Comenzemos con una .broma. Let's start with a joke.
What do you call a person who speaks 3 languages? Trilingual... What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages? Bilingual... What do you call someone who speaks 1 language? American...
When we decided to move to Costa Rica 2.5 years ago, I honestly thought we'd all be fluent in Spanish by the end of the first year. In hindsight, that might've been a bit optimistic (lol). We landed in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste—an area driven by tourism, which means many locals speak English as a second language. This made immersion more challenging than expected.
For context, Guanacaste is one of Costa Rica's seven provinces. It has both the most deadly snakes and the least amount of rain. While it might be 95 degrees and dry here, just 125 miles away in the capital of San José, it's 70 degrees and raining. The variety of microclimates in Costa Rica is incredible!
Back to the language journey—because of the high number of foreigners and expats investing here, many "gringos" (the term for Americans in Latin America) settle in Guanacaste. While it's sometimes used as a disrespectful term, for the most part, it's just descriptive. So, as a "gringo" living among Ticos (Costa Rican locals), I feel a little embarrassed when I meet fellow expats who make no effort to learn Spanish. Living in a Spanish-speaking country without learning the language feels disrespectful to me.
Our Language Journey
Both Rebecca and I took Spanish in school. I had three years in high school and two more college courses where we only spoke Spanish. But that was 20 years ago, and it’s true what they say—if you don’t use it, you lose it. I’ve found that even a short trip back to the U.S. hurts my progress.
I’m more confident speaking than Rebecca, though I’d say she understands spoken Spanish better. My communication skills improved by working with vendors and customers in the community, which boosted my reading, writing, and speaking. But listening? That’s where I struggle. I worry about being exposed as a fraud who can only talk and not listen (same fear in English, tbh). It’s a real mind fuck, but paso a paso y poco a poco—I’m getting there.
As for our kids, they attend a bilingual private school called Dolphins Academy. The focus is on teaching English to Tico children, which means much of the instruction is in English. So, our kids are learning Spanish more slowly through play and friendships. They understand more than they speak, but their confidence is growing.
At home, we play Spanish games and limit English TV to the weekends. Little Roquito is growing up learning both English and Spanish simultaneously, which makes me both jealous and proud. This was one of the reasons we moved—to give our kids the gift of bilingualism.
The Reality
The truth is, learning Spanish is taking longer than I expected. But maybe my timeline was unrealistic. After 2.25 years, I can hold basic conversations across the country, though more complex discussions are still beyond me. For anyone moving to a Spanish-speaking country, I believe learning the language should be a priority.
Not only is it respectful to the locals, but it will also benefit you in ways you can’t imagine. Plus, it just feels good to know you’re not acting like a colonizer, swooping in to take advantage of the INCORRECTLY PERCEIVED lower cost of living.
In conclusion, no, you don’t need to speak Spanish when you first arrive in Costa Rica. But learning it will absolutely improve your quality of life—and isn’t that why you moved here in the first place?
So, learn Spanish. Live a healthy, active life. Be respectful. Embrace this beautiful life now!
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