Costa Rica's primary language is Spanish. Aside from it, indigenous people speak their own languages such as "Bribri", "Maléku", "Cabécar" and Ngäbere languages. Some indigenous languages have several thousands speakers while others such as "Teribe" and "Boruca" have hundreds. Jamaican Patois of Creole-English is spoken in the Caribbean coast (Native Languages of the Americas website, 1998, http://www.native-languages.org/costarica.htm).
Costa rica's culture is basically influenced by Spain and recent years by United States. The most typical and the most frequently used Costa Rican word could be "pura vida (pure life)". It was first used after the release of a Mexican movie titled "pura vida" , it is now widely used for greetings and farewell. This word best shows the spirit of Costa Ricans in presenting a "philosophy of strong community, perseverance, resilience in overcoming difficulties with good spirits, enjoying life slowly, and celebrating good fortune of magnitudes small and large alike" (National Motto, 1996,
Regarding Costa Rican folk music, since Caribbean side has African descendent population, it also influences strongly on music. Likewise other part of Central America, marimba is popular and widely used in their traditional music. Pre-Colombian era also has an effect on traditional music in terms of "rare music scales", "certain ceremonial songs" and "ocarinas". In the Guanacaste region is the origin of these music. Ocarina is an ancient traditional instrument, and recent years, accordions and guitars are getting more used (Wikipedia, 2011). African influenced music is found in Atlantic coast. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Costa_Rica)
(Beautiful Quetzal in El Mirador de Quetzales in February 2011)
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