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Old 02-12-2014, 02:14 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles, CA
546 posts, read 814,573 times
Reputation: 449

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Quote:
Originally Posted by NooYowkur81 View Post
1) It is safe in the major cities and many of the towns if you are not a flashy person and use your head.

2)You absolutely must know Spanish. The only place where you could probably get by with just english and living there long term is San Andres. Not only that in certain regions not knowing the dialects will make you stick out and make things harder for you in terms of communicating. Not that you won't stick out, lol, you will regardless but knowing the dialects/local lingo helps a lot. Colombia is extremely regional.

3)Not sure about this. My wife's family has fairly high speed cable internet in bogota. I'm not sure of the exact speed though.

4) Cartagena from what I've heard is very safe but it wears on people because it's a tourism heavy city. A lot of people who like the coast prefer Barranquilla.

.
Very good post. OP: I am from the USA and I've been to Colombia a few times. I think Nooyork's got some great points here.

I only wanted to elaboarate on Point No. 4: I've been to both Cartagena and Barranqilla. I love Colombia. But I would personally not pick either Cartagena or Barranqilla to live. I would pick Medellin or Cali over both these spots. I also might pick Bogota except I don't care for the climate there. The climate in Medellin is perfect. Cali is warm in the day but quite pleasant at night.

As noted, Cartagena is really great for a visit but i think it would get old after a while. The beaches in and around Cartagena are not good. You have to go to Playa Blanca (an island off the coast) to find nice beaches. So there is no real coastal benefit to living in Cartagena. And you will be hot all the time.

Nothing wrong with Barranqilla but it is just kind of a more bland, boring city. It is one of the safest large Colombian cities. There are some decent beaches outside the city but again like Cartagena you really don't get a great coastline for being so close to the coast and living in such constant humidity.

If the OP wants a good beach town I would think about Santa Marta. But it is on the small side.

Again, if I were looking at the larger cities, I'd go with Medellin or Cali. On a smaller scale I might think about Santa Marta or Armenia.
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Old 02-13-2014, 06:35 AM
 
Location: Bergen County, NJ
9,847 posts, read 25,172,561 times
Reputation: 3627
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sugah Ray View Post
Actually what most people think of Colombian Spanish is the Spanish spoke in the interior cities(Bogota, Medellin, Cali) While they have a few different words, it sounds quite similar and most of the vocabulary is shared. People from the coastal regions sound closer to other Colombians than to people from Cuba or PR.

The only people I confuse with Colombians are people from Costa Rica. I cannot even tell the difference when I watch the Costa Rican TV channel.
The stereotype is all Colombians speak like people from Antioquia, aka paisas and this is not true. People in Bogota and the coast DO NOT talk like that and they do not use Vos. Coastal Colombians speak very differently. They have many words that are unique to that region and they tend to speak faster. It's all Spanish but they are different dialects and ways of talking. There are also other areas with distinct accents, Cali, Pasto, Santander, etc. There is not one Spanish spoken throughout the country. I know some people don't like Wikipedia but they actually do an excellent job of providing an overview of the diversity of Colombian Spanish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombian_Spanish

As for Costa Rica, yeah that is not surprising. Costa Rica is actually a hodgepodge of several Central and South American countries. A lot of Costa Ricans are actually descended from Colombians.

Last edited by NooYowkur81; 02-13-2014 at 07:19 AM..
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Old 02-13-2014, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Somewhere
8,070 posts, read 6,928,451 times
Reputation: 5654
Quote:
Originally Posted by NooYowkur81 View Post
The stereotype is all Colombians speak like people from Antioquia, aka paisas and this is not true. People in Bogota and the coast DO NOT talk like that and they do not use Vos. Coastal Colombians speak very differently. They have many words that are unique to that region and they speak faster. It's all Spanish but they are different dialects and ways of talking. There are also other areas with distinct accents, Cali, Pasto, Santander, etc. There is not one Spanish spoken throughout the country. I know some people don't like Wikipedia but they actually do an excellent job of providing an overview of the diversity of Colombian Spanish.

Colombian Spanish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It's more similar than different. They share a lot words, idioms and most colombians use "usted" for "you"(second person singular). "Vos" is very informal, and it is not used very often, and when it is used it is usually mixed with "usted" (Antioquians are a grammatical mess).

Saying there is no Colombian accent is like saying there is no American accent. While people from the Midwest, Boston and the South might sound different, they still sound American and share a lot of vocabulary, intonation and pronounciation. People from around the world will know they are Americans not Irish, Brits or Australians. The same is true for most colombians.

There is not even a unique "antioquian" accent. I would say there about 4 or 5 accents, but they all sound Colombian.

This video covers 3. Medellin accents start at 7:37

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DxUCU9Z...%3DDxUCU9ZUnDs
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Old 02-13-2014, 08:23 AM
 
Location: Bergen County, NJ
9,847 posts, read 25,172,561 times
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I'm not saying there isn't a Colombian Spanish or accent, I am saying there are several.
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Old 02-16-2014, 04:46 PM
 
9 posts, read 33,662 times
Reputation: 14
I'm a Blonde white European female and I've been living in Bogota, Colombia for the last two years.
People who say 'don't move to Colombia, you'll get kidnapped and killed' don't know anything about this country. Yes, the crime rate surely isn't the lowest in the world. You have to be more careful than in most American cities, but it's really not a big deal. For example, instead of stopping a cab in the street you should call/text a cab. You should avoid certain areas at night (and some even during the day). I feel very safe in Bogota though. I live in the North, which is extremly different from the South. People are very friendly, life isn't very expensive and Colombia has wonderful places to travel to.

I would recommend you to move to Bogota or Cartagena, just because they're more international, you meet more young locals and life is more exciting. I love Cartagena, but not to live. It's a city full of tourists and with not many young people. Plus, although the beaches are nice and the city is pretty I imagine it to get boring after a while because it's really not that big.

If you have questions let me know!
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Old 02-17-2014, 01:34 PM
 
Location: FLORIDA
32 posts, read 64,661 times
Reputation: 50
I have lived in Colombia off and on for many years, and all my American buddies (8) are dead. Stabbed, shot, run over, you name it. Life is cheap in Colombia, and if you go there you better update your living will. Buy a 1 way ticket because you won´t be coming back home, maybe in a Pine Box!
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Old 02-17-2014, 03:17 PM
 
6,361 posts, read 11,813,317 times
Reputation: 6795
Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl1940 View Post
I have lived in Colombia off and on for many years, and all my American buddies (8) are dead. Stabbed, shot, run over, you name it. Life is cheap in Colombia, and if you go there you better update your living will. Buy a 1 way ticket because you won´t be coming back home, maybe in a Pine Box!
What we're they all in the drug business? Come one all your buddies died? Sounds a little unlikely to me unless you are 90 years old.
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Old 02-18-2014, 04:28 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles, CA
546 posts, read 814,573 times
Reputation: 449
Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl1940 View Post
I have lived in Colombia off and on for many years, and all my American buddies (8) are dead. Stabbed, shot, run over, you name it. Life is cheap in Colombia, and if you go there you better update your living will. Buy a 1 way ticket because you won´t be coming back home, maybe in a Pine Box!
Yeah, sure. I (don't) believe you.
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Old 02-19-2014, 08:12 AM
 
Location: classified
1,679 posts, read 3,723,835 times
Reputation: 1561
Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl1940 View Post
I have lived in Colombia off and on for many years, and all my American buddies (8) are dead. Stabbed, shot, run over, you name it. Life is cheap in Colombia, and if you go there you better update your living will. Buy a 1 way ticket because you won´t be coming back home, maybe in a Pine Box!
Did all of your "friends" work for the FARC or the drug business?
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Old 02-19-2014, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Viña del Mar, Chile
16,393 posts, read 30,832,320 times
Reputation: 16642
Yeah, I have a hard time believing that happened to his friend. I know a lot of expats.

However, if you want to spend a little more... Chile is probably the best option.

Having spent time in both, Chile wins hands down.
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