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What is Chapinismos?

Chapinismos is an open-source, interactive dictionary that celebrates Guatemalan culture through language. It’s a comprehensive glossary of chapinismos (Guatemalan slang words) with definitions, examples, and usage context in both Spanish and English.
Chapinismo refers to words, expressions, and idioms unique to Guatemala that reflect the country’s rich cultural identity and linguistic creativity.

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Built for Cultural Preservation

Guatemala has a vibrant linguistic heritage with over 20 Mayan languages coexisting with Spanish. Chapinismos captures the unique expressions that have emerged from this multicultural environment, preserving them for current and future generations.

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Who is this for?

Guatemalans Abroad

Stay connected to your roots and teach your family about Guatemalan culture through language.

Spanish Learners

Go beyond textbook Spanish and learn authentic Guatemalan expressions and slang.

Travelers

Understand local conversations and connect more deeply with Guatemalan people and culture.

Developers

Learn how to build multilingual content sites with Astro, Content Collections, and modern web technologies.

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Key Features

Chapinismos is built with modern web technologies to deliver a fast, accessible, and delightful user experience:

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Content Management

  • Type-safe Content Collections - All word entries are validated using Zod schemas to ensure data integrity
  • Bilingual Support - Every word has both Spanish and English versions with separate content collections
  • Structured Data - Each entry includes the word, meaning, examples, category, region, and related words
  • Git-based Workflow - All content is stored as Markdown files for easy version control and collaboration

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User Experience

  • Dark/Light Theme Toggle - Seamless theme switching with localStorage persistence
  • Advanced Search - Real-time search across words, meanings, and examples with accent-insensitive matching
  • Interactive Ticker - Animated carousel showcasing random words from the dictionary
  • Alphabetical Index - Browse all words organized alphabetically for easy discovery
  • Responsive Design - Optimized layouts for mobile, tablet, and desktop devices

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Performance & SEO

  • Static Site Generation - Pre-rendered pages for lightning-fast load times (powered by Astro)
  • Zero JavaScript by Default - Only interactive components load JavaScript for optimal performance
  • SEO-Optimized - Comprehensive meta tags, structured data (JSON-LD), and Open Graph tags
  • Multilingual SEO - Proper hreflang tags and language-specific sitemaps

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Technology Stack

Chapinismos leverages modern web technologies for an optimal developer and user experience:
Astro 5.18+ - Modern static site generator with islands architecture
  • File-based routing with dynamic [lang] and [slug] parameters
  • Content Collections for type-safe content management
  • Server-side rendering with selective hydration
  • View Transitions API for smooth page navigation

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Project Structure

The project follows a clean, organized structure that makes it easy to understand and contribute: 
diccionario-chapin/
├── src/
│   ├── components/          # Reusable Astro components
│   │   ├── Header.astro
│   │   ├── Footer.astro
│   │   ├── WordCard.astro
│   │   ├── SearchBox.astro
│   │   └── Ticker.astro
│   ├── content/             # Content Collections
│   │   ├── words-es/        # Spanish word entries
│   │   ├── words-en/        # English word entries
│   │   └── config.ts        # Zod schemas
│   ├── layouts/
│   │   └── Base.astro       # Main layout template
│   ├── pages/               # File-based routing
│   │   ├── [lang]/          # Language-specific routes
│   │   │   ├── index.astro
│   │   │   ├── buscar.astro
│   │   │   ├── indice.astro
│   │   │   └── palabras/[slug].astro
│   │   └── index.astro      # Root redirect
│   ├── styles/
│   │   └── global.css       # Global styles & CSS variables
│   └── utils/
│       └── i18n.ts          # Internationalization utilities
├── public/                  # Static assets
├── astro.config.mjs        # Astro configuration
└── vercel.json             # Deployment configuration

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What You’ll Learn

This documentation will teach you how to:
1

Set up your development environment

Install dependencies, configure your editor, and run the local development server
2

Add and manage content

Create new word entries, use Content Collections, and validate your content with Zod schemas
3

Customize the design

Modify colors, typography, and layouts using Tailwind CSS and CSS variables
4

Implement features

Add internationalization, search functionality, theme switching, and SEO optimization
5

Deploy your site

Build for production and deploy to Vercel, Netlify, or other hosting platforms

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Open Source & Community

Chapinismos is an MIT-licensed open-source project welcoming contributions from developers, linguists, and Guatemalan culture enthusiasts worldwide.

View on GitHub

Star the repository and explore the source code

Contributing Guide

Learn how to contribute new words or improve the codebase

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Next Steps

Ready to dive in?

Quick Start Guide

Get your local development environment up and running in under 5 minutes

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