Costa Rican Spanish: Speak like a Native!
¡Diay! Think you know Spanish? Think again! The moment you land in Costa Rica you will be bombarded by local words, phrases, and sayings that will leave your head spinning. Come with us and discover what they are really saying.
Don't settle for generic Spanish
On the images below, slide to the right to see generic Spanish. Then, slide completely to the left to reveal the local Spanish.
Start speaking like the natives
Greetings
¡Pura vida!
To ask a Costa Rican how he's doing, just say: ¿PURA VIDA? His answer will be the same, but as a declaration: ¡PURA VIDA! That means: I'm great! And the pure life is the good life.
Compliments
¡Qué chema más chiva!
For the locals, a CHEMA is a shirt. And CHIVA, which literally means a female goat, in this case means nice, pretty, or cool. This phrase, then, means: What a nice shirt!
Local sayings
Me cayó la peseta.
Need to call from a public phone? Years ago you had to put a PESETA —a local coin— into the phone. When the PESETA fell, you got a dial tone. Today ME CAYÓ LA PESETA means: It dawned on me!
What they are saying
C o n n e c t o n a n o t h e r l e v e l w i t h
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C O S T A R I C A N S P A N I S H S P E A K E R S
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