Do schools in Barcelona teach in Spanish or Catalan?
Unlike public schooling in much of the rest of the country, the teaching language in Barcelona is Catalan, which is the official language of the province. Children in Barcelona are required by law to go to school between the ages of six and 16 years old.
Can Catalan people understand Spanish?
The answer is no. Catalan is mutually unintelligible with Spanish. For instance, I know many Spanish speakers, who have lived in Catalonia for a long time, such as ten years, who can neither speak nor understand Catalan. 1,(Spanish) pescado, (Catalan) peix, (Portuguese) peix, (French) poisson, (Italian) pesce.
Is Catalan spoken more than Spanish in Barcelona?
So which is spoken in Barcelona – Catalan or Castilian Spanish? Both. In Barcelona, 98\% of the population speaks Castilian Spanish. About 50-60\% of Barcelona’s total population speaks Catalan.
How long does it take to learn Catalan if you speak Spanish?
1. Re: How long to learn Catalan when speaking Spanish fluently? It depends, usually betwen 6-10 months. However, you can also ask for lessons in spanish, as it is your right to apply for it and they must accept it (and it doesn’t matter if the school is private or public).
What is the status of Catalan in the education system in Catalonia?
so inhabitants of Catalonia have Catalan as their mother tongue which they use at home, and the other half – immigrants – are Castillian-speaking, the educational system lays down that all pupils should, at the end of compulsory schooling, be able to use both languages.
Do they teach Catalan in Barcelona?
Both Catalan and Spanish (or Castellano as it is more often known) are official languages in Barcelona and many residents are bilingual, so ultimately, learning either of them will help you more than English will.
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.
How mutually intelligible are Spanish and Catalan?
Mutual intelligibility is not a question of “yes or no”. Most estimates agree that in the case of Spanish vs. Catalan it is somewhere between 60 and 75\%. It seems that some Catalan speakers like to say that Spanish speakers do not understand Catalan “at all”, but that is not the case.
Is Catalan or Spanish easier to learn?
Catalan has been easier to learn than Spanish because I am now VERY familiar with the grammar and vocab. Romance language speakers, especially Iberian language speakers, have a head start.
Is Catalan hard to learn for Spanish speakers?
The answer is that Catalan can be very easy to learn if you already speak some French or Spanish. But if you’re looking for a quick language win, the similarities Catalan has with other languages can make it hard to not mix up when you speak.
How hard is it to learn Catalan if you speak Spanish?