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When you’re pondering of visiting or residing in Costa Rica, you’re most likely contemplating studying Spanish to reinforce your communication abilities and pleasure. And that’s a terrific factor. However to totally perceive the nation and its tradition, it’s essential to take a look at the larger image.
Costa Rica is extremely numerous—each culturally and linguistically—with thriving Jewish, Muslim, Quaker, Chinese language, and German communities, a few of that are the most important in Central America! There are even a number of kinds of English spoken. This wonderful selection, together with at the very least six indigenous tribes residing in Costa Rica, makes it an interesting place to probe for a brief journey or an prolonged keep.
When you’re desperate to dive into each language Costa Rica has to supply, Rosetta Stone’s Limitless Languages is the pure language studying selection. You’ll have lifetime entry to immersive classes, instant pronunciation suggestions, and extra to get you conversation-ready in 25 languages!
That’s thrilling information for any world traveler. To slender down which languages you wish to deal with first, let’s check out the complete checklist of languages spoken in Costa Rica under.
What’s the official language of Costa Rica?
Spanish is an official language of Costa Rica. Like the remainder of Central America, Costa Rica was conquered and colonized by the Spanish within the sixteenth century, the place, quickly after their arrival, Spanish grew to become the dominant language.
Costa Rica was a colony of Spain for almost 300 years, forming a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain which coated the territory recognized in the present day as Mexico and past. The nation lastly gained its independence as a part of Mexico’s victory within the early nineteenth century.
By this time, Spanish was intensely prevalent all through Costa Rica, although dozens of indigenous languages persevered. Though a few of these languages didn’t survive, a terrific a lot of them are nonetheless spoken in the present day. The opposite acknowledged languages of Costa Rica are Patois and Mekatelyu, that are, curiously, primarily based on the English language.
What makes Costa Rican Spanish so distinctive?
By now you most likely already get a way of Costa Rica’s linguistic and spiritual variety, uncommon previous, and compelling current. Costa Rica is thought for its tropical rainforests and scrumptious espresso, but it surely additionally has two coasts and unimaginable biodiversity, partially because of being the first tropical nation to reverse deforestation. Fairly cool, proper? However what concerning the language that’s so ubiquitous all through its jungles and coastlines?
Costa Rica’s official language of Spanish is spoken by about 5 million folks, to which you is perhaps inclined to say: ¡Son muchas personas! (“That’s lots of people!”). It shares many commonalities with Latin American Spanish, however has sure nuances {that a} skilled ear can establish, together with:
- Smooth “e”: Ticos, the nickname for Costa Ricans, are likely to drop or soften the ultimate e of phrases like coche (“automobile”).
- Utilizing voseo: A number of phrases have barely totally different meanings in Costa Rica, and grammatically talking, Costa Ricans use the voseo type when speaking to family and friends. Meaning they are saying vos as a substitute of tú for the phrase “you.”
- Slang: Costa Rican Spanish has some fairly enjoyable slang too, like ¿al chile?, which may very well be straight translated as “to the chili pepper?” but it surely really means “actually?”
Tranquilo, readers. These are minor variations, and any data of normal Spanish will little doubt be helpful in Costa Rica. Nonetheless, it’s enjoyable to be taught all about dialects to impress native audio system! Take a more in-depth have a look at uniquely Costa Rican slang, grammar, and extra with our in-depth information.
What number of languages are spoken in Costa Rica?
The presence of indigenous languages and an inflow of momentary residents make the reply to this query difficult. Whereas there’s no set quantity, it’s protected to say that there are dozens of languages spoken in Costa Rica, which incorporates European, Asian, and indigenous languages.
Costa Rica is intent on celebrating and preserving its linguistic variety, having lately dedicated to the aim of fostering a bilingual inhabitants by 2040. Built-in into the nation-wide curriculum, this program locations equal emphasis on English and a handful of different languages supplied by faculties.
Whereas this may occasionally appear to be a lofty aim, a lot of these residing in Costa Rica are already bilingual!
European languages of Costa Rica
Together with Spanish, Costa Rica boasts at the very least six European languages. Lots of them have a specific Costa Rican sound—some with their very own distinctive vocabulary— whereas others at the moment are dated dialects which are hardly ever spoken in different elements of the world.
Spanish
By now it’s clear that Spanish is spoken by almost everybody in Costa Rica. It’s the official language in any case! With 5 million audio system, it’s the major language spoken by most residents.
Italian
Due partially to immigration of the nineteenth century, Costa Rica is dwelling to the most important group of Italian-speaking folks in Central America. However the Italian spoken there may be barely totally different from its European counterpart: it’s been influenced by the nation’s Spanish.
French
Just like the Italian-speaking inhabitants, Costa Rica additionally has the most important French-speaking inhabitants of Central America attributable to newer immigration from France, Canada, and Haiti. Different folks converse the language as a result of they’re descendants of French immigrants from the nineteenth century. French can also be extensively spoken and promoted among the many different inhabitants whose mom tongue is Spanish.
English
Costa Ricans are recognized among the many Central and Latin American international locations for talking English properly, maybe as a result of English is an compulsory language in public college applications well-funded by the federal government. There are fairly just a few inhabitants from English-speaking international locations too: about 10,000 Canadians, 20,000 People, and 1000’s of British select Costa Rica as their dwelling. A Quaker group that makes use of the previous type of “thou,” a pronoun which means “you,” can be discovered right here.
German
Due partially to immigration of earlier centuries, 1000’s of German-speaking people from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland stay in Costa Rica. There’s even a Mennonite group that speaks Plautdietsch, a type of Previous German!
Asian languages of Costa Rica
After Costa Rica gained its independence within the nineteenth century, immigrants from around the globe landed in Costa Rica. Immigrants from Asia had been no exception, and the lasting affect of their cultures and languages continues in the present day.
Chinese language
Chinese language people started immigrating to Costa Rica within the nineteenth century–they usually proceed to take action as much as the current day. Prior to now, this was notably true of the town of Puntarenas. As in different Latin American international locations like Mexico, Chinese language employees arrived within the nation to work on the haciendas and railroads. After all, they introduced with them the Mandarin and Cantonese languages, spoken in the present day by some 45,000 Chinese language residents in Costa Rica, making it one of many largest Chinese language communities in Central America.
Arabic
With its inhabitants of immigrants from Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and different Arab international locations, Costa Rica additionally has–you guessed it!–one of many largest Muslim communities within the Central American area, most of whom converse Arabic or use the language for liturgical functions.
Hebrew
To not break the rhythm of variety, Costa Rica has one of many largest Jewish populations in Central America. Used within the Jewish liturgy, Hebrew can also be spoken by the Israeli group that lives there. Traditionally, Jews have additionally migrated to Costa Rica from Poland, Spain, and different European international locations.
Indigenous languages of Costa Rica
Whereas not all of Costa Rica’s indigenous languages have survived, the nation presently has six residing indigenous tongues, all of which fall below the bigger linguistic umbrella of the Chibcha language household.
Cabécar
Cabécar, like its sister language Bribri, listed under, is spoken within the Limón province and Talamanca mountain vary space. Not like Bribri, Cabécar is probably the most extensively spoken indigenous language of Costa Rica, and a pair thousand of its audio system are considered monolingual. There are two dialects, one northern and one southern. Regardless of its broad geographical use, the Cabécar language is in decline.
Bribri
Spoken within the space of the Talamanca mountain vary, Limón province, and southern Pacific, this language was preserved for fairly a while as a result of remoteness of those areas. It is usually spoken in elements of Colombia, Nicaragua, and Panama. These days in Costa Rica, it’s dropping audio system because of immigration and land loss. Lower than 10,000 folks converse it within the nation. There may be additionally a Bribri Signal Language.
Maléku
Thought-about to be an endangered language spoken by lower than 500 folks, Maléku is spoken within the northern area of Costa Rica by the Guatusos. One fascinating reality about Maléku is the 2 methods it kinds plurals: both by repeating the noun twice or through the use of a modifier to discuss the singular noun. After the Spaniards arrived, the Guatusos had little contact with them, for the reason that tribe lived in remoted situations. In a while, many of the inhabitants died throughout battle with Nicaraguan rubber harvesters within the late nineteenth century.
Kuna
This language, known as “Guna” in its personal territory, is spoken within the Cartago Province in Central Costa Rica. Initially from Northern Colombia and elements of Panama, the Kuna, a big group on the time of the Spaniards’ arrival, migrated west after battle with the Spanish. Some folks know the language as Kuna Yala, which geographically talking is the San Blas Islands. A flexible phrase in Kuna is nuedi. It means “wonderful,” “good,” “thanks,” and “kindly”!
Ngäbere
Ngäbere was previously known as Guaymí. These days, we use Guaymí to speak a few group of two languages: Ngäbere-Buglé. Ngäbere is spoken by the Ngäbe peoples who migrated within the Fifties to elements of southern Costa Rica. In the present day there are about 4,000 folks residing on 5 totally different reservations in Costa Rica, however in Panama they make up the vast majority of the indigenous inhabitants. Ngäbere is mutually intelligible with Buglé, and since it’s above all a spoken language, its spelling has solely been lately standardized with the Spanish alphabet. If you wish to greet somebody in Ngäbere, you say ñantörö, which implies “whats up.”
Buglé
Prior to now, Buglé was known as Buglere. As we talked about, Buglé is a part of the Guaymí household of languages spoken in Costa Rica and Panama, and between the 2 international locations, there are about 3,000 individuals who converse it. Buglé is taken into account to be a tonal language, which implies that grammatical elements of the language are conveyed not simply by phrases however by the speaker’s pitch. The phrase for “water” in Buglé is chi. If you wish to be taught just a few extra phrases, check out this checklist.
Different languages of Costa Rica
Jamaican Patois
This English-based language–with influences from indigenous, African, Asian, and European tongues–is spoken not simply in Jamaica however in a variety of locations around the globe, together with Costa Rica. Its Costa Rican dialect known as Limonese Creole as a result of it’s used within the province of Limón on the east coast. Jamaicans who arrived to work on the railroads and plantations launched the language to Costa Rica the place it took on an area variant. Limonese Creole is also referred to as Mekatelyu, coming from the phrase “make I let you know.”
Discover Costa Rica’s nation of languages
Costa Rica is a small nation of two coasts with a inhabitants of simply over 5 million folks, but its variety in languages, vegetation, and wildlife is wealthy past comparability. Thus its title: Costa Rica or “Wealthy Coast.” Recognized for being a rustic of excessive human growth and happiness, Costa Rica earns its place on the bucket checklist!
Spanish is the apparent selection for Costa Rican-bound vacationers trying to be taught a language, however why cease there? Rosetta Stone has immersive, bite-sized classes in 25 languages that may enable you to join with each group—and our Limitless Languages offers you entry to studying for all times.
Written by Rowena Galavitz
Rowena Galavitz is a Spanish translator, bilingual copy editor, and language and literature teacher with three grasp’s levels who loves Spanish and all issues Mexico.
