The+spanish+of+Costa+Rica

=The Spanish of Costa Rica= By: Kati Chaney

__**History:**__
Costa Rica is a small country in central America neighboring countries include Panama, and Nicaragua, and shares a coast line with both the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Caribbean Sea. Costa Rica was first explored by the Spanish in the early 16th Century but attempts at colonization were unsuccessful until due to disease, high temperatures, and resistanse by natives. In 1563 however spain settled in the more cooler highlands of Costa Rica in a place known as Cartago. It wasn't until September 15, 1821 that costa Rica broke away from Spain and regained their independence. Costa Rica is now a Democratic country that thrives on agriculture, and now even has expanded to technology, as well as tourism industries. (The world Factbook)

__Holidays:__
Costa Rica is a Catholic country therefore the most popular holidays are Chrismas and Easter. During the time of these holidays all of the stores, resturaunts, banks and everything else is closed down for the week to celebrate.You dont want to visit the beaches around these holidays, Christmas time expecially. because most Costa Ricans take off work up untill New Years. The celebration of Easter usually include things like fireworks, bull fights, parades, rodeos, and dancing (infocostarica S.A. 2000 - 2007). It is a way everyone to get together and celebrate as a community. They also celebrate El Dia de Los Muertos this is a day that is celebrated in Costa Rica by goin to a graveyard and having Catholic masses. Halloween is also becoming a holiday in Costa Rica children are beginning to dress up and go trick-or-treating, however, it isn't as big as most holidays. Every year on September fifteenth it is Independance Day in Costa Rica this day is celebrated nationaly with huge parades, they have traditional dancers, and they also get delivered a freedom tourch from Nicaragua relay runners and when it is delivered everybody sings the national anthem out loud (Daniel Hanzen 2003 - 2008).

__Languages: [[image:http://www.ethnologue.com/maps/CRI-ETH.jpg width="603" height="388" align="right" caption="Languages of Costa Rica"]]__
The official language of Costa Rica is Spanish with a 93% literacy rate, and most people can speak English as well, but the country also still consists of speakers of 9 indigenous languages. These languages include Boruca, Bribri, Cabecar, Limon Creole English or Caribbean Creole English, just to name a few. The map to the right shows Costa Rica and seperates the sections where all of these languages are spoken. The shaded areas are where these languages are spoken, as you can see that is a very small portion of the country. For more information about these different languages click on this link [|Languages of Costa Rica]. (Gordon, Raymond G, Jr.).

__Costa Rican Spanish vs. Spanish spoken in other countries:__
Although the dialect that is spoken in Costa Rica has some differences from the other Spanish speaking countries it is still understood. The dialect that is spoken in Costa Rica is known as [|Caribbean Spanish], this is spoken mainly in the Caribbean as well as the coast of Central America. This form of Spanish is really laid back and is spoken at a slower pace than most other Spanish dialects.Unlike Spain, Costa Ricans use vos instead of tu. Like most countries Costa Rica also has some of its own expressions the most common expressions are:


 * 1) 'Mae' which means dude and can be used for men or women
 * 2) 'Pura vida' it translates to pure life but aside from that it is the way of life in Costa Rica it is the way to say injoy life and to let things go.
 * 3) 'Tico/tica' Costa Ricans are known as ticos because of the way they speak. Men are ticos and women are ticas.

For more slang click on the link [|Costa Rican slang]. (costarica.com).

Sources:

 * **The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency**, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html#Geo
 * **Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version:** [|**http://www.ethnologue.com/**]**.**http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CR
 *  [|**www.justlanded.com**] © 2003-2008, http://www.justlanded.com/english/Costa-Rica/Tools/Costa-Rica-Guide/Language/Language
 *  **costarica.com, Inc.©** 1996-2008, http://www.costarica.com/Trip-Planning/About-Costa-Rica/Costa-Rican-Slang-and-Idioms/
 *  Daniel Hanzen 1993-2008: http://costa-rica-guide.com/travel/index.php?Itemid=676&id=443&option=com_content&task=view
 *  Infocostarica S.A. 2000-2007 http://www.infocostarica.com/culture/holidays.html