The last Friday of every month I am privileged to be a key note speaker at the Association of Residents Seminar. The topic I talk about is “Learning Spanish.” Most of the audience is made up of people thinking of retiring or going into business in Costa Rica. I stress the importance of learning at least a survival level Spanish in order to get the most out of the country and be able to communicate effectively with the locals.
By survival level Spanish I mean being able to handle most daily situations like going grocery shopping, banking, taking a taxi, asking directions, ordering food in a restaurant, etc. With these basic language skills you will be able to get by. Actually the more Spanish you learn the better off you will be.
One of Costa Rica’s greatest treasures are its wonderful people and culture. Without knowing at least some Spanish you won’t truly be able to experience everything this lovely country has to offer.
One way to motivate yourself to learn the language is to try and make the experience fun. You are not getting graded nor being pressured to perform, so try and enjoy the experience. Take Spanish classes but don’t be in a hurry to learn the language too quickly. Take a couple of classes a week but don’t overload yourself or it will become drudgery and you will lose interest. If you like music, start listening to songs in Spanish. You will pick up some new catchy words. If you like to dance then take Latin Dance classes at one of the local dance academies. Everyone has a hobby or interest. Try to learn the appropriate Spanish vocabulary that has to do with your hobby. If you like sports or sewing learn all of the terms that go along with these activities.
Walk down the street and look in the windows of stores and look for words you don’t know. Jot them down and look them up when you get home. Try to learn five new words a day.
Find a Spanish speaker who wants to learn English and exchange lessons. I know an American woman who lives in a gated community in Heredia and gets together with her Spanish speaking neighbors a couple times a week so they can practice their English and she can practice her Spanish. She says everyone has a great time during their gatherings.
You can learn a second language at any age if you make an effort and make the activity enjoyable as possible.
“To know another language is to know another world.”
-Cervantes
Also I recommend to visit my blog about tips for learning english: Guide to Costa Rican Spanish
Today I had a great experience at the Clínica Bíblica that should clear up any doubts you may have about the quality of medical care in Costa Rica for retirees.
All of my life I have been a “jock.” In high school I played basketball, water polo, ran cross country and was on the swim team. In college I participate in flag football and martial arts. After graduation I continued my career as an amateur athlete by doing cycling, tennis, playground basketball games, running and my favorite activity, martial arts. I became very competent in Aikido, Northern Sil um Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Contemporary Fighting Street Arts. In fact, I taught Tai Chi at the University of Costa Rica for several years.
As a result all of my athletic endeavors my knees took a terrible pounding over the years. Recently they really started to bother me, so I went to see an orthopedic surgeon at the Clínica Bíblica in San Jose. Bíblica is the country’s oldest private hospital. Anyway after extensive tests on my knees Dr. Oscar Oeding determined I would need arthroscopic surgery on both knees to correct the problem. It turned out I had a broken meniscus in both knees.
Today I went through the procedure and was very impressed with everything. I was treated well and the operation was basically painless. I even watched the whole thing on a monitor which I found fascinating. Since it was an outpatient procedure I am now at home writing this article while I can remember all of the details.
Best of all the price was right. I paid a total of $3600 for everything and am very satisfied.
If you are thinking about retirement in Costa Rica health care should not be a deterrent. Costa Rica’s doctors are excellent and very well trained. Dr. Oeding frequently attends seminars and conferences abroad to stay up the latest technology which ensures his patients receive the finest health care possible.
I had a couple on my August relocation/retirement tour from Corpus Christi, Texas who had to return a couple of days earlier than expected because of Hurricane Gustav. They wanted to return home to board up their windows and secure their property. Too bad part of their vacation was spoiled by the bad weather up north. However, they promised to return because they really loved Costa Rica and what they saw on the tour. Mrs. Tate explained to me that they usually don’t travel during hurricane season, but due to their busy schedule they had to visit Costa Rica at this time of year. I assured them that when they move to Costa Rica they won’t be faced with hurricane problem.
Although the east coast of the country is on the Caribbean, fortunately we don’t have hurricanes here. All we get is the rain and not the wind. Granted a lot of rain does fall here but we avoid the destructive winds that affect the areas bordering the Gulf of Mexico and especially the state of Florida. The Caribbean side of Costa Rica country experiences most of the flooding. Luckily the area is not densely populated so any damage is minimal. Our tall mountain rages act as a natural barrier which protects the rest of the country from storms. Countries to the north like Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico have not been spared the ravages of past storms because their topography is different.
In 1998 Hurricane Mitch devastated parts of Nicaragua and Honduras leaving a path of death and destruction in its wake. A year ago Hurricane Felix also raised havoc and damaged the economy of the countries to the north of Costa Rica. Once again mother nature spared Costa Rica. Indeed, this country is blessed in many ways.
So, as you can see hurricanes are not a factor and should not deter you from retiring in Costa Rica.
On this month’s Central Pacific/Central Valley retirement tour I had the opportunity to chat extensively with all of my clients to find out what they were looking for in Costa Rica. Although my tours are for groups my goal is to address everyone’s specific needs. This way people leave Costa Rica with enough knowledge to make the move successfully.
During one of our conversations the cost of utilities in the United States versus Costa Rica came up. I mentioned that on an average I paid about $45 per month for water and electricity for my 2000 square foot home. When my clients heard this figure they almost fell out of their seats on the bus.
Carter and Cecilia from Corpus Christi, Texas told me that last month’s electricity bill for their 3000 square foot home was $795! They went on to say bills that high are not unusual during the warm summer months. I was astonished.
Jim, from Phoenix remarked, “That’s nothing!” Due to the evaporation rate of swimming pool water in the Arizona desert, a friend of his has to pay around $500 monthly just to keep his pool full. In the summer pool water evaporates at an astonishing rate.
After hearing the two stories above, I feel really blessed to live in a country where my utility bills are dirt cheap. I can use the money I save for vacations, dinning out and other enjoyable activities. Retirees on fixed incomes will be thrilled to know they can substantially reduce their energy costs by moving here.
On my retirement tours I am always asked if movie theaters in Costa Rica show pictures in English. The answer is, yes they do. Movies are in English with Spanish subtitles with the exception of those for small children which are dubbed into Spanish because some can’t read yet. Also there are a few foreign films shown at the Sala Garbo theater that are only in Spanish.
Most first run movies make their way to Costa Rica usually within a few weeks of their release in the U.S. The recent Batman movie came out here at the same time as it did in the rest of the world.
If you are the type of person who likes to watch movies in the comfort of your own home you basically have three choices. First, you can rent DVDs in English almost anywhere in Costa Rica. I have a video rental store right around the corner from my home in Heredia. The cost is a little over two dollars and they have specials where you rent two movies and get a third for free.
Your second choice is to have a satellite TV dish from SKY TV (formerly Direct TV here) or the DISH Network. We have the latter and there many movie channels in English from which to choose.
In Costa Rica there is also regular cable TV (Cable Tica or Amnet) which has handful movie channels but doesn’t offer the variety of satellite TV.
As you can see form the above, movie buffs can retire in Costa Rica and not miss their favorite flicks in English. I would like to point out that this is just one of the many activities there are to stay busy and happy in Costa Rica during your retirement.
