If someone from Iceland, Ghana, or Oman were to visit you in the States, wouldn’t you want them to understand some things about your culture before they arrived?
From popular culture, movies, YouTube videos, articles, blog posts, and travel guides, we can derive culture, cultural context and clues. We encourage you to do this as you prepare to visit someone else’s home country! Here’s a list of resources that may help you understand your host culture and ease the transition between home and host countries:
Recommended Books and Guides:
Lonely Planet
Diversity Abroad
Frommer’s
Travel and Leisure
The World Factbook
TripAdvisor
#CISabroadtip: check out these smartphone apps too!
Smart Phone Apps:
Top 10 Apps for Smart Phones – Lonely Planet
Recommended Videos and Movies:
Travel Tips: Why you need a U.S. Passport Card
Language Resources:
Google translate
Mango Languages
Living Language
busuu
Duolingo
Memrise
What Else Should I Know Before Studying in Costa Rica?
You’ve read about the vast variety of bio-diverse locations and have your heart set on touring its many volcanoes, tropical rainforests, and jungles. Great choice! Known as the Switzerland of Central America, Costa Rica is equally known for its welcoming, peaceful reputation as its vast biodiversity making it one of the top locations for ecotourism. Before setting off to the land of pura vida, there are some things to keep in mind while planning for your Costa Rica abroad experience!
MILD CLIMATE…BUT IT RAINS!
While Costa Rica has mild, enjoyable weather (meaning no drastic cold or hot spells), it does get quite a bit of rain. Between the months of May and November expect daily rain near the Caribbean, but you won’t be subject to Seattle-like downpours in its capital city, San Jose. Travelers should bring galoshes and rain gear to avoid a damper on their experience while trekking through nearly untouched rainforests, one of the four in-country mountain ranges, and over 60 (mostly inactive) volcanoes. During this rainy season, you can anticipate bright, sunny mornings and a few hours of rain in the afternoon (sometimes like clockwork). Even though it’s not extremely hot in San Jose, most enjoy the rain as it cools the temperature down as well as the humidity and you can typically count on it stopping after an hour or two.
CRASH COURSE IN COSTA RICAN SLANG
Each Spanish speaking country has its own set of terms, words, and slang…Costa Rica is no different! When ordering in a restaurant, chatting over coffee with friends, or bonding with your host family, you’re bound to encounter words that you’ve never heard in Spanish class before. Slang is the toughest to learn and keep up with since it changes so often, but here’s a crash course on necessary words for Costa Rican survival:
| Costa Rican Word/Phrase | English Word/Phrase |
| Pura vida! | Goodbye, hello, good morning, a response to how are you, used frequently |
| Tico/a | Costa Rican |
| Detrás del palo | Literally translates to behind the tree, but it’s an idiom used when you’re out of the loop on a topic |
| Chunche | Thing; typically used in a sentence such as, “Bring me that thing over there” |
| Mae | Dude, man; used to start/end sentences |
| Lata | Depending on the context, it can be a can or a bus |
| ¡Que tuanis!* | How cool, awesome, neat, etc. |
| Harina | Money, cash |
| ¡Que camote! | Camote is a sweet potato, but it’s used just as we’d say, “how crazy!” in English |
| Que torta | How silly, used to describe when you’ve made a mistake or lost something |
| Choza/chante | House |
| Ajillo** | Garlic |
*Each Spanish speaking country has its own way of saying this phrase, so pay attention to which one you should use. Argentina: ¡que bárbaro! Mexico: ¡que padre! Spain: ¡que guay! Ecuador: ¡que chévere! and so on…
**Adding -illo to words is a way that Costa Ricans add their own flair to words that end in -o, like in Mexico when they add -ito to the ends of words, such as pesitos instead of pesos.
Costa Ricans are very polite, and rarely will you hear them use the tú (or even sometimes vos) form. Be mindful of your verb forms, and make sure you adjust accordingly. Don’t be surprised if you even hear young kids using the usted form while playing!
Deciding to study abroad in Costa Rica is a wise decision. You’ll be safe in one of the most politically stable countries, you’ll master Spanish with your host family and fellow classmates, and you won’t go hungry with the readily available Tico cuisine. Preparing for the clockwork-like rain, exercising your patience level, and wowing the locals with your knowledge of the lingo will ensure that you make the most of your study abroad experience in Costa Rica.
