Spanish

Unfortunately we can't teach you Spanish from just this short list, but here are some words and phrases that may help you during your travels and maybe impress a few locals.

The best tip for learning spanish is to first learn the pronunciacion of the spanish alphabet, each letter only has one sound and it is always the same in every word, with very few exceptions, like if the letter is used at the begining of a word. With this you will be able to read any spanish word pronouncing it correctly, and it will help you understand the words you are hear also.

The basics:

Hablas Ingles? (do you speak English)
No hablo espanol (I don't speak spanish)
no entiendo (I don't understand)

Buenas (Hello)  A common greeting that can be used any time of day.
Buenos dias (good morning)
Buenas tardes (good afternoon)
Buenas Noches (good night) 

Como estas? (how are you)
Como le va (how's it going)
Que paso (whats been happening)
Bien (good)
Muy bien (very good)
Todo Bien (everything is good) this can be used as a question or an answer.
Pura Vida (pure life) the official saying of Costa Rica used as a greeting or a response to "how are you"

Tu / Usted (you) In Costa Rica, Usted is the preferred word, it is considered more respectful than Tu

Tico (a Costa Rican male)
Tica (a Costa Rican female)
**The tico / tica way of referring to Costa Ricans came from the way tico's used to pronounce the word-ending tito ( to express that something is small) as tico. Like chiquitito / chiquitico.

Donde esta (where is)
El Baño / servicio (the bathroom)
La Embajada de Estados Unidos (the US Embassy)
El aeropuerto (the airport)

In A Restaurant:
Voy a comer esto (i'm going to have this to eat...then point / or replace este with the name of the meal)
Sounds like "boy a co mare"
Voy a tomar esto (i'm going to drink this...and point / or replace este with the name of the drink)

Food:
Arroz (rice)
Frito (fried)
Frijoles (beans)
Pollo (chicken)
Carne (meat)
Carne de res (beef)
Bistek (steak)
Huevos (eggs)  *silent H, sounds more like a "w" like (way-vose)
Cerdo (pork)
Sopa (soup)
Pescado (fish)
Mantequilla (butter)
Sal (salt)
Azucar (sugar)
Tortillas con queso derretido (with melted cheese)
Pure de papas (mashed potatoes)
Platanos (plantains)
Casado (a traditional plate of food) usually contains your choice of meat / fish and several side items such as rice, beans, casserole, mashed potatoes, vegetables and plantains

Fruit & Drinks:
Jugo (juice) when ordering say "Jugo de piña"
Pina (pineapple)
Naranja (Orange)
Guanabana (Guava)
Tamarindo (Cinnamon Flavored Drink)

Other Words & Phrases:
Yo quiero (I want)
Yo necesito (I need)
Yo tengo (I have)
Estoy cansado (I am tired)
Yo tengo sed (I am thirsty)
Yo tengo hambre (I am hungry)

Tico Spanish - Words and phrases that may be unique to Costa Rica and / or different from other spanish speaking countries

Pura Vida (pure life) the official saying of Costa Rica used as a greeting or a response to "how are you"

Tuanis (cool) supposedly came from a tico mis-pronunciation of "too nice" 

Con mucho gusto (your welcome / my pleasure) literally "with much pleasure" this phrase is also used to say you're glad to meet someone, in this case it's common to shorten it to "Mucho gusto"

Regalame (give me) used to ask for something, instead of the Spanish "dame" pronounced Daa-May, regalame is more polite and comes from "regalo" which means gift, whereas dame comes from the verb dar - examples:
Regalame una Coca-Cola (give me a Coke) Locals also use a shortened version "Coca"
Regalame una botella de agua (give me a bottle of water)
Regalame su numero de telefono  (give me your phone number) ;) the wink is optional, but has the same meaning in spanish.

Como amanecio? (how did you wake this morning) this is a polite and common way of asking how someone is doing when seeing them for the first time that day, typically in the morning

Casado - This word has a dual meaning, it can mean married from the verb "casar" to marry, but is also used to describe a traditional plate of food (like what you might eat at home if you're Tico, derived from "casa" meaning house or home)

Chao - (bye / goodbye) similar to the Italian "Ciao" and is surprisingly common in Costa Rica especially with the younger crowd

Entiendo (I understand) use instead of "comprendo"

Usted (you) Use "Usted" instead of "Tu" - sometimes abbreviated as Ud

Genial (cool) this word is extremely common in Spanish subtitles but is never used in Costa Rica use Pura Vida or tuanis and all the locals will think you're the coolest

Gringo (forigner) in any Spanish dictionary this word simply means that you are from a forign country, but in Costa Rica it is used almost exclusively for people from the United States. Most locals do not mean anything derogatory if they refer to someone as a gringo but because the word seems to have been tainted by the few who do use it in some derogatory fashion, many locals will use "Norte Americano" (North American) just to be safe. But when the gringos aren't around it's the most common word to talk about them :) so don't be offended if you overhear this word or someone uses it to get your attention, they mean no harm. Ironically, Canadians are referred to as Canadiense and not considered gringos even though they are also in North America. Chineese "Chino" European "Europeo" and if your country of origin is not known they use "Extranjero" the correct Spanish word for foreigner.

Vacilón (fun / funny) also used as a verb Vacilar (to kid around)

Abanico (fan) use instead of "ventilador"

Enojado (angry) use instead of "enfadado"

Birra (beer) a slang way to say beer (cerveza), by basically adding an (a) beera, but comically used by locals "vamos a tomar una birra" (lets go have a beer)

Bomba (Gas Station) used commonly instead of gasolinera

Zancudo (mosquito) used to describe a type of mosquito in Costa Rica, many people consider a mosquito and a zancudo to be 2 different types of this pesky insect