Education and Language

Language

 

The main language spoken by Costa Ricans is Spanish, though it sounds different than normal Spanish as they are prone to add in their own unique sayings. Part of the population also speaks German and Portuguese. They also speak English; this is especially evident in the people working in the tourist sector and in the capital city of San Jose.

Author’s notes:

It is important for anyone who travels to Costa Rica to understand that not all Costa Rican’s speak English. Only a minority of them does. So it is important to learn a little bit of their language before heading to their destinations. For greenhorns who are interested in exploring the wonderful land and culture of Costa Rica, be warned that Costa Ricans tend to be very ‘direct’ with their language in a sense that they can call people just as they see them. Take for example, they can call a fat person ‘Gordo’ and a thin person ‘Flaco’ just as they call Chinese people ‘Chino’ and “black” people ‘Negro’. But please do not be offended as they are just being friendly and comfortable.

Education

Students of Costa Rica

Video on Costa Rica's Education and Life

Education as improved remarkably in the past few years in Costa Rica, which also helped greatly in the sexism issue as mentioned in the previous post. Elementary or Primary school education is compulsory in the country and secondary education and above is non-compulsory, much like Singapore’s law. The only difference is that their elementary education is mandatory and free, much to the delight of many Costa Ricans. However, there were still some problems with citizens attending schools as some of them from the rural area are not able to afford uniforms and such. Though there are still problems evident in the society, it is good to say that the females in Costa Rica has risen up in the education ladder as many of them took upon higher education and also participate in the tourism sector.

Literacy rate in Costa Rica as taken from CIA World Fact Book

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 94.9%
male: 94.7%
female: 95.1% (2000 census)

Information taken from A History of Education in Costa Rica by Dr. Manuel A. Escalante and Gender and Education in Costa Rica by Laura Guzman Stein and Anne Letendre Morales