Tico TalkOpen the app

About Tico Talk

Tico Talk teaches the Spanish people actually speak in Costa Rica: pura vida, mae and diay, usted with your best friend and vos with your neighbor, the phrases you need on a bus, at a soda or at the clinic, and the dichos that make Ticos laugh. It is for travelers getting ready for a trip and for people who live here.

Who makes it

Tico Talk is made by Waël at YouSee360. It is free to use, with no ads and no subscription, and it stays that way. If it helps you, you can

Tico Talk is free. If it helps you, a small donation keeps it growing. ¡Pura vida!

SINPE Móvil to

8797-1281

Paste it in your bank app’s SINPE Móvil.

Or send it by text message, ready to go (on your phone):

Banco Nacional BCR
; Ticos call that hacer una vaca.

How it works

  • The voice. Every line is spoken by Melissa, a Costa Rican Spanish voice from ElevenLabs, recorded once and saved with the app so it plays instantly and offline. A line too new to have a recording yet is voiced on the spot.
  • The score. When you press and hold to say something, your browser’s speech recognition hears it and Tico Talk compares it with the line sound by sound, then tells you which sound to fix. Your voice is never sent to Tico Talk; see the privacy policy.
  • The notebook. Notes, your own verbs and your practice history stay on your device, or sync across devices if you create a free account.
  • Offline. Add it to your home screen and it keeps working with no signal, on the bus to Monteverde too.

Help make it better

If a word or a meaning sounds off to a Tico ear, or something you need is missing, tell us in the app with the suggestion box. Every suggestion is read. For anything else, write to hola@tico.talk.