What like more english people: Spanish or Catalan?

[mireiatorres]

For me was very surprising arrive here and se that in queen mary students have a degree on Catalan. Because in Spain out of de Catalan territories this language is not subject of study.
For that reason i have a question. Why englis people studay catalan? they think is the same language or consider both differents languages from differents countries? is for english people Catalonia a country separated of spain?

[Forum Administrator]

Hello Mireia,

Thanks for your question. I work for the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film, and I have been chatting to one of the teachers in the department of Iberian and Latin American Studies. So I will try to answer your questions as best I can.

Within the department of ILAS, students don't tend to do degree in a single language, but in a number of Iberian and Latin American languages. Also, as far I understand it, Catalan is studied in other parts of Spain (for example, it is studied in Galicia), and Catalan is a language that is distinct and different from Castilian Spanish. People don't think that Catalan is the same language as Spanish, but that it is a different language, in the same way that Portuguese is different from Spanish or Spanish is different from French. So, one of the reasons people study Catalan is that they are interested in the Catalan language and culture.

As far as I'm aware, English people don't think of Catalonia as a separate country from Spain, but we do recognise that it is a region of Spain (or the Iberian peninsula) that has its own unique character and identity. We also know that the Catalan language is not only spoken in Catalonia, but also in Valencia and Majorca.

I think it's important to remember that the study of a language is not necessarily related to any particular country. For example, not all people who study English want to live and work in England. They may study English to live in Australia or Canada. In a similar way, people may study Spanish so that they can visit Argentina or Venezuela. Or people may study a language simply because they are interested in the language and the culture, and want to be able to read books and poetry or watch films in that language. And I think this applies to Catalan too.

I hope this helps to answer your question.

I'm sorry this is quite a long reply, but your question is very interesting!!

Best wishes,
Martin

[mateusz]

Hi Mireia,
It is really interesting what are you writing about. I think the problem is that in catalan spoken part of Spain (I mean Catalonia, Baleares and Community of Valencia) very often the “language” is the synonym of “politics”.
It is really ridiculous, when each politician group call it in different way depends on the idea about the independency of Catalonia or Valencia.  The Balverisms say: this is valencian, the Catalans say: this is catalan, the Spanish say: this is not language, it is just an dialect of Spanish.
I love this language, I love it just as a language. So the people abroad just study it because of the language, because of its heritage. I study and speak catalan, and at the same time I am not agree with the idea of independency of Catalonia (for some reasons). What I really like is the language.
By the way, I know that also in Poland, at least at 3 universities you can study catalan as a foreign language.