not only can't he string "dos palabras" together if his life depended on it, somehow he has gotten it into his booze addled brain that speaking bad Italian can pass as Spanish if you simply drink enough. Despite all these things working against him, at last word from him, he was having a great time.

So yes, you can have a great time in Costa Rica without being fluent in Spanish.

And you'll only need two words:

Quanto?

Mucho!

8o)

I know this was recently brought up here, but I have a question or two about it. I'm thinking about going there and seeing hookers. I know it's legal down there. I don't speak Spanish fluently, yet, but I'm studying it pretty aggressively, and hope to be fluent in it one of these days...hopefully in the near future.  In order to go down there and have a good time, is speaking spanish fluently a must?  Feel free to respond or PM me. Oh, I know this is the GD board, so I guess I'm vulnerable to all kinds of insults, which I'll accept as the price of posting on the GD boards. Feel free to offer any helpful info, even though no one is under any obligation to do that.

as in ¿Cuánto cuesta?"

and you might want to change "mucho" into "poco", no need to get Jack pissed off for failing to negotiate. lol

I've been to several spanish speaking countries, and I get along very well knowing only one word of spanish CERVEZA.

I must add that I'd rather listen to a local cat being strangled than hear you speak it. Plus I have learned a bit more this time.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. They are very helpful.  Unfortunately, the mods moved this discussion onto a much less active board, but these responses help a lot.

The two guys that will be the most helpful to you are GaG and inicky, and they already responded. I doubt anyone else on the GD have anything to offer. While GaG answered your question on English vs Spanish speaking in CR, they can be a wealth of info on mongering in CR. If I were you I would actually PM GAG and Nick for more detailed info what to do, where to hang out, how much to pay, etc. From what I've read before you'll be like a kid in a candy store there!

and please tell me that you aren't still trying to pass off bad Italian as Spanish this trip. lol

You are living proof however, that you don't have to speak a lick of Spanish to have a great time in Costa Rica.

Pura vida puta

How do you say deepthroat?