3 languages, 4 dialects, tutoring, and other linguistic joys :-)

I love language. As you can obviously tell, I love writing and spend too much time doing so. I love English, I love Spanish, and with enough time and money, I’d love to pursue other languages in the future. Catalunya is a great place to start! :-) This region has two official languages: Castellano and Catalán. Just to clarify, the term “Español” is NOT used around here. It’s always Castellano (which would be translated as Castilian or Castilian Spanish). I think I’ve heard the word “Español” used for the Spanish language maybe once or twice in the two months I’ve been here. Why? I thought at first that maybe it was used to differentiate between Latin American Spanish and Spain Spanish, but after asking Javi about it, he said it was more to distinguish between Spanish and the other official languages used in Spain (Catalán, Gallego, Euskara, etc.). Technically, these other languages are Spanish as well, so the term Castellano always clarifies which language you mean. Anyway, everyone in Catalunya is fluent in both Spanish and Catalán. Spanish (and English, actually) is used a lot in the bigger cities—like Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida, etc.—but in rural Catalunya, where I am, Catalán is way more common. All of the classes are taught in Catalán, except for Spanish, English, or other language classes, and when I hear Spanish used by a student or in Montblanc, I know that either the person is not originally from around here or he/she is using Spanish for my benefit. At first, I was pretty intimidated and a little concerned about how much Catalan was used. Would I be able to work on and improve my Spanish? How would I communicate with everyone? But communication as a whole has never been a problem because Spanish is understood by everyone. The only times I’ve had problems using Spanish with a Catalan person were with an occasional older person who never uses Spanish and didn’t care to do so with me, or with little children (like 3-year-old Quim) who haven’t really learned Spanish in school yet.

 But back to Catalan. Anyway, after a few weeks of hearing the language, I started picking up some phrases and began to understand what people were saying. It has many similarities to Spanish, but it’s definitely NOT the same! :-) Some words are the same in both languages and other are shockingly different. It just depends. Since my workload is fairly light, I was very interested in taking some Catalan lessons. Laura and I went to a building in Montblanc within the first few weeks of October and asked about classes. Anna Maria was also a big help in finding information about this as well. I was placed on a waiting list for Monday and Thursday nights, and it wasn’t too long before there was an opening for me. In late October, I started a basic Catalan class. Yay! It’s 40 hours total, completely free, about 30 seconds from my apartment, 4 hours a week, and lasts until the end of January. Perfect! So perfect!

And the classes are a blast. The teacher, Marta, is a really nice person, and she ONLY speaks Catalan to us (unless the occasional word needs to be translated for clarification). The other students are probably in their 30s-40s, although at least one other girl is around my age. (Ha! Actually, on a side note, when the teachers asked if the other people were older or younger, I replied that they were older—like in their 30s. Since most of the teachers are in their 30s, they jokingly took offense to this. :-D Age is such a matter of perspective, isn’t it? Haha!)

Anyway, our class is pretty much like the United Nations! There’s Cecilia from Colombia, Arminda from Bolivia, three women from Romania, a girl from Poland, Eliani from Brazil, several men from different parts of Africa (Ghana, Morocco, etc.), Xingchang from China, a woman from Madrid, and then me from the US. It’s so cool! Most have lived in or near Montblanc for several years, and I’m a little surprised that they’re just now taking a basic course. But because of this, some are more “street smart” with the language than I am. :-) The classes are always helpful and fun, low-key, and test-free. We get handouts every week, and Marta’s main focus is for us to know the everyday, practical phrases. Telling time, parts of the body, days, months, numbers, food, family, verbs, telling what we did during the week or day, etc. It’s so nice to understand more of what’s going on now! :-) Laura and some of the other teachers are always wanting me to practice a latest phrase (I think they get a kick out of hearing me use Catalan—ha!), and although I haven’t quite had the courage to use it in stores or in the street yet, I frequently go up to one of the teachers and randomly ask something like, “What did you do Saturday afternoon?” in Catalan. :-P By the end of my time here, I’d love to be able to join in some teacher discussions in Catalan! We’ll see.

And now about Spanish. Improving and using Spanish was one of the top reasons why I accepted this position, so I use it as much as possible. In Javi and Cati’s house, they use Spanish as a family anyway, and I tend to be there quite a bit, so there’s plenty of practice with them! :-) Since Javi’s the resident “teacher from the ZER Conca who wasn’t born in Catalunya”, he’s really been great at pushing me in Spanish. He’s done several activities with me, like reading a passage in Spanish and having me write it down, making me watch short clips in Spanish and then explaining them, reading newspaper articles and discussing them, etc. He’s also been a big help in pursuing a more formal diploma here. There’s a program from the Instituto Cervantes that gives official diplomas to non-native Spanish speakers if they take and pass certain tests. Javi inquired about it, and Tarragona offers the tests in May. So we recently looked up the website, found information about the different levels, printed off some practice exercises, etc. There are 6 levels, with two levels each in categories of Beginner/Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. I fall somewhere between the highest Intermediate and the lowest Advanced level, but it’s safer to take the lower test rather than try the higher one, fail, and then come away with nothing. I was also a little surprised at how much work the higher levels required. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for studying Spanish and getting a diploma in Spain, but based on what I saw, if I took that test seriously, I’m pretty sure that studying is ALL I’d be doing here! :-) It looked pretty intense. But if I pass one, I can also pursue the other levels either in the States or even in Spain if I go back. Javi recommends buying the book for both levels, and since the prices are VERY reasonable, I probably will. It will mean a lot of diligent independent studying on my part, but I’m sure it will be worth it! Heh heh...I brought one of my Spanish books with me (the one I used in Mexico), and Javi and his family were jokingly aghast at how quirky some of the phrases were compared to what they use here. :-D I have better books at home, but this one was thinner and lighter. It’s also from 1994. :-) So newer books from Spain will definitely be welcome!

But aside from the probability of more formal Spanish studying, I almost always use Spanish with the other teachers, the occasional kid who has no idea what I’m saying in English, church, and just in everyday life here. Several teachers are taking English courses, so a few like to talk to me in English. But most stick to Spanish or Catalan. :-) I tend to use English with Laura unless I’m with her family as well, but with my current English teacher, Andreu, we tend to use more Spanish (mostly for my benefit). One thing I noticed about being a teacher is that there are ALWAYS meetings to attend, and all of the English teachers meet once a week. For my benefit, we do it in Spanish rather than Catalan. :-) However, all of the other meetings are in Catalan. Most I don’t need to attend, but I have attended a few, and it’s always...interesting...trying to figure out what’s going on. :-) Sometimes they remind me of congregational meetings (just, you know, not in English and about school rather than church). And everyone at Valley Chapel knows how extremely exciting congregational meetings are. :-P Haha!

And then there’s English. Since I’m paid to teach English, I’m obviously using it quite a bit as well. But I love teaching English as a second...er...make that third...language! I actually think I might enjoy that more than teaching Spanish. I’ll elaborate more about what I do and how classes are going in another post, but I truly love what I do.

I’m also tutoring/having conversation classes with three people: Anna Maria, Javi and Cati’s 16-year-old daughter (Paula), and a 14-year-old boy named Josep Maria (like José Maria...literally Joseph Mary. That’s his name! And I know a teacher named Maria Jesús...literally Mary Jesus! :-)). Anna Maria is taking an English course, so we meet on Mondays after school and before Catalan class to work on the oral parts of her book. I have conversation classes with Paula and Josep Maria together, both in Javi and Cati’s house, on Wednesday evenings. The hardest part is balancing out the level of English with Paula and Josep M. Paula, being two years older and liking English more, has a pretty advanced level of English. Josep’s level is significantly lower, but he’s a hard worker and has really improved. Paula and Josep’s parents really just want me to focus on conversation, so every week is different. It’s a lot of fun though, and the extra cash helps, too. :-)

Let’s see...I’ve talked about Catalan, Spanish, and English. What’s left? Two things: Spain Spanish vs. Latin American Spanish...and American English vs. British English. OoOoOo...

I’ve been studying Spanish since I was 14. From then until this past year, I’ve ALWAYS personally focused on using and developing Latin American Spanish. Hard-core learners of Spanish almost always pick one or the other, and even though I took many courses about Spanish culture and literature, I’ve always preferred Latin American Spanish. I minored in Latin American Studies, I studied abroad in Mexico, and most of the Spanish-speakers I know are from Latin America. Plus, I mean, when would I ever actually go to SPAIN? I mean, really? Not happening. Riiiiight. :-D

So now I find myself in Spain, surrounded by the whole lisping Cs and Zs, harsh guttural Js, vosotros form, and a vocabulary that I placed in the back of my mind as “oh, that’s the Spain Spanish version. I’ll memorize the OTHER version!” Ha! Now, I know several people here from Latin America (especially at church), so I’m not alone, but hey, I’m here in Spain and should learn to talk like a Spaniard. At least, that’s what everyone’s making me do...:-D Javi’s CONSTANTLY getting on me about my C and Z lisping practice, and Laura and I have frequent discussions about which word or phrase is better to use here. Some I knew about from previous study, but others...not so much. And just watch. I’ll leave here indoctrinated with Spain Spanish and later end up in Latin America, relearning everything all over again. But I love it all anyway! :-)

One more thing that threw me off when I first came is that everyone’s referred to as “el” or “la”. As in whenever someone’s talking about me (but not TO me), I’m “la Sarah”. Young or old, everyone has an article placed before their first name here! I was shocked at first because I learned that you do NOT do that in Spanish—only for last names. I finally asked about it, and technically, it isn’t correct Spanish. But it IS correct Catalan, so everyone here uses it both in Catalan and Spanish. I do it now, too. :-P I also sort of like being referred to as “the Sarah” when people are talking about me. I feel like I’m part of the culture or something. :-) Haha!

And now for English. If you’ve read my friend Katie’s blog, you might have seen her post about “Britishisms”. As a whole, people in Spain prefer and learn British English. This makes sense since England is much closer than the US. All of the English textbooks in my school(s) use British English, and most of the people who studied English outside of Spain studied in England, Ireland, Germany, etc. Really, it’s like me with Latin American Spanish. It’s just makes sense for someone in the US to focus on LA Spanish. Just like it generally makes sense for someone in Spain to focus on British English.

But as a US American, there are only so many quirks to my native language that I can tolerate. :-P “Do you have” is “have you got,” erasers are rubbers, bathrooms/restrooms are toilets (there’s just something too personal about answering the question, “Do you have to use the toilet?” :-D), zebras are something that sounds like “zeh-bruhs,” “on the weekend” is “at the weekend,” markers are felt-tip/felty pens, orange is “ohraahnge” (and no, Mom, it ISN’T “oinge”! :-D), February is pronounced differently, etc. The quirks abound! The most extreme example was when I was reading flashcards to the kids one day and came across a new word for Play-do. Plasticine? I had to ask Laura how to pronounce it! :-) But fortunately, all of the English teachers and students LOVE to learn about the different ways of saying things in English. It opens up loads of opportunities to talk about different cultures, and as long as I can clarify what I would say in the US, I’m generally okay with everything. And it’s really cute when the children purposely try to use the US pronunciation rather than the typical British one in order to impress me. :-) My fan club abounds, and I’ll have them transformed into American English speakers yet. Muhaha! I do leave some phrases alone (like “have you got”) because they’ve been learning English that way since they were little kiddos, and I don’t want to confuse them too much. And fortunately everyone, including Andreu, prefers “zee-bra” to “zeh-bruh”! :-)

So between teaching with American English, coming from 9 years of Latin American Spanish, working with Spain Spanish, trying to deal with British English, and learning Catalan, you can imagine how confuzzled my mind can get sometimes! :-) But this is real life. A world with different languages, different cultures, different dialects, and different accents. Yay for variety! But I will end by saying that Katie and I like to make fun of British English whenever we get together...:-P