Only 1 out Every 10
Costa Rican Adults Speak
A Second Language
Only one in ten Costa
Ricans over the age of
18 speak a second
language according to a
report by the Instituto
Nacional de Estadística
y Censos (INEC), placing
the number of bilingual
Costa Ricans at 280.000
adults and 2.160.000
only speaking Spanish.
The second language
dominated by Costa
Ricans is English
(10.7%), followed by
French (0.7%), German
and Portuguese (0.3%
each).
The low number of
bilinguals is not
sufficient for business
and the tourism
industry, according to
Gabriela Llobet, general
manager of the Coalición
Costarricense de
Iniciativas de
Desarrollo (Cinde), who
strongly feels that
there is a need for more
people who speak more
than one language.
Llober explained that if
more Costa Ricans spoke
a second language some
6.000 more jobs could
have been filled in
service sectors, adding
that in 2000 there were
only five international
service companies in the
country employing 1.061,
while in 2007 that
number grew to 61,
providing work for some
20.000.
Llobet added that
salaries of professional
with a second language
are usually between 20%
and 40% higher that
those without a second
language.
"If the population would
better its domain of a
second language, mainly
English, there would be
more investment of the
existing companies and
attract more to the
country", said Llobet.
Given the low figures of
bilingual, the
government is expected
today to announce plans
to "massify" English
learning, starting with
a plan to better prepare
teachers in primary and
secondary schools.
The Ministerio de
Educación Pública (MEP)
recognizes that
graduates of secondary
school only have a basic
understanding of English
even though they have
had lessons for five
years and is planning on
submitting its 3.454
English teachers to an
intensive training
program to better the
level of English
education.
The government's plan
also includes to
increase the number of
people studying English
at the Instituto
Nacional de Aprendizaje
(INA) - trade school.
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