Useful Information

Dictionary – useful Castellan and Català expressions

Even though Spanish is spoken and understood throughout the whole city, it is omnipresent that Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya. In Barcelona itself about 70 per cent of the inhabitants speak Català fluently and use it as their everyday language, more than 90 per cent understand it. The announcements in public transport, street names and Barcelona newspapers all are in Català.

The Catalan language is spoken throughout an area, which in total covers almost 70.000km2 in four European states (Spain, France, Andorra and Italy) with a population of about 11 million people. Nevertheless, depending on the region, Catalan is not spoken by everybody. In total it is understood by about 10 million people and actively spoken by 7 million people in these countries. In Spain outside of Catalunya there are two other areas in which Català is spoken: the Balearic Islands and the Autonomous region of Valencia.

Under the reign of Franco the Catalan language was banned out of public life. In the vain hope to extinguish the Catalan language Franco flooded the area with impoverished immigrants from Andalucía. The result was the opposite: the immigrant’s children and grandchildren turned out to be more Catalan and proud of their language than their parents.

Locals appreciate any attempt to speak their language. If you are interested in learning Spanish in Barcelona, or in any other Spanish city, we highly recommend the website www.best-course.com. You will find some of the best language schools in Barcelona and throughout Spain on their listings. You can also make on-line reservations and receive a discount on the official school prices.

 Find here some useful phrases and words in both, Spanish and Catalan that are helpful in everyday life.