How far away is catalan from spanish?

Question

If my Spanish is ok - will it be understandable by someone who only speaks catalan? Or are the languauges completely different - like English and Welsh for example? Do most natives of Catalonia speak Spanish or Catalan in daily life?

Answer 1

Yes, you should get along fine in Catalonia. People in the cities usually understand Spanish. Though sometimes if you venture too far from the cities you may run into old people who may not speak Spanish and only Catalan. Spanish is taught in Catalan schools, since it's still part of Spain after all.

Also, the street names are in Catalan. CARRER means CALLE and AVINGUDA means AVENIDA.

Though, it doesn't help to keep some basic Catalan phrases handy. The Catalans will appreciate it that you took the time to learn their language.

Hola - works in both languages
Buenos días - Bon dia
Buenas tardes - Bona tarda
Buenas noches - Bona nit
Adiós - Adeu
Gracias - Gràcies
De nada - De res
¿Dónde está el/la... ? = On és el/la.... ?
¿Cómo se llama usted? = Com es diu vostè?
Me llamo .... / Em dic ....
¿Habla inglés? / Parla anglès?

Bona sort / Buena suerte / Good luck

Answer 2

All Catalans speak Spanish, it's the official language in all Spain. If a person speaks Catalan to you, you will understand something, but all. If a person of Barcelona is speaking Catalan, you will understand a big part of what he's saying, but if a country person or somebody of Girona is speaking Catalan, you will not understand what he's saying, and that's because of the accent.
Catalan has similar words to Spanish and very different words to Spanish. Catalan is more similar to French than to Spanish. For example:
-French: Mon plat préféré est la pomme.
-Catalan: El meu plat preferit és la poma.
-Spanish: Mi plato favorito es la manzana.
Is true that all Catalans speak Spanish, but in daily life they speak Catalan. You can see all the advertisements in Catalan.
Education in Catalonia is in Catalan. I'm Catalan and I speak Catalan everywhere.

Well, hope this helped!

Guille.

Answer 3

Very few Catalans speak only Catalan most speak castilian also as for many years Franco did not allow Catalan to be taught in schools (and now that it is they are taught in both languages) . The two languages are different however some words are similar. As for the usage in daily life it depends you tend to find the older generation use Catalan (or the local variant off) and the younger generation speak castilian If you speak castilian (what is considered to be Spanish) that will be fine because if the locals don't speak that they will speak English!!!

Answer 4

The languages are broadly similar. They both developed from low latin (as did Italian and Romanian). Everyone in Catalonia and the Balearics speaks Spanish (although they'll talk about you in Catalan).

If you have a good understanding of Spanish, Italian or French, Catalan is quite an easy language to learn. Try the University of Barcelona site.

When I went to Barcelona, all the shopkeepers, cafe owners and waiters only wanted to speak Spanish. The people in the next flat argued politics in Catalan every night until about 2.00 am. Catalan is more common out of town.

Answer 5

There are very few people nowadays who really "only" speak Catalan, maybe in a small village somewhere. On the French side, of course, they wouldn't speak Spanish.
Spanish is progressively being *rejected* by those in Cataluña who are more nationalistic than most, but Spanish is still comprehensible...I got ticked off for speaking Spanish to a girl on the streets of Barcelona, and I snapped back in Spanish, "Hey, I'm a foreigner, what's wrong with YOU?" and she understood me perfectly.
Tell it not in Gatha, but Catalan really is very close to Spanish, though they will never admit that!! It's just differences in pronunciation, spelling and a few words. They all come from Latin, you know!
The thing is Catalan was forbidden under the Franco regime and it's payback time.

Answer 6

Almost everyone in Catalonia speaks Spanish too.
Catalonia is in Spain.

Catalan is a language that is a bridge between Iberian and Gallic Romance languages. Accent and intonation are clearly different between Spanish and Catalan. If one speaks a Romance language and wants to follow classes in Catalan it takes only a few weeks or months to do so.

Answer 7

From what I have read and what I understand, Catalan is more closely related to French than it is to Spanish. But I would have to say that relation is insignifcant considering they're all Romance languages. Think of it this way: two brothers are very different and unique people, but under normal circumstances, they're very close and similar.

Catalonia, the region in Spain that speaks Catalan, are populated by people who are taught Spanish because it's the national language, so I would bet almost aeveryone in that region speak both Catalan and Spanish.

Catalan is also the national language og Andorra. As a result, Catalan is an officla language of the Latin Union (a union of Romance language speaking countries), and the European Union.

Modified chart from the post above mine:
Spanish/ Catalan/ French/ English
Hola/ Hola/ Bonjour/ Hello
Buenos días/ Bon dia/ Bon jour/ Good day
Buenas tardes/ Bona tarda/ Bon soir/ Good evening
Buenas noches/ Bona nit/ Bon nuit/ Good night
Adiós/ Adeu/ Adieu (au revoir)/ Good-bye
Gracias/ Gràcies/ Merci/ Thank you
De nada/ De res/ De rien/ Your welcome (literally, "of nothing")
¿Dónde está el... ?/ On és el.... ?/ Où est le...?/ Where is the...?
¿Cómo se llama usted?/ Com es diu vostè?/ Comme il vous est appelé ?/ What is your name? (literally, "how are you called?")
Me llamo .... / Em dic .... / Je m'appelle .../ My name is ... (literally, I call myself...")
¿Habla inglés? / Parla anglès? /Parlez angleis?/ Do you speak English?
Buena suerte / Bona sort / Bonne chance/ Good luck

Answer 8

from what I've experienced Catalan is a mixture of old castlinian and french dialects and a recognised language. last time i was staying just north of girona the hotel manager actually turned off the TV saying its a waste of time watching this programme as its Catalan and you wont understand it it was "who wants to be a millionaire" takes no following still got the answers right

Answer 9

You will be understood if you speak spanish. It is closer than english/welsh. My mother who speaks French can also understand and communicate in catalan.

Answer 10

its a bit like welsh and english. Catalonians understand Spanish but Spanish people do not commonly understand Catalan