Spanish in Costa Rica

Despite plenty of language study and travel, I am sometimes the worst when it comes to speaking the lingo in another land -- for whatever reason, foreign tongues frequently tie my tongue when it's time to actually talk. Perhaps it's paranoia. Do I worry that the words I memorized may mean something else with my poor pronunciation? Do I suddenly suspect my nice high school French teacher could actually have been a devious imp who taught generations of kids to say, "I would like to order the fried hissing cockroaches"?

Seriously, putting fear of foolishness aside and attempting the basic words goes a long way in getting one around in another country, and knowing the local phrases is a major help. I just learned a few new ones from Costa Rica expert Kirsten Hubbard's "Talk Like a Tico" that will come handy when I head to that lovely land in 2008; check it out:

• Spanish in Costa Rica: Talk Like a Tico

Related: Central America for Backpackers | Learning Spanish in Mexico | "Yo Suis Perdu" | Learning the Lingo | Language and Travel