Learning the lingo: Catalan or Castilian?

Okay, so you’ve made the decision to pack up all your belongings and shift your entire life and family to the Costa Brava to start a new life. But when you arrive, what then?

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One of the challenges you will be faced with almost immediately is the question of language, unless of course you’ve already got to a decent level of Spanish.

But hang on, the Costa Brava is in Catalonia, and so things are suddenly less clear than they first appeared. Maybe you shouldn’t bother with Spanish and learn Catalan instead. Let’s take a look at what this all means and the implications for you living on the Costa Brava.

The case for learning Spanish

First things first; Catalan and Castilian (as “Spanish” is more properly known, since Catalan is a Spanish language too) co-exist in Catalonia and you’ll meet many people who have moved to Catalonia from other areas of Spain, as well as South Americans, who can’t speak a word of Catalan.

And Catalans can speak Castilian anyway. Historically having always enjoyed a large trading base throughout the Mediterranean they have been quick to pick up new languages and bordering with France, many Catalans also speak French.

Something else; if you learn Spanish you’ll have a language that is transportable. You’ll be able to communicate with nearly everyone, no problem if you decide to move somewhere else in Spain, or for that matter go on holiday. It’s one of the most widely spoken languages worldwide, which is a huge advantage.

Planning on integrating?

While this is all true, and an argument sometimes put forward for learning Castilian rather than Catalan, it is missing a large part of the picture; Catalans tend to speak Catalan among themselves.

That’s how most of them have been brought up, it is the language they are schooled in, it’s the language they speak to their friends in, with their families, and work in, it’s what they think in, eat in, dream in…

The simple fact is that however much Catalonia is a bilingual territory, Castilian will always be a second language to most Catalans. And if you are planning on mixing with the locals then you need to be able to converse in their language, as that’s what they’ll be speaking when socialising, watching football, or drinking a beer.

The real Catalan problem

Even if you do learn Catalan, you’ll soon notice a problem. Catalans tend to switch to Castilian for the benefit of foreigners, since they know that Catalan is not widely spoken outside Catalonia. While that seems like a benefit to you, and it is done out of courtesy for sure, it means that you also need to make an effort to speak Catalan to Catalans.

In fact, you need to really insist sometimes, but then you’ll find a little goes a long way. Just being able to ask for something in a shop in broken Catalan will win you a lot of respect for trying.

Secondary benefits

And there is another benefit to learning Catalan. Since it is a Latin language you may also find that it also improves your Castilian anyway.That isn’t to say that by learning Catalan you’ll improve you Castilian at the same rate, and you might sometimes go along routes that turn out to be in the wrong direction.

But the fact is, if you really want to integrate on the Costa Brava then you should learn Catalan.

Why was it you decided to move? To live your life in a sunnier climate where you can barely get long? Or would you rather meet people from another culture and learn from them.

Where to learn Catalan

So, you’ve now decide to learn Catalan. Where do you learn it?

Many local councils offer free courses to help newcomers integrate into the community and so that can be a good place to start, although the times are sometimes inconvenient, or they have been for me.

You can try taking private lessons. Many towns have language centres and they will often have Catalan although they may be aimed more at Castilian speakers that English speakers. That doesn’t really matter though; you won’t be speaking Castilian!

Costa Brava Lifestyle

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