Catalan

Catalan Week

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment
In which I try to speak Catalan all day for seven days

Day 3

The Vet
Today was good in general and I have managed to speak Catalan almost all the time, allowing for a few lapses when I found that English words were slipping out without me really knowing it!
I took Bonnie to see a new vet and as well as discussing her strange nipple wound, we had a very lengthy discussion about Leishmaniosis and I was able to not just follow it but ask semi-intelligent questions. It is a complicated subject and knowing what is the best method of protection is far from obvious.

Leishmaniosis is one of the worrying diseases that Mediterranean dogs can get. It is a blood parasite spread in the saliva of a biting insect, the sandfly. Sandflies are active at dawn and dusk which makes walking in the cooler times of the day rather scary.

He gave me some written information and apologised for it being in Castellano which I thought was nice.  Bonnie was very good as well, sitting when I said ‘Seu’ and relaxing when he told her she was ‘guapa’.

The Vet is happily named Dr Om – do you remember this?
 
Life Under Franco

Just found this film interview of a woman who grew up in Barcelona in Franco times, talking about her education and the general cultural atmosphere of the 50’s and 60’s.It really shows you how recent it was that the Catalan language and identity was under pressure.

Bats
The other thing that made me feel good was that I read an article in Catalan in El Nou about a new book on Bats in Catalunya.  It has been published by the Museum in Granollers, a place I promise myself to visit one day.  I didn’t read the whole article but was able to skim through for information and I noticed it partly because of the Bat Hospital in Penzance and because I love watching them at night from our balcony.

Bats, by the way, in Catalan are Rat penats which I’m sure doesn’t help people love them!

Listening to Catalan too

Then I went for a walk with my phone playing Radio Granollers instead of my normal tango and suddenly there was an interview with the author of the bat book. In spite of it being a radio interview which usually are hard to understand because of how fast they speak, I seemed to tune in and follow it all.
So I think this is a sign that the more you listen and read and keep surrounding yourself with the language, the easier it gets.

 

Catalan study week. Day 2.

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

I walked into Granollers centre and bought two newspapers to read in Catalan. One is El Nou which is the local paper for the Valles Oriental and the other is El Periódico which is a daily newspaper based in Barcelona and which publishes two editions, one in Spanish and one in Catalan

This week I will write about the Catalan language.
Not especially about the words or grammar but more about the history, political and cultural.
You cannot live in Catalunya without becoming aware of some of the issues around language that are particular to this land. It is a complicated subject and I am certainly no expert but I thought it could be interesting to try and describe what I have noticed.
History and culture and politics are interwoven. Of course you can just go and learn the language and start speaking it from day 1.  Or you can decide that Castellano is so much ‘more useful’ and ignore the existance of Catalan completely.
But you will notice certain things that make you wonder…….’what is this about?’  ‘why does this happen?’
Almost every Catalan speaker is fluent in two languages – Catalan and Castellano. But it doesn’t take long to notice that some people don’t like speaking Castellano.
I have even met a few who refuse to speak it.
Why?
As a foreigner I also find that many people stop speaking Catalan and change to Castellano when I join them. They seem to expect that someone from outside will prefer it.  They are pleased and surprised when I answer in Catalan, as if I am doing something wonderful in just saying Bon Dia rather than Buenos Dias.
But Catalan is spoken by more than 7 million people. That is more than all the speakers of Danish.
Why is it not more recognised?
Sometimes I ask for ‘cafe amb llet’ in a bar and they correct me ‘cafe con leche?’
What is that about?
Catalan is the official language of this region but there are many situations where you cannot speak it – you have to switch to Castellano or not be understood. For example the mobile phone companies offer their services in Castellano and you have to request a Catalan speaker, then wait for days to be dealt with, or perhaps they never get back to you!
The language of the legal system is Castellano – official documents from the courts are not written in Catalan.
What can it be like to feel your native language is not used universally in your homeland?
If the language of the law is Castellano surely that suggests the law is not on your side?
A bit of history
Many people know about the repression of the Catalan language in the times of Franco’s dictatorship. Today in the newspaper I was reading about a new book which documents the history of this  and which proves beyond doubt that there was an official policy after 1939 to suppress use and development of the language. It was against the law to speak publicly in Catalan. That means everywhere. Suddenly children who had been taught in Catalan had to use Castellano. They might be able to speak in some schools in their own language but it was dangerous to do so. There were some schools that continued to teach in Catalan but everyone knew that when the inspectors came to call, all written material in Catalan must be removed and replaced with the Castellano version. All books published, all radio programmes, all films, all TV in the later years, all newspapers, all everything, only in Castellano.
Think what this does to your sense of identity, pushed underground to a secret and powerful but forbidden place. Imagine how it would be to have your natural means of self expression not only forbidden but insulted and humiliated.
I read this here
If a citizen was heard speaking Catalan in a public space, he was addressed with phrases like ‘Speak in the Christian tongue’ or ‘Let’s see when you stop barking’. Public signs with offensive sentences like ‘Prohibited to spit and speak in Catalan’ could be read.
And a bit more
But it goes back even further than Franco. 
Historically there have been many attempts to squash the language.
In 1714 King Philip of Spain banned its official use and replaced it with Castilian spanish. In the 19th century there was a renaissance of Catalan language and culture but again between 1923 and 1930 the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera banned the use of all languages except Castilian.
Catalan was restored again in the 2nd Republic in 1931 only to be stamped on again by Franco 8 years later.

So it is a history full of challenge and it is a wonderful testimony to the strength and courage of all its users that the language has survived and is flourishing today.  Books, films, TV and radio channels, newspapers, education, official documents, even Google, all in Catalan.
I can understand why there is such an an emotional undercurrent to the language and why the subject generates such powerful feelings.
All these things make me glad to be able to play my small part in the history of this rich and ancient language.  And who wouldn’t fall in love with a language which uses all those wonderful xxxxx’s?

Catalan and Castellano – Mission Impossible?

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

When I first arrived in Barcelona, like many others I enrolled for Spanish classes in a language school. I already had a rudimentary level from self study but wanted to immerse myself in the language and I naively thought that in 6 weeks I would be able to enjoy conversations without too much trouble.

But….

It took me a surprisingly long time to realise that if you want to learn Spanish  – or Castellano as I prefer to call it  to differentiate it from the other official languages of Spain – it would be better to do it somewhere outside of Catalunya. Because Catalan is the language here and although almost everyone who speaks Catalan also is fluent in Castellano, naturally they prefer to speak their mother tongue.  There is also a sizeable minority of people from other parts of Spain or from Latin America, many of whom do not speak Catalan at all.  At that time I was dancing tango a lot so met lots of people from Argentina and was able to practice my ‘spanish’ with them.  But the vast majority of my friends were Catalan and in social situations they were talking Catalan.

Then….

Starting a relationship with a Catalan man meant that I moved to another town, somewhere much more traditionally Catalan and my real struggle to keep up with Castellano began.
In the house, at family parties, in the street, with friends, all I was hearing was Catalan. People advised me not to try and learn two languages at once so I put up a barrier.  I responded in Castellano Spanish, I felt aggrieved if, as sometimes happened, someone refused to change languages to include me in the conversation. I felt very much an outsider and was aware that I was trying to communicate in a language that to some people was an unpleasant reminder of Franco years.  It was an effort, a strain, a frustration. I was learning very slowly, I might as well have been studying in Penzance.

So….

Almost two years ago I gave up on Castellano.  I made a decision to learn Catalan and concentrate on that. It meant starting from the beginning again.  I went to the free classes provided by the government.  I took down the barrier.  And was so surprised  to find that it was easy.
For the first time in my life I was living in a total immersion situation and of course then the language flows into your consciousness. Our brains are like sponges and of course mine had been learning all along but I hadn’t allowed myself to know it.

But…

I still needed sometimes to speak Castellano.  And I still wanted to speak it.   I was still finding myself in situations where I either couldn’t speak or couldn’t understand what was going on. Still on the outside of so any situations.

But I found that I had forgotten so much. It was a muddle in my brain and the simplest of words would be just beyond my reach. I ended up speaking a strange mixture. Some people have called this Catalaño.  People who learnt both from childhood are adept at keeping them separate but later learners blur the boundaries. Obviously as most people in the UK can’t speak anything other than English it is incredibly impressive  to watch how Catalan people skip between the languages, and often change to Castellano as a courtesy to someone else.


Which leads me to my reason for writing this.
I have decided to study both languages more intensively for a month. Many people say it is a bad idea to study two similar language at the same time. The brain just can’t cope and everything gets muddled and you end up feeling a failure at both.
But I want to try.
At the moment my plan is this. I will do alternate weeks starting on Monday 23rd with Catalan. All week I will try to speak and listen to 90% the chosen language.  At the end of the month I will see if my brain has fried.
I will report back here every week to explain how it has gone.
To help my brain I am going to imagine two different personalities – one who speaks Catalan and the other Castellano. Perhaps they will even wear different clothes, talk about different things!  Read different newspapers, watch different films.
The major problem seems to be keeping the two languages separate and then being able to switch. Surely my brain can cope!

If you have any experience in learning two languages at the same time then I’d love to hear how it was for you.

Cinema V.O.

~ Kate Wilson ~ 8 Comments

I don’t know what I’d do without the Cineclub in Granollers.
At the top of the new programme you can see it says Cinema V.O.

 That is the magic code for Original Version (the other way round in Catalan) and means the film will not be dubbed.
Dubbing is something I’ve had to come to terms with here. It can be quite cleverly done with the lips seeming ….almost…. to move at the same time as you hear the words spoken. It can also be completely askew and you have to enter a special part of your brain which can ignore weird behaviour such as someone mouthing silent words, or continuing to speak with their mouthes shut, while taking seriously the content of the actual speech.
Also there seem to be no more than a couple of women who perform the dubbed parts in Catalan and one of them in particular has a very strange dramatic slightly creepy way of talking.
Watching a film that is clearly set in Scotland, or Australia, or, as a few nights ago in St Trinians school for Girls, with people speaking Catalan while their mouths move independently is interesting but not always relaxing.

On the television is one thing and in the cinema is another. There are cinemas that specialise in V.O. like the Alexandra in Ramble de Catalunya in Barcelona.  Or the Verdi in Cardedeu which is a small cinema in a lovely town about 10 minutes drive from here. But Granollers although it is the capital city of the Valles Oriental with a large and prosperous (take a look at the shopping street) population has only a cinema complex with films either dubbed or in Castellano. I think there is one day every month or so when they show a film in V.O. but have never been able to find out when it is.

So, big thanks to the people who run the cine club, which shows films every Friday and Sunday.
Obviously sometimes I am watching a film with Spanish subtitles, or a Catalan film with no subtitles at all but still I prefer this to dubbed versions. It’s usually pretty busy and when the film ends sometimes I come back to consciousness and think I am in the film club in Penzance.  There is a similar feeling of like-minded people streaming out onto the street and discussing the film.

Of course as English is my first language I have been sheltered from the dubbing experience. So many films are in English that historically there was no need to provide another language. Those of us who want to see films from different parts of the world were happy to both read and listen although I am sure there are still many people in the UK and USA who wouldn’t watch a film with subtitles.
But here it was a different story. The dominance of English speaking films has created an industry of dubbing to allow the majority of people to watch British and American films and TV programmes.
And then there is the question of Catalan language films, with or without dubbing into Castellano. And should films in castellano have subtitles in Catalan?


All very interesting and I will write more another day.

Thursday is Market Day

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

It was relaxed at the market today

I went late but there seemed to be no rush to close the stalls. Everyone was in slow motion, enjoying the sunshine and perhaps the wonderful ordinariness of a January Thursday without the pressure of Christmas ahead. I love January because Christmas is as far away as it can possibly be!  (Not that I hate it really but it’s so dominant in December)
I bought some boots – having decided that I need black leather ones I bought these

They are made in Spain which is not easy to find these days as almost everything is Made in China.
I was in the right mood to practise Catalan so chatted to the stall holders and provided amusement to the people selling vegetables when I asked for pernil. ‘Oh no we don’t have that’ she joked, ‘unless you want to take it from here’ (stroking her own thigh)  ‘Do you mean perejil? ‘
It was my fault for using the castellano word for parsley instead of the Catalan julivert.
Pernil is ham