When I started studying Catalan, my family was hyped because I could watch Merlí -- a TV series in Catalan that is available on Netflix -- with them.
Sweet innocence, to think I would be able to watch a whole Netflix series during the semester... But I did watch the first episode in Catalan! ... with subtitles in Spanish, because that was the closest that I could get to Catalan and farthest from "my" languages (PT and EN)
Short summary: Merlí, the main character, is a middle aged man. The episode opens with him and his ex-wife discussing living arrangements for their son while she takes a job away in Rome. Merlí is living with his mother, because he was out of a job -- he is a philosophy high school teacher. But then luck strikes and he is offered a position... At his son's school! Merlí is peculiar and treats his students differently from the other professors in the school.. I don't know what will come of that...
I understood what happened throughout the episode, but I definitely did not understand *everything* that was going on. But I worked hard to listen to the Catalan and compare it to the Castellano on the screen, and I felt like I did a fine job differentiating each...
Comments
Thanks for posting about Merlí! After reading descriptions of it from you and Zach, I'm excited to watch it myself!
YES YES YES!! We should talk about the show when you finish it! I honestly think that it's one of the best shows that I've seen! When I first started watching it, I could hardly understand any of the Catalan but then I felt much more comfortable watching the final season without subtitles last semester. I think hearing Catalan all the time in Barcelona definitely had something to do with that. I look forward to hearing more about your progress in the language. Let me know if you need someone to practice with!!
It's cool that you've been able to use your Catalan language skills in this way. Listening to a language in a video seems like a really great way to learn since you have so many context clues. Don't get too frustrated if you don't understand it all, since you're still just learning and it's impressive that you could understand anything!