I have been meeting with my language partner Marionna. She is from Valencia, Spain and she is a Freshman. She explained to me that Catalan is her first language but she also speaks Spanish. She also told me that in Valencia and Barcelona school is taught in Catalan and that Catalan is most people’s first and most used language. This is something I was surprised to learn. I would have thought the opposite, especially since I was under such an impression that people speak Spanish in places like Barcelona. I don’t remember hearing Catalan being spoken when I went to Spain, but maybe it is because I went to the touristy places.
Marionna and I meet at the dining hall for dinner on Mondays and Thursdays. This works well for her because she has a busy schedule as she is triple majoring, so she can at least eat dinner while she is talking with me. We mostly do vocabulary with some verb conjugation. Each time we focus on a different topic; so for example, we have done food, classroom items, clothing, health, politics, etc. I ask her how to say useful phrases from each topic as well. For food, I learned how to say “Can I have a menu” or “Puc encomanar un menú”-- Things like that. We will then conjugate some verbs that belong in that topic so again for food, we conjugated “menjar” which is “to eat”.
I have been meeting with tutors on Italki as well. I prefer to meet with Estevam but I am trying some other tutors to get used to different speakers and their teaching styles. One of my tutors taught me numbers which is definitely something important to know. That night I met with Marionna and had the idea to do days of the week, months, and seasons to tie everything together.
I met with professor Feldman in the language department who is fluent in Catalan. She recommended some books and shows to look into, and she gave me a book from Universitat de Ramon Llul, a university in Barcelona that focuses on the history and importance of the Catalan language, and also the Catalonia culture. Professor Feldman emphasized how appreciative Catalonians are when you speak their language. She explained how it is typical for a visitor to speak Spanish, but for a visitor to speak Catalan is so special to the Catalonian people. She told me some really heartfelt stories about her experiences in Barcelona speaking Catalan with people. She also showed me some Catalan websites and streaming services so that I can have access to more engaging material.
My goals for next month are to start watching a show called Merlí, which is one that I have heard of because it is pretty popular on Netflix, but professor Feldman also recommended it to me. I also really want to start writing or reading, starting out very basic. This sounds silly but I don’t think it could be a bad idea to try to find a children’s book with simple sentences or something like that. It will help me get comfortable with reading and maybe even pronunciation. As for writing, a daily journal on what I did that day could be helpful as it will allow me to note which words I use daily to describe what I did, like “I went to class” or “I hung out with friends”.
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Watching a Netflix show to cement some of the topics you are learning is another strategy that I want to emulate! I believe that trying to understand the language without subtitles and then pausing and putting them on for phrases you don't understand, or noting down the phrases you need help with, could be really helpful. I'm glad you got a chance to meet with Mariona in person and I imagine this helped with speaking to another student.