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RE: Why I Left Canada and Became A Citizen of the Dominican Republic

in #money8 years ago

Good post! I plan on expatriating once my daughter turns 18, and thought first of Mexico. But since DR seems to not have as much gringo prejudice, it may be better? How much Spanish do you need to know?

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There is no gringo prejudice in Mexico that I've seen. Of course, almost anywhere you go in the world now, if you say you are from the US, most people kinda cringe (thinking about the heinous acts of the US government worldwide), but if you explain you left because of it, you'll be welcomed in Mexico, DR or most anywhere really.

Cool. I have heard there is a two tier pricing system in the markets though, but I have also never lived there either. Love the articles btw, Jeff. Big fan.

Oh, well, that is different. And, yes, if you are in the main tourist areas you will definitely be charged more for things like taxis... but it is really like $0.50 or $1 more (ie. nothing to lose sleep over)... and if you actually live there you get to know the people and then you get the local rate.

Understood. My daughter and I signed up for online Skype Spanish lessons. By the time I am ready to move, language shouldn't be an issue.

Good question I'd like to know too :)

You don't need to know a lot of Spanish at all. And even if you know Spanish you probably won't get to use it because Dominicans have chopped it up, it's sort of a dialect of Spanish. If you want to speak like the locals you need to learn it from scratch. But DR is culturally geared towards tourism, you shouldn't have a problem communicating, regardless of where you are from. I have heard of people having issues in some parts of Mexico because they are foreigner. What you may have issues with in DR as a foreigner is with people wanting to over charge you for stuff because they think you can afford it, specially if you are Caucasian.