Language

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.

A week in my life

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

It’s been a good week with lots of movement – various aspects of life evolving and changing although, on the surface, everything is more or less the same.

You know the sort of week – time goes by, things happen, some days are better than others?
First – I finally went and had my hair cut in Granollers

 I had been putting it off.   Fear. Timidity.  But I am pleased with it and feel so much better, bouncier, lighter.   I managed perfectly well to explain what I wanted – in Catalan – and when the woman was washing my hair I did my usual MMMMMMmmmmm to show that I like having my head massaged (some people don’t!) and she continued to spend about 10 minutes massaging my whole scalp. I fell asleep – it was incredible.

The weather has been cold – today -4. But the sun still shines and it’s lovely during the day to be out and feel the warmth on your cheeks – it’s not hot but strengthening every day

We went for a walk up on the hills behind Mataro

Blue managed to walk all the way up to the top where we found an abandoned masia and dreamed of buying it and making it our home

It is so wonderful to be out in the countryside, to walk without traffic or people, to hear birds and see the sea in the distance

This week I have been practising Castellano as I realised it is getting harder and harder to speak it now that Catalan is dominant in the foreign language department of my brain. I have switched back to Spanish National Radio 3 to practise listening. On Saturday they played this song which I think would be lovely to dance tango to. But on the Catalan side of things I am feeling happy that we have almost finished the book we bought last year, Les Veus del Pamano. It feels like a big achievement and I understood almost every word.
On Saturday there was a class of Contact improvisation here in Llancadora.  It helped me relax after these two weeks of pain and at last I felt myself coming back into my body after the double shock of hurting both hands so badly.
On Sunday we had the tango class here again but for the last time as the teacher can’t afford to pay rent for the space!  It was 15 euros but he didn’t have enough people.  It’s been great to do some leading again as there were more women than men and all of them happy to practise with me. I am beginning to miss teaching tango so perhaps sometime I’ll start it up again and perhaps combine with English practice!

Today was my drawing class and tonight is the first meditation group at Tiffanys house.
New beginnings.

I feel that Spring is just around the corner – as if the seeds that are buried deep in the dark frozen ground are beginning to come to life. Something inside is shifting and wakening. We’ll see. For the moment – here is the cake that I brought home for tea, to celebrate the first day of my hands feeling better!

Virtual Vermut

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

It’s Friday and time to wind down and relax.
Which is what we did. We went to La Garriga to the Balneari for a few hours of swimming and floating and steaming and cleaning. We had invited a friend from Barcelona to come as a birthday present and it was even more special as we had the place to ourselves almost all the time

We were there over two hours and it cost about 30 euros each.
It was my second visit there and next time I must try the other one – Termes de La Garriga. Then there is the Victoria in Caldes,  several in Santa Coloma de Farners and the special one in Puigcerda. If I am ever to write the English guide to Catalan balnearis (mineral bathes) I better start exploring.
If we sat together for a vermut today I would probably show you my photos of the wall near our house
I love the colour of this door. The notice is about the Grua which is the lorry that comes and tows away your car if it is parked in the wrong place. Here they are taking a coffee break near the Toy bar.

It’s easy to be in the wrong place as almost every second door is an entrance to a garage and you can’t park or even stop there. It makes Granollers a nightmare for parking

Also I always hesitate before saying ‘I am sorry’ as the words are too close for my liking. An apology is Em Sap Greu.  Greu and Grua – not so different.  The literal meaning of Grua is a crane. Then there is the word Gual as seen above. What on earth does that mean?

I have been in a cooking phase this week. Is it something to do with the absence of resident adolescent?  It is heart sinking to cook when he is around as he won’t eat anything that isn’t simple meat, pasta, pizza or chips. Somehow it takes the fun out of it. And he hates anything spicy.
So this week I have made
1/ Nut and Vegetable rissoles
2/ Rice Pudding
3/ Mexican Tortillas
4/ Baked salmon with potatoes dauphinoise
5/ Fideua`

This last you do in a paella pan – the sort with little holes in them

I hadn’t made this dish before and it is typically made with seafood and a fish stock. I was experimenting with a vegetarian version and it worked better than expected, especially nice with a little alioli on the side.  And a glass or three of cava.
And now as I am trying to watch Pa Negre on the TV why not drop by Bodhi Chicklet and see if she has dug out her bottle of vermut.  I need to concentrate to understand a film totally in Catalan. It was put forward for the Oscars this week as Spains foreign language film and almost got nominated. Imagine that – and it’s not in Spanish!