I was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, in 1965. In my family we always speaked in Catalán, never in Spanish. I learned Spanish for the first time when I went to school. In those years, speak Catalan in public institutions like school was forbidden by the dictator Franco because he wanted an unified nation with a language only. The result was that for me, Catalan was the language of my family and Spanish the official language of school, institutions and media. This has been my feeling for all over my life.
The situation is very different now in Catalonia. In the catalán school system the usual communication language is Catalán, and Spanish is learned as a second language. This system guarantees a good knowledge of both languages at the end of primary school.
Now, I work as a doctor in a big hospital and I talk with patients with the language that they prefer. Sometimes I visit young patients of other ethnic origins, black people, Arab people... If they have learned some years in a Catalan school they can speak with me in a perfect Catalan. My feeling is that I'm speaking with a member of my family with an exotic origin...
It is the magical power of the language.
I was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, in 1965. In my family we always [spoke] in Catalán, never in Spanish. I learned Spanish for the first time when I went to school. In those years, speak[ing] Catalan in public institutions like school was forbidden by the dictator Franco because he wanted a[*] unified nation with a [single] language. The result was that for me, Catalan was the language of my family and Spanish the official language of school, institutions and media. This has been my feeling for all [] my life.
ReplyDeleteNo errors after the first paragraph.
It's wonderful that you can speak in the language your patient prefers. I hope that includes English!
*We don't use "an" before "unified" because "unified" starts with a "y" sound.
Thank you or your corrections Matt. I always learn wirh you
ReplyDeleteGreenland is an independent country.
ReplyDeleteCatalonia is an autonomous region within Spain, and though it does enjoy a great deal of self-governing, it is not independent. Barcelona (Spain) is what you should have written originally, Mr. Altes. But your mind, being a doctor, maybe thinks that Spain does not exist.
"The magical power of language" I love the title of your writing. And it's wonderful how the language of a community can survive no matter what happens.
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