4 reasons why Costa Rican Spanish content should be localised
Last update: 28 December 2020
The best strategy to engage with local audiences has to do with research. The more you know the local rules about the Costa Rican Spanish, the higher the chances are of securing communication between brands and people, rather than standardised advertising messages from corporations to potential customers. This is why content marketing, along with localisation techniques can enhance the engagement between your brand and Costa Ricans, also called ticos. Have a look at these reasons and find our why traditional Spanish translation services are not enough to get the most of localised content.
Costa Rican Spanish: why it’s more complex than one might think
1. Indigenous background with surviving vocabulary
2. The effect of anglicisms is not always good enough
3. Vos: the truth about ticos’ favorite personal pronoun
4. Internal differences in Costa Rican Spanish
Pura vida means more than “simple life”. It highlights how ticos embrace happiness in their everyday lives, it goes beyond a “hello” or a “goodbye”, pura vida covers a lot of meanings. It is similar to their language: complex and flexible. Check out the reasons!
1. Indigenous background with surviving vocabulary
Just because the Costa Rica language is officially Spanish, it doesn’t mean all the vocabulary and grammar are ruled by the Spanish. If you have gone trough Mexican Spanish phrases, you may notice that this language arrived in Latin America since the 15th century, when the continent already had indigenous civilizations with their own languages.
As a consequence, the country still conserves some words from Huetar and Chorotega tribes which somehow survived to the European cultural influence. So don’t be in panic if you can’t find popular words in a dictionary, such as yurro (spring) or pirrís (a bird), as they are indigenous-based vocabulary.
2. The effect of anglicisms is not always good enough
Beyond political or economical considerations, what concerns marketers the most about anglicisms in Costa Rica is that not everyone welcomes “Spanglish” in the local culture. Despite there is a globalising world spreading out English trendy words across different fields, still there are ticos who don’t feel identified with “Spanglish”.
However, this is not an absolute statement, as there is a Jamaican-English influence in the Caribbean region due to the proximity between these two countries. In this regard, such globalised agenda of playing with English and local languages still applies in the country, as long as you properly break up your communications by region.
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3. Vos: the truth about ticos’ favorite personal pronoun
Central American countries like Costa Rica employ “vos” more than “usted” or “tú” to refer to the second person singular, same than other South American countries. However, special attention should be given to the use of “vos” because it is not the general rule either in Costa Rica or in any other country.
In other words, it is not easy to provide you with a list of Latin American countries that use “vos” and another list with those that use “usted”. For example, “Vos” is popular in Costa Rican urban areas and portrays patriotism; “usted” is used in some rural areas and shows respect, which is also one of the Argentina facts on grammar, whereas “tú” is tenuously employed and implies female gender identity.
4. Internal differences in Costa Rican Spanish
Two big regional differences on dialect shape the Costa Rica language: the Guanacaste region and the Valle Central region. On the one hand, the Valle Central Spanish tends to be the neutral one and covers San José, the main capital where slight changes are visible depending on the social context.
On the other hand, the Guanacaste Spanish is highly influenced by the Nicaraguan Spanish due to the border they both share. In addition to this, a research article released by Universidad de Costa Rica accounts for a difference that goes through urban and rural perspectives assigned to Valle Central and Guanacaste based mainly on phonetic-related features.
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How can these findings affect your marketing efforts in the country? It can be either positive or negative for your brand. If marketing communications reckon the complexity on Costa Rican Spanish, the strategy is already taking a step in the right direction.
Having into account the indigenous background, the way people approach anglicisms, whether the “vos” is a general rule and influences from other Central American countries, you will be moving forward and making a difference in your business’ industry.
The next step will have to systematise the findings and carefully apply them to your brand’s localisation efforts. Contact me to discuss how we can adapt it to your needs.
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