language

This Monday Catalan pupils begin their school year. 1,280,232 students from elementary, primary and secondary education returned to the classrooms with normality. However, controversies are lingering over this year. The Catalan language at schools, the sixth hour of tuition and budget restrictions all frame the school year’s kick off. The day finished with teacher and parent demonstrations in front of town halls defending the Catalan school model.

The spokesman for Education at the European Commission warns that "monolinguals are potentially at a disadvantage" in terms of finding work. “From very young children should speak their mother tongue and two other languages”, he says.

The chairman of the committee on Education, Doris Pack, defends the Catalan model of education and says that people coming from outside Catalonia have to make an effort to learn the language of their new home: "It's like immigration in Germany, we do not have Turkish schools, newcomers need to get used to speak the language", she argued in an interview with the CNA.

The Catalan President says that he will not work with the conservative PP after the Spanish general election if the party “crosses the red line” and tries to push a language agenda which puts at risk the current Catalan educational system. The leader of the PP in Catalonia, Alicia Sánchez Camacho, says Mas should accept the Courts ruling that have obliged the Government to offer Spanish as well as Catalan as a language of instruction at school.

The President urges institutions and citizens to defend the Catalan education system, which has been put at risk following a court order obliging the Government to include Spanish as a school language of instruction. Meanwhile, the Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau, warns that on the 2nd of November the government “will not separate pupils by language”

The Catalan Supreme Court of Justice issues a court order giving the Catalan Government 2 months to change the current school model and include Spanish as a school language of instruction. The Government will appeal. Teacher unions and the main parent associations back the current model. Currently, Catalan is the language used and Spanish is taught in school but only as a subject. For the Catalan Government, the court decision breaks a model praised by international organisations, which guarantees social cohesion and the knowledge of both languages by all pupils.

The Ramon Llull's co-ordinator for education tells the CNA why budget cuts have forced the institution to re-evaluate its language partnerships

"Catalanophobia exists" and "Catalonia has to communicate its ideals if it is to be understood by the rest of Spain" says the socialist candidate to the next Spanish general elections

László T?kés, from the Hungarian minority in Romania and member of the European People’s Party, supports the “linguistic rights” of minorities in front of a European Union “sometimes too ignorant”. “I don’t like integration being replaced by assimilation”, he stated.

Writer Teresa Solana, Brown University Professor Enric Bou, university professor Mary Ann Newman and translator Peter Bush all took part in a debate on Catalan literature and culture at the New York Pen World Voices Festival. The complexity of translating from the Catalan language, the differences between normative Catalan and the 21st century language and the rich tradition of its literature all emerged as key elements of a debate moderated by writer Aleksandar Hemon.

In the year of its 130th anniversary, the historical flagship of the Catalan press, the spokesperson of the business world and centre-right nationalism has launched an edition in Catalan. ‘La Vanguardia’ has finally taken this step after many years, or even decades, of rumours. Also some months after a new newspaper in Catalan aimed at a similar but younger target began publication. “Our DNA is Catalan”, states the newspaper’s editor Javier Godó to explain their decision.

Catalan language is taught abroad, mainly in university. Last year 1,252 applicants took the language tests held in 76 cities throughout 32 countries.

The ‘Viquipèdia’, the Wikipedia version in Catalan language, is currently ranked 10th out of the 272 languages used in this encyclopaedia quality rankings.

A study has found that the Catalan language is used less than Spanish in Catalonia. In addition, only 40% of foreigners are able to speak Catalan. In total 95% of Catalan residents understand the language, 77% know how to speak it and 60% can write in it. When it comes to Spanish almost 100% of residents can both read and write in it.

The Catalan Government announced that knowledge of the Catalan language will be a “very determining” factor in proving integration in Catalonia in order to renew residency certificates or family grouping.