Catalan?

Hey guys,

Just a quick question that I've been thinking about lately. How difficult would it be for a castilian spanish speaker to get by in say Barcelona/Valencia/the Balearics? Would such places be out of the question in terms of living and working, or are the locals happy to speak castilian?

Cheers

Bohrio

Deleted User wrote: »

Hey guys,

Just a quick question that I've been thinking about lately. How difficult would it be for a castilian spanish speaker to get by in say Barcelona/Valencia/the Balearics? Would such places be out of the question in terms of living and working, or are the locals happy to speak castilian?

Cheers

The answer to this question might not be as easy as it seems. Most people will be happy (or at least will not mind) to speak in Castilian. When visiting Catalunya, sometimes you might ask them a question in Castilian and they will reply in Catalán, most of the times is not intentional, is just their instinct acting up, other times not so much. Outside Catalunya they will all speak Castillian (unless they are talking to another person from Catalunya).

Any person from Catalunya, Castellón (Valencia/Alicante) and the Balearics will be fluent in Castilian (with the exception of, maybe, some elders living in isolated towns, especially in Catalunya, but this can also be found in Galicia and Asturias).

Even if you find someone who doesnt want to speak Castellano (never met anyone so far), if you are fluent in Castellano you shouldn't have too much trouble understanding them (notice I said "should"). Learning their Language a bit (dialect for Alicante and the Balearics) should not be too difficult either. Unlike, Basque.

Working in Calatunya could be tricky, as, for someone to be able to apply for a job (not all but most jobs) is mandatory to be fluent in Catalán. This puts people, from other parts of Spain, off when considering working in Catalunya (I think that's the main reason why they do it)

People from Catalunya, Castellón and the Balearics are not like most people think. Most of them are very open, friendly and helpful, especially in the Barcelona City, and also in Castellón, where, unfortunately, their dialect has not reached the popularity that it has in Catalunya (although is slowly growing). In most Catalan hearts Calatunya might come first, but most of them do feel Spanish and accept this without an issue, is only when they are abroad (or at least I never noticed this before) that their sense of independence becomes strong.

This normally only happens to people from Catalunya, not from Valencia or Alicante and neither the Balearics. Even in Catalunya, the feeling of being under, as some extremist call it, the slavery of the Spanish Goverment, is mostly outside the Capital (Girona for example) a to a minority.

Everytime I visit Catalunya I feel welcome and personally I love it, its absolutely beautiful and never a single time, felt not welcomed. But if I am honest, I wouldnt fancy living there (I hope nobody gets offended) not really sure why, I have just never considered it an option, and I am FC Barcelona Fan since I was 6!

Personally I admire their sense of independence (specially Basque's), I think is not logical to look for independence when the rest of the world is tending to unification (I rather not get into the matter off if they were a nation or not). Sometimes it might be a bit excessive, but is important that they fight so their customs are not forgotten, but so does the rest of Spain.

Also, in school classes are given in Catalán only (this makes it difficult for kids coming from other parts of Spain though), at least until some certain grade (not sure when, it might even go all the way through High School). Young people will chat among each other in Catalán, movies are dubbed in Catalán and a person from Catalunya will rarely watch a movie in Castilian if he can watch it in Catalán. This also happens with other languages such as Galician and the Basque, for example.

All this is very important for them as is the only way they can keep their origins and so it will never be forgotten. This, unfortunately, doesnt happen so much in Castellón and the Balearics, although their government is trying to inject it into their youths.. (in my opinion the Irish goverment should do something similar here in Ireland)

Most of what I have wrote is just an opinion so please dont take it for granted, I am sure that other people will have a different views. I just have the feeling that people here think Catalunya is completely different to the rest of Spain and is not, while I lived there I never noticed any difference.

I appreciate you taking the time to help, thanks

juanjo

My experience living in Valencia (1 year) was very positive. I lived right beside the city, in a small town called Alboraya, they spoke valenciá there but were polite to switch to spanish every time I was around.

The funny thing is that I learned the language by watching dragon ball in the valencian channel and, although i don't speak it I can understand it no problem.

You might find some close minded people (or as said by bohrio, elders or so) there but it is not the norm, and if you're not spanish I don't think u'd have any problem using castilian to talk to them.

As far as I know you would need catalan as a language only if you work there for the government (generalitat) and for the rest castillian will do. It is a matter of checking the job descriptions I guess.

What I've found as well is that people tend to feel well enough if you understand them but reply in castillian. I've had conversations using both languages and I think people understand that you feel comfortable speaking in your mother tongue (or anything close to ) as long as you understand them, and the other way around.