Lonely Planet Costa Rica Spanish Phrasebook: Amazon.ca: Thomas Kohnstamm: Books

Product Description

This extensive guide to mastering the local Spanish idiom includes an extensive section on the flora and fauna of Costa Rica; food, accommodation and getting around; clear guides to grammar and pronunciation; and a comprehensive two-way dictionary.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Dialogue & Dialects, May 31 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Lonely Planet Costa Rica Spanish Phrasebook (Paperback)

This little phrasebook is invaluable because Costa Rican Spanish is dialectical! Another book I found that spoke to Costa Rica's idiosyncracies was "Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made," sort of a hybrid of a coffee-table book, a social/ politcial discussion and a geological history of the country in a series of essays and sidebars. It truly does lives up to it's scope of topics. Aside from geology and social history, it covers the political and economic history of the country and emphasizes its liberal reformist tradition as exceptional in Central America.A series of essays by the two authors A good read, especially while one is traveling because the 2-30 page segments stand on their own.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Buy a good bilingual dictionary instead, Dec 13 2003

By	Dr. John Mitchell Hall (Brookings, SD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Planet Costa Rica Spanish Phrasebook (Paperback)

As a professor of Spanish I was hoping to find a good phrasebook on Costa Rican Spanish for a group of students that will be studying in San Jose next summer. I have always used Lonely Planet's guides when travelling abroad. However, I was very disappointed with this phrasebook. Beginning with the explanation of pronunciation, which is basically a guide to pronouncing Spanish with a strong American accent, the book is full of elementary mistakes regarding grammar, vocabulary and phonetics. For example, the "o" in Spanish is never pronounced as the "o" in "hot". There are similar mistakes throughout the pronunciation section. Perhaps one of the most important facts about Costa Rican Spanish is the complete absence of the subject pronoun "tu" (you) and its accompanying verb conjugations, as is the case in most of Central America, Argentina and many regions throughout Latin America. All Costa Ricans either use the more formal "usted" or the less formal "vos". You will never hear "tu tienes" (you have) in Costa Rica but rather "vos tenes". But this phrasebook claims that the "vos" forms are less common than "tu", when in fact the later doesn't even exist there. There are many more mistakes in the explanation of grammar, the subjunctive, "ser" and "estar", and others. The rest of the book is a series of phrases with the English translation. You would assume that Lonely Planet would have the resources to provide better material for travelers.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Don't leave home without it, July 20 2003

By	Amy Olson "Desperate for good music" (Central Coast of California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lonely Planet Costa Rica Spanish Phrasebook (Paperback)

This book was immensely helpful when myself and two other girls traveled to Costa Rica for a week and a half. You don't need to speak spanish in Costa Rica, but it's much more fun when you can immerse yourself in their culture. And the Costa Rican people are so nice and more than willing to help you learn. This phrase book was great and had all phrases under the sun that you might need. We used mine so much the binding has fallen apart. This thing went everywhere, the pool, horseback riding, whitewater rafting... and survived. The two-way dictionary was great when shopping in small markets where no english was spoken. It's very organized too. I highly recommend this book when you go to Costa Rica.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Thing I Could Have Read
This book is amazing-- full of useful phrases and information. And the author is SO hot.

Published on May 1 2003 by mtroutman3

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Useful Language Book for Future Residents
When I moved to Costa Rica I purchased two fantastic and helpful guides. "The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica" and this Spanish booklet. Read more

Published on April 8 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful phrases for a full and exciting life.
Of course a phrase book will tell you how to find the bathroom. This one, however, helps you with things like letting someone know that you're going to vomit, telling them what... Read more

Published on Aug 30 2002 by John Mccann