Speaking Spanish on Ibiza

tclubber said:
I am curious, how do you keep your Spanish free from Catalan? There are quite a few signs in Catalan on Ibiza, how do you avoid learning Catalan words in place of Spanish ones? My Spanish is currently limited to a few fixed phrases like "la cuenta por favor", I hope to learn more of the language one day. But my (passive) vocabulary must be a horrible mix of Spanish and Catalan by now :(
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well it's two different languages so just try to keep them in different cupboards up in the brain. that said, it helps to have connections from one cupboard to another - because within the latin languages there are so many similarities, while that can be an issue as you say, it can also help you a lot.
 
tclubber said:
I am curious, how do you keep your Spanish free from Catalan? There are quite a few signs in Catalan on Ibiza, how do you avoid learning Catalan words in place of Spanish ones? My Spanish is currently limited to a few fixed phrases like "la cuenta por favor", I hope to learn more of the language one day. But my (passive) vocabulary must be a horrible mix of Spanish and Catalan by now :(
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Comes with familiarisation but a lot of words look very similar anyway. Often it might just be a case of a single letter difference. Nouns ending n in spanish often don't have it in catalan. (estación = estació) You'll often find a T on the end of a catalan word eg a fart = pedo in Spanish but pet in Catalan. Names as well Juan = Joan, Miguel = Miquel, Carmen = Carme etc

Language can be a hot potato but can also open doors. My rule in IBZ is that the more rural or rustic it is the more likely I will use Catalan. You won't get a discount but you will get a smile.
 
tclubber said:
I am curious, how do you keep your Spanish free from Catalan? There are quite a few signs in Catalan on Ibiza, how do you avoid learning Catalan words in place of Spanish ones? My Spanish is currently limited to a few fixed phrases like "la cuenta por favor", I hope to learn more of the language one day. But my (passive) vocabulary must be a horrible mix of Spanish and Catalan by now :(
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Whatever you do, don't try to learn both simultaneously. Pick one. I lived\ studied in Brazil for a few months before really getting Spanish settled and my brain locked up, mixing Spanish and Portuguese. Oddly enough, my " ear" got better for Spanish while in Brazil, but it was weird as it felt like I forgot how to speak for awhile.

Like @stivi said, the languages are related so knowing one will help with the other. I can understand a good bit of written and spoken Catalan based on other Latin languages.

You need to practice, its been 15 years since Brazil and all I learned is now long-gone. Use it or lose it.
 
tclubber said:
I am curious, how do you keep your Spanish free from Catalan? There are quite a few signs in Catalan on Ibiza, how do you avoid learning Catalan words in place of Spanish ones? My Spanish is currently limited to a few fixed phrases like "la cuenta por favor", I hope to learn more of the language one day. But my (passive) vocabulary must be a horrible mix of Spanish and Catalan by now :(
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It’s a bit tricky at the beginning but when you start speaking Spanish , you will start understand a bit of other Latin languages, for example my mother tongue is french , I started learning Spanish 15 years ago , couple of years later I went couple of time to Portugal and I was able to read and understand the global meaning ( speaking is another story as the Portuguese accent is quiet hard , brasilan much easier ) than I moved to Barcelona, start ro received bills ect for the apparament and I was able to read it ... Catalan is a mix between Spanish and French ( Not all the Catalan will be happy that I say that but it quiet true ) Italian is also similar to Spanish and French ... they are also the Romanian which is a Latin language but even try yet to understand as I didn’t have the opportunity or the desire to learn it ... to learn a language you have to have the desire and practice a lot
 
greg1183 said:
It’s a bit tricky at the beginning but when you start speaking Spanish , you will start understand a bit of other Latin languages, for example my mother tongue is french , I started learning Spanish 15 years ago , couple of years later I went couple of time to Portugal and I was able to read and understand the global meaning ( speaking is another story as the Portuguese accent is quiet hard , brasilan much easier ) than I moved to Barcelona, start ro received bills ect for the apparament and I was able to read it ... Catalan is a mix between Spanish and French ( Not all the Catalan will be happy that I say that but it quiet true ) Italian is also similar to Spanish and French ... they are also the Romanian which is a Latin language but even try yet to understand as I didn’t have the opportunity or the desire to learn it ... to learn a language you have to have the desire and practice a lot
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By the way , many people in Ibiza speak 3,4 languages, this not mean they speaking perfectly, but who care at the end , fyou can be understood and expressed yourself it’s the most important ( my English is far to be perfect but I guess people can understand me ?) well most of the time ?
 
greg1183 said:
It’s a bit tricky at the beginning but when you start speaking Spanish , you will start understand a bit of other Latin languages, for example my mother tongue is french , I started learning Spanish 15 years ago , couple of years later I went couple of time to Portugal and I was able to read and understand the global meaning ( speaking is another story as the Portuguese accent is quiet hard , brasilan much easier ) than I moved to Barcelona, start ro received bills ect for the apparament and I was able to read it ... Catalan is a mix between Spanish and French ( Not all the Catalan will be happy that I say that but it quiet true ) Italian is also similar to Spanish and French ... they are also the Romanian which is a Latin language but even try yet to understand as I didn’t have the opportunity or the desire to learn it ... to learn a language you have to have the desire and practice a lot
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growing up there were 4 languages at home because my dad also spoke portuguese. Then they decided English only to avoid confusing me. Big mistake! i had to relearn everything later in life because it was always English except on holidays.
 
Tourist said:
growing up there were 4 languages at home because my dad also spoke portuguese. Then they decided English only to avoid confusing me. Big mistake! i had to relearn everything later in life because it was always English except on holidays.
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same here. my parents decided german (swiss) only rather than german and italian.

luckily though I learn languages much easier than I do algebra...
 
The latest data shows a % decline in Catalan usage across the Med over a generation. It's hard to tell whether this is because fewer people are speaking it or because migration and other demographic change have driven up overall % of non speakers? either way I find it really sad

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good question! it's the border area between Aragon and Catalonia but my knowledge is sketchy beyond that.

the language issue where I live is a constant hot potato. really exhausting tbh. I've never really noticed similar tension in IBZ but I'm still quite cautious...
 
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