Table of Contents
Is Catalan taught in Spain?
After the Spanish transition to democracy in 1978, the Catalan language was restored in the sphere of education in Spain for millions of speakers. In Catalonia and the Balearic Islands a linguistic model was adopted according to which Catalan is the main vehicular language.
Is it easy to learn Catalan if you speak Spanish?
Catalan is not difficult to learn – especially if you already speak another Romance language. Many people think Catalan is a dialect of Spanish and that’s not true at all. It’s as different from Spanish as is Portuguese or Italian. Like these languages, it did come originally from Latin.
Do all Catalans speak Catalan?
Many other languages are spoken in Catalonia as a result of recent immigration from all over the world….
| Languages of Catalonia | |
|---|---|
| Official | Catalan, Spanish, Aranese |
| Indigenous | Catalan, Aranese |
| Immigrant | Amazigh, American Spanish, Maghrebi Arabic, Romanian, British English, Urdu |
| Foreign | English, French |
Is there any point in learning Catalan?
Catalan is Similar to the Romance Languages We Learn in School. As we mentioned, speaking French or Spanish will be helpful. However, even if you don’t speak the languages, it can help if you studied them a bit in school. When you read Catalan words, you can see where a lot of them originated from.
Do they speak Catalan in Valencia?
Catalan is spoken natively in parts of Spain (in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands), France (in the area of the Pyrénées-Orientales), Andorra and even Italy.
Should you learn Spanish before Catalan?
If you want to connect with Catalan culture and have a more personal insight into the indigenous culture, then it’s best to learn Catalan. If you wish to be more widely understood, then learning Spanish would be the option.
What percentage of students in Catalonia speak Catalan?
In Catalonia, over 70\% of students sit the university entrance exams in Catalan, and in the different Catalan universities, the use of Catalan as the teaching language varies between 60 and 100\%.
Is Catalan a useful language?
However, Catalan is not only a language for education and culture, but also for trade and business. In Catalonia, for example, it would be very difficult to go to a bank or a shop and not be served in Catalan.
What are the weaknesses of the Catalan language?
In the city of Barcelona, which is a real heavyweight in the theatre world, the majority of plays are performed in Catalan. In this area, the weak point for Catalan is the cinema, where it is not yet present at the levels that could be expected from a language that is used so extensively in all other areas of culture.
What caused the decline of the Catalan culture?
After the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714) during which Catalonia lost its independence to King Philip V and the crown of Castille, Catalan culture underwent a period of decline, exacerbated by new laws insisting on the use of the Spanish language.