Costa Rican Spanish voice overs: what you need to know

Costa Rican Spanish is a Spanish language variety that’s used by inhabitants of Costa Rica. Approximately 4 million people are native Costa Rican Spanish speakers. This Spanish variety belongs to a group of Latin American Spanish dialects. Just like European Spanish, Costa Rican Spanish is a West Romance language variety.

Almost all Costa Rican Spanish speakers reside in Costa Rica. Only small diaspora communities, mostly in The United States, keep Costa Rican Spanish alive outside the country.

Costa Rican Spanish History

Spanish language history and development in Costa Rica is very similar to other former Spanish Colonies. The language was brought to Costa Rica in the early 16th century when the colonization of the Americas started.

Spanish conquistadors called the new territory ‘Costa Rica’, meaning ‘rich coast’, and started the development of plantations. Spanish spread as a lingua franca of the region, mainly as the administrative language as well as the spoken vernacular that the settlers communicated in.

The new European language became widespread and replaced a number of local indigenous languages, such as the languages of the Bribri and Boruca tribes.

Costa Rica gained independence from Spain in 1821. Since then, Costa Rican Spanish has been the dominant and official language of the country.

Costa Rican Spanish vs Other Spanish Varieties

While Costa Rican Spanish shares many similarities with other Latin American Spanish varieties, it has many distinctive features.

Costa Rican Spanish speakers tend to pronounce ‘rr’ as a strange combination of a “rolled ‘r’ and a  ‘z’ (for example, carro is pronounced caz’o). Pronoun tú, which is common in, for example, Mexican Spanish, is very rarely used in Costa Rica. Costa Ricans use usted much more frequently compared to other Spanish varieties.

Costa Rican vocabulary is very colorful and rich with unique expressions. Local slang and humorous language are a big part of Costa Rican culture. For example, the phrase ¡Pura Vida! (meaning pure life) is commonly used as a greeting or a reaction to something pleasant. Another commonly used unique expression is Diay, similar in meaning to the English “Oh My God” and is used to convey disbelief.

Accents and Voice Over Tips

Costa Rican Spanish doesn’t have strong regional variations. Naturally, the pronunciation and accents vary by region. The strongest difference in speech is seen when comparing the dialect of the capital city San José with more rural territories.

When recording a Costa Rican Spanish voice over, keep in mind the importance of colloquial speech. When speaking, don’t skip out on these unique expressions, also called “tiquismos” — they help to convey the character as well as the culture of the language. Of course, if you’re something official, you might want to keep your language more formal.

Another thing to remember is to pronounce the ‘rr’ the Costa Rican way — as ‘z’’ and skip on using the pronoun ‘tú’.

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