MEJENGA (me-xeŋ-ga) With soccer (or football, if you will) being the most popular sport in the world, and Costa Rica being a country which goes with the soccer flow, it is no wonder that this is one of the favorite outdoor and, more recently, indoor sports
PRESA (pɾe-sa) Have you ever tried learning a foreign language? If yes, what would you say is (are) the most challenging aspect (s) of the learning process? Granted, it all depends on the complexity of the language per se, e.g., a Romance language, such as Spanish, which
GALLO PINTO (ga-ʝo pin-to) Have you ever been to a foreign country where your mother tongue is not the primary language spoken, and happened to be at a restaurant, or bar and, when seeing the menu, you notice the name of a given dish is not translated? One
MACHO/MACHA (ma-tʃo / ma-tʃa) Macho has several connotations in the Spanish language but, most of us, would agree that it, primarily, refers to a male animal. That is, pretty much, the first thing that comes to a Spanish speaker’s mind as it refers to a distinctive
SODA (so-ða) Nope, not a soda pop, but this word is certainly linked to things so many of us love and crave for, that is, food and (most of the time non-alcoholic) drinks … If you are a national, a visitor, or a resident and have done some
MAE (mai) In Costa Rica, unlike the U.S., Canada, for instance, “Mae” is certainly not a woman’s name. Now, granted, there may be some women living in, or visiting Costa Rica, whose birthname is Mae. Yet, that would be a rare case in the usage of this
OCUPAR (o-ku-paɾ) From the Latin occupāre. So, you may be thinking this Spanish word slightly resembles the English word “occupy,” right? Like in “to occupy a territory” (as an infinitive) or “the restroom is occupied” (as an adjective). And, as a matter of fact, “occupy” is an accurate translation
CHIQUITO/CHIQUITA (tʃi-ki-to/tʃi-ki-ta) “Chiquito” and “chiquita” are, respectively, the male and female diminutive forms of “chico/chica”. If you look up these two words in a Spanish dictionary, you will notice that “chiquito/chiquita” are adjectives used to describe one object/person or compare two or more objects or persons
¿ME REGALA? (me ɾe-ga-la): According to the Diccionario de la Lengua Española (Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy), the verb regala” means “to give someone something without receiving anything in return.” The verb regalar is closely linked in meaning to the word regalo which means “present” or
PULPERIA (pool-peh-ree-ah) Pulperías are typical grocery stores commonly found in many Latin American countries, namely: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela. They date back to as far as the XVI century in South America and many struggle to