006.  It's a very strange thing to deal with.  Even with English I will at times struggle, especially if I am overly tired or in a very 'echoy' environment.

At the same time I do my best to learn more all the time.  I cannot imagine attempting to live here without at least being able to communicate in basic conversation.  It just wouldn't be fun.  I know I stumble with my wording but I always try.  I always have my phone with me and words that are not used on a regular basis are always available on Google Translate.  I also try to learn to say my words grammatically correct and with the correct accent.  That makes a huge difference in others understanding what you're attempting to say.

So, my excuse in language and many other circumstances that I need to create an excuse -  I'm old, I'm blonde and I have TBI   

- Expat Dave

Its nice to learn how to speak Spanish.  Some people are not good with languages but yet want to live in Costa Rica.  Keep trying, and you will get it.  Watching a lot of TV with Spanish and subtitles helps also.  Believe that it is possible and you will begin to pick up things quickly.  Don't let anything stop you from speaking the native language.  Remember when we are in the US most of us have a problem with and feel disrespected when Spanish speakers do not attempt to speak English.

"Do unto others as ...etc"

As I wrote elsewhere...counting down to my trip to Costa Rica in three weeks!

Regarding this initial one-week trip, and a possible/hoped for relocation, will I/we be okay starting with ZERO Spanish? Each of us wants to learn Spanish, and each of us speaks more than one language. Just not Spanish! Will simply getting around be a hardship? I will be connecting with a friend and with school officials and AirBnB hosts, all of whom speak English.

I ordered a nifty set of Spanish language CDs from the library and slipped the first one into my car's CD player. The woman introducing the dialogue said that it was between Fernando, a Plastic Surgeon, and his patient, a woman with.....my name! I ejected the disk. I am not going there.

Now if Fernando had been a chef, or a teacher, or a musician, I might have learned some Spanish!

You will have difficulty living here without Spanish.  In my area, you can go to mostly any restaurant and speak English, but that's about it.   If you want to get something fixed, send a package,  fix your crappy internet, or go to Tico restaurants or stores, it will be difficult.  This is probably one of the main reasons people don't stay here, with bureaucracy and inefficiency up there as well.

When you're on vacation, it's fun, but living here month to month and then year to year, it's not fun anymore.   Come here for at least a year, rent a place and then make a decision.  Don't spend any money on getting residency or anything that implies you'll stay forever.  Sorry for the negativity, but it's the truth. 

Just look at some of the angry people on this forum.  They should have left YEARS ago!

Agree with the wizz!
Even if you apply for residency, which will probably take at least year to achieve, and if you intend to continue to drive, you will be required to leave the country to renew your passport/drivers license, every 90 days.
By then you will have a good idea whether the country is for you.

Personally, I think moving with a teen is hard enough just going to another city....and here, everything will be so different for her with friends being left behind and possibly without the type of extra curricular activities she currently enjoys.

Even getting dark at 6pm may keep  her tied close to home. Depending on your chosen location, I doubt you will want her out on a bicycle, going to friends homes.

Depending on how many International students are enrolled, English is liable to be spoken the most.

Try duoLingo.  The app is free  on your Smart Phone and it is a very good way to learn a language.  FIVE STARS

Gracias, amigos! I think I am on track with y'all regarding your useful advice. Thank you, thewizz, you don't have to characterize your realistic remarks as negative. Not negative at all. If we are going to live in CR, it would be absurd not to learn Spanish. Our daughters will pick it up easily. Besides English, each speaks French (ranging from intermediate to proficient) and they and I can get by in Chinese. Not that that will do us any good; simply to say, we respect languages and the daughters, at least, are young enough to have flexible brains. Husband lived in France and is eager to learn. I had a passing fear that being in CR in March with zero Spanish might get me stuck, but my friends and the schools are only a phone call away.

If we settle, residency is a long way away if it happens at all (90-day border crossings are fine with us) and I doubt we would ever buy a residence. If I'm not mistaken, we can find house-sits and affordable long-term rentals.

My teenager is keen, but dreaming is one thing, seeing is another. One big plus in CR is that each of the schools we are visiting has students enrolled from as many as 20 countries. Classes taught in English. Spanish is mandatory. Here my daughters are Chinese faces in a white bread world, and while certainly not unhappy, there are totally not into basketball and St. Patrick's Day. It was easier when they were little they are conscious now of the lack of diversity.

Take a look at openculture.com. Not only do they have at least twenty learning programs for every language imaginable, there are many hundreds of courses on everything. Also, I complained to my daughter about the Spanish CDs and she  said she would download an app to my phone today and "No, Mom, you don't need headphones."

A parting note: With two language programs now I've had the same experience. The speakers speak to each other and then ask you to repeat. But they don't tell you what they said. You are expected to figure it out. I ran one dialogue over and over to figure out that something meant "Can I help you?" How is it an impediment to learning to just say what is said? How is not knowing supposed to facilitate understanding? GGGGGGRRRRRRR. It wasn't like this with Chinese. You would hear the Chinese. And then the English. <sigh>

Wow! Where do you live? I've been here 3 years and speak enough to be dangerous🤣 BUT don't understand when spoke. I do better texting. I've been looking for a class that teaches me "to speak and understand" without a lot of useless redundant verbs, adverbs etc. I live in San Pedro.***

Any suggestions on WHERE to learn. Can't imagine going to the schools here. Some charge more than the average Tica makes per month! I am far from fluent but get by; however I don't under stand a much when I'm spoken to. ***

What is the range for the expected rate for private or small group lessons?