Social issues in Catalonia (LingoMap)

Social issues in Catalonia

The Catalan (that you’ll see everywhere in Catalonia)

Hola a todo el mundo, how are you? Good? Good. Seeing as this topic is about Catalonia, maybe I should say….Hola, tots, com esteu? Be? Be. Okay, moving on swiftly…

Living in Catalonia, the biggest and most obvious issue is Independence from Spain. I lived in Terrassa, a place in which Catalan is spoken as much as Spanish. I also lived with a Catalan family so the main language spoken at home was Catalan and most of our meals were Catalan dishes. Catalonia is an extremely proud state, with it’s own government, nationality, tourist attractions and flag.

Everyone in Catalonia is bilingual. In fact, in order to be employed in Catalonia, you must be able to speak Spanish and Catalan fluently.  School children are taught mostly in Catalan. Most school lessons are taught in Catalan, but I’ve noticed a trend with several of my students. Students speak or reply in whatever language they feel prefer, or they speak in Catalan to their teacher out of habit. This is mainly because teachers communicate and teach in Catalan. Although they may be comfortable in Catalan, in social or scholarly situations, the students are more likely to speak the language their group prefers. Children here in Catalonia are bilingual from a very young age. With my P3, P4 and P5 classes (ages 3-6) I noticed that the children tended to mix Catalan and Spanish together and feel comfortable with the two.

Due to the fact that some of the teachers and our other colleagues were not native Catalonians, it was quite common amongst teachers (myself included) to speak or reply in Spanish (a.k.a castellano) when spoken to in Spanish. There are some colleagues that I’ve never heard speak Spanish and have never spoken to me in Spanish. I arrived in Terrassa with no level of Catalan, and now because of my extremely high level of exposure, I can understand most of what I hear.

El problema de la independencia de Cataluña

The Parc de la Ciutadella

En Cataluña, hay quienes dicen que Cataluña nunca ha sido parte de España. Cuando se vive en Catalunya, se nota que la generación más vieja está de acuerdo con Cataluña o con España. Sin embargo, me he dado cuenta de que los niños tienen identidades duales. Sí son de Cataluña, pero el español no les parece una lengua extranjera y no todos creen que Catalunya debería independizarse. De hecho, muchos piensan que las dos pueden seguir  conviviendo. No son ni una cosa ni la otra.

Con mi familia anfitriona, la más joven es tan pro-catalana que dijo que, desde su punto de vista, en Cataluña hay que hablar en catalán. Me sorprendió que dijera algo tan fuerte. Muchos niños de 11 años son indecisos.

Manifestar es una manera regular que usan los catalanes para expresar su rabia y dolor por no haberse independizado. El Brexit fue otra motivación para votar a favor de la independencia. Se puede ver un vídeo aquí: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEoyVIJFBUg. De hecho, durante el referendum, hubo mucha violencia y tensión entre la guardia civil y los que fueron a votar. Entre  los catalanes que querían votar también había catalanes que se manifestaban en contra de la independencia. Sin embargo, el gobierno madrileño falló que el voto era ilegal y el presidente de Cataluña ha estado detenido. Como resultado, la tensión entre Cataluña y España ha aumentado y ha habido y habrá muchas más manifestaciones en Barcelona.

Vamos a ver lo que va pasar…

A la próxima/ Fins després,

Rhoda

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