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Hello HOMERFROMLAWTON,

Could you please confirm if you are looking for an interpreter? If so, I suggest posting an advert in the Job offers in Costa Rica section, where you will be more likely to get in touch with a professional.

Cheers,

Cheryl

°µÍø½ûÇø team

@Cheryl

a interpreter device is a small box about the size of a telephone is something i hold in my hand and i say what i want to say into the box in English  and it will repeat  back with what i said in Spanish and if the other person says something in Spanish it will immediately repeat what the other person said in English.  my concern will it work with a native Costa Rican.  are they going to be scared, are they going to be amused and talk in Spanish.  My goal is communicate without intimidating someone.  Do you have any opinion or thought on how it will work with a native Cota Rican.   i do plan to learn Spanish but the box is just a crutch until i do.  thank you

Hey,

My bad!  I have edited the title of your thread to avoid any misunderstanding. Thanks for clarifying.

I hope someone can clarify whether you will be able to use it effectively with native Costa Ricans.

Learning useful Spanish is a daunting undertaking at which I have hardly succeeded. Many Costa Rican people (not just in touristy areas) speak passable English which they will be happy to practice on you. That, of course, does your effort to learn Spanish no good at all.

In Costa Rica, there are more active cellphones than people and all "modern" cellphones, whether Android or Apple, have apps that will do your translating for you in real time. (There are also perfectly good online utilities such as Google Translate.) Costa Ricans use these translation apps all the time to communicate with non-Spanish speaking people. So do gringos.

I get along pretty well, but trying to explain to a clerk at the hardware store that I wanted a pop rivet gun was too much. Out came the iPhone and a minute I was checking out with my new pistola de remaches pop.