Languages In Barcelona

Catalan is a variation of Spanish. You can get by with high school Spanish.

Thanks Frank. That's what I was hoping for.

Don't let a Catalan hear you say that Catalan is " a variation of Spanish.". If you want to compare, it is probably more similar to the language of Provancal. If you try reading it, as I have tried, you will find that knowing a bit od French helps. but speaking is a different matter. I actually bought a study course for Catalan, and even tho I am fairly fluent in French and have high school level Spanish, I cannot understand spoken Catalan. The good news is that most people in Barcelona also speak fluent Castillian ( Spanish) so if you know that you don't need to worry.

You'll be fine with basic Spanish (which is different in Spain than what we learn in the Americas) and English but if you learn the basic Catalan words for thank you, hello, etc... they'll REALLY love you for it! Outside of Barcelona, Spanish is very rare. You'd porbably be better off with French.

I know some French and some Spanish. I even know a little English. :-) I hope that will be enough. I would like to learn some polite phrases in Catalan, but I don't know what the best sources would be. Any suggestions?

You'll do fine with a little Spanish and english. Been there twice and had no problems at all. Enjoy!

Spanish will get you by...but Catalan is the language. My first visit there amazed me with my high school (many years ago) Spanish, which was not the language I heard, but I survived with no real difficulty. Enjoy yourself, and do not worry about the language factor.

I'm here in the Costa Brava right now and have had no problems with my limited Spanish. I've had some great conversations with people in Spanish. Under Franco all education was in Spanish not Catalan so it is definitely spoken all over, not just in Barcelona as a previous poster suggested. You can find limited English too. Of course, any interest in the Catalan language is very much appreciated.

I speak "Latin American" Spanish fairly well and never have a problem over here. Barcelona was pretty easy although some small shops and older owners asked me to repeat what I said a few times. One tip that worked for me, don't pronounce the 'S' it is more of a 'Th' sounds (like you have a lisp) felt strange but worked better. Althought, I believe I do have a Spain- Spanish phrase book I bought at Borders. I will look for it.

The "th" sound for an"s" is Castilliano. James Michener, in his wonderful book Iberia, has a whole paragraph on where they use the "th' pronunciation (Madrid and surroundings), and where they do not. It is kind of a sliding scale. (And according to him in some parts of Spain it is considered an affectation, but that was written 50 years ago. Barcelona/Catalunya was mentioned as one area where the "th" was disfavored.) Last time I was in Madrid (1998) I noticed some people avoided the issue by dropping their "s" entirely. We would hear"Bueno dia" instead of the usual Buenos dias.

Lola - I'll have to check that out. I've always wondered why Spainards have a lisp. Interesting to know it's regional at that.

Pretty hard to avoid the "c" in the middle of the all-important "gracias." When we went, "grathiath" was used in Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and throughout southern Spain (Malaga, Marbella). It was strange at first but we finally figured it wasn't a lisp we heard it so much. I don't remember hearing "thenor" or "thenora" (senor or senora) but I might have missed it.

Kay, the correct way to pronounce the word "gracias" in Spain is "grathias". The s sound at the end is NOT pronounced as a th. Only c and z are pronounced as th. (And c is only pronounced that way when it is a soft c, like in city, not a hard c like in cat.) Therefore, "senor" is pronounced just the way you would expect, with an s sound at the beginning. I asked my Spanish friend why he pronounced ""Madrid" as "Madreeth" and he explained the Spanish rule - "if it ends in a d it is pronounced like a c" (which is, as a th to us). Vallodolid is pronounced "vaya doleeth" under the same rule. And Douglas, a lisp is a physical inability to pronounce an s sound. Spaniards do not "have a lisp". That's the way the language is pronounced there. The dropping of the final s, as Lola mentioned, is not a way of avoiding the s sound but is simply a "slang" verson of the Spanish words.

Kay and Nancy, you are completely correct. My apologies, it is the 'C' not the 'S' I was referring to. I think it is easier for the Spanish to hear Americans, especially non-native Spanish speakers, pronounce words that they are used to hearing sound a certain way even if it is from a different area. I actually could understand more conversations in Spain then when I went to Mexico.

There are folks who will maintain that they are not even a part Spain! This is an area to tread very lightly. Spanish will be understood, you can count on that, but if you can manage a bit of the local dialect you will make friends very quickly.

When we visited Barcelona several years ago, I also wanted to learn some words of Catalan. I think I located a pronunciation guide and phrases on the internet. Google maribel's guide to Barcelona; it looks like I got some of that information from there. As it turned out, I don't think I used any Catalan, except for food words; everyone would begin conversations in Spanish (or English). I'm very interested in local cuisine, so for many local dishes, I only knew the Catalan name for them, not the Spanish name.

@ Mark, I agree with you. I am just not sure where to find that language information. Thanks to all for your help.