The process to buy a second hand car is full of question marks. It does not help that car dealers are portrayed as crooks in all movies. To know whom you can trust is a challenge for everyone and being a foreigner certainly does not make it any easier.
Ideally, the market for second hand cars is perfect – the summaries of models and their production years show as much variations as the prices. However, a lack of knowledge about what you are buying makes it everything but transparent, something that rapidly struck my wife and me when we recently decided on a car. And right after that did we understand that those of our friends who possess some level of expertise on the matter live far away from here.
For two risk avert Swedes it felt like swimming in open waters but we found a first contact with solid ground in Spanish consumer law. According to this, authorized car dealers have to sell second hand cars with a 1-year guarantee providing the customer with quite extensive rights (at least during the first 6 months of ownership). This was enough to convince us to stay with the professionals and not go through the classifieds you find in media. A consequence of the law is that professional dealers avoid old cars, since living up to the guarantee is too expensive compared to the price you can charge. In fact, most second hand dealers here pride themselves of working only with selected semi-new cars which they seem to sell with a standard discount of 20% versus the price of a new car of the same model.
That was above our budget for the model we had in mind, so we were happy to find JouNou (Rambla de Garraf) where they work also with older cars (five years seems to be the oldest), but that is not the only advantage. The company is the official concessionary of, among others, Opel and SAAB, but have a rich second hand supply of all brands and models. We were happy to be received by salesman who was accommodating but not pushy. From the first moment he made a solid impression by taking down all questions which he could not answer on the spot in order to come back with answers later on, which he infallibly also did.
When we had made our pick and it was time for me to test drive and check up on the car, the salesman left me in peace to do so largely by myself, something I greatly appreciated. Social people who do not know too much about cars will most likely buy someone who does a cup of coffee and then bring that person to let him comment on the possible object. Introvert ones will prefer impersonal advice on the Internet compiled by related authorities and well-known consumer organisations. Living up to the prejudice about Swedes I, of course, did the latter and spent quite some time ticking off items in printed out checklists, in Swedish as well as in Spanish. To work with lists in two languages is worth recommending to anyone who is not a native speaker. On the one hand you need to fully grasp what you are actually checking, but at the same time you then need to be able to ask and comment about it in Spanish.
It is too early to make any comments on how the car will work long term, but so far we are very content. It was delivered not only with a new coating but also impeccably cleaned. To our oldest son it is better than a new car, since it does not smell of plastic. An additional advantage of having bought the car from a dealer is that the paperwork to register us as new owners forms part of the purchase contract. That service clearly has a higher value to immigrants like us than to locals who know the routines here.
Friday, 2 November 2007
Sunday, 28 October 2007
Cursa Popular – more popular than ever
One of Vilanova’s best sides are the conditions and facilities for outdoor sports, so it is suitable that we have a local running race through the town. It attracts a lot of people. My only question is where do they all come from?
On Saturday October 21, el Club Esportiu de Vilanova i la Geltrú organised the annual Cursa Popular. The 7 km main race does not require too big an effort of regular joggers and the 1,5 km Minicursa, which parents and children can run together, is also an interesting format. This year, the race had its starting point in Plaça del Mercat. In spite of some quite tasteful public art, this square is an eyesore when it is empty but that was certainly not the case this day. In total, 1.626 had signed up to participate and that exceeded the organisers’ target.
We are not new in Vilanova any longer, so when I learnt that this was the 29th Cursa Popular, I fell a bit ashamed for having taken part for the first time. I can not understand how I have managed to miss it the last two years, not only since I like jogging but also since the route turned out to be a well planned presentation of our town.
On the Rambla we passed by people having a coffee at the outdoor cafes. After that we reached the fresh air, but fortunately enough no strong wind, at the marina, followed by the beach promenade of Ribes-Roges. By the time we turned back towards the centre I must admit to feeling a bit disappointed with the amount of runners who overtook me but then discovered my wife and children who had come to cheer on me. This gave me new forces to run through the old parts of Vilanova and then follow what I assume must have once been the wall street of la Geltrú. My original intention was to start spurting when coming back to the Rambla, but my strengths failed me so I only did so when I saw the beautiful Mercat building in front of me.
My result was far from impressive but I blame that on a nasty cold. The entrepà and sports drink served at the finishing line soon made me forget my suffering. Next year my oldest son will be five years old, so maybe I will be nicer on myself and run the Minicursa together with him instead. Since it goes through streets which he knows well I will be able to challenge him up to the next toy store in case he gets exhausted.
The only thing that puzzles me a bit with the Cursa Popular is where all the participants came from. Vilanova is a small town, and until now I have been under the impression that I start to recognize people here. Faces I spot when walking around in the pedestrian area also turn up during the carnaval and the festa major. However, among my fellow runners I found very few people whom I am sure to have seen before. Are we so divided in our town that we either take part in local street life and culture or do sports? If so, I will have to accept being odd, because I feel connected to both groups.
My first Cursa Popular left me with one special memory. When the start shot went off and the big crowd started to move - everybody dressed in the same green t-shirt - a strong sense of belonging came over me. Was it that emotion that made me feel a tear forming in one of my eyes? Am I really so pathetic or was I just blinded by the bright sunshine?
On Saturday October 21, el Club Esportiu de Vilanova i la Geltrú organised the annual Cursa Popular. The 7 km main race does not require too big an effort of regular joggers and the 1,5 km Minicursa, which parents and children can run together, is also an interesting format. This year, the race had its starting point in Plaça del Mercat. In spite of some quite tasteful public art, this square is an eyesore when it is empty but that was certainly not the case this day. In total, 1.626 had signed up to participate and that exceeded the organisers’ target.
We are not new in Vilanova any longer, so when I learnt that this was the 29th Cursa Popular, I fell a bit ashamed for having taken part for the first time. I can not understand how I have managed to miss it the last two years, not only since I like jogging but also since the route turned out to be a well planned presentation of our town.
On the Rambla we passed by people having a coffee at the outdoor cafes. After that we reached the fresh air, but fortunately enough no strong wind, at the marina, followed by the beach promenade of Ribes-Roges. By the time we turned back towards the centre I must admit to feeling a bit disappointed with the amount of runners who overtook me but then discovered my wife and children who had come to cheer on me. This gave me new forces to run through the old parts of Vilanova and then follow what I assume must have once been the wall street of la Geltrú. My original intention was to start spurting when coming back to the Rambla, but my strengths failed me so I only did so when I saw the beautiful Mercat building in front of me.
My result was far from impressive but I blame that on a nasty cold. The entrepà and sports drink served at the finishing line soon made me forget my suffering. Next year my oldest son will be five years old, so maybe I will be nicer on myself and run the Minicursa together with him instead. Since it goes through streets which he knows well I will be able to challenge him up to the next toy store in case he gets exhausted.
The only thing that puzzles me a bit with the Cursa Popular is where all the participants came from. Vilanova is a small town, and until now I have been under the impression that I start to recognize people here. Faces I spot when walking around in the pedestrian area also turn up during the carnaval and the festa major. However, among my fellow runners I found very few people whom I am sure to have seen before. Are we so divided in our town that we either take part in local street life and culture or do sports? If so, I will have to accept being odd, because I feel connected to both groups.
My first Cursa Popular left me with one special memory. When the start shot went off and the big crowd started to move - everybody dressed in the same green t-shirt - a strong sense of belonging came over me. Was it that emotion that made me feel a tear forming in one of my eyes? Am I really so pathetic or was I just blinded by the bright sunshine?
Monday, 22 October 2007
Adult students depend on volunteers for practice
A popular method for learning a new language is to spend time in a place where it is naturally spoken. There, you usually do not help from the authorities to get verbal practice. In Catalonia, the regional government offers this service for students of Catalan. My own experience reveals that, unfortunately, it is needed.
When checking out the Generalitat’s services related to Catalan studies I was positively surprised to find the program Voluntariat per la llengua. In this, students are offered one-to-one conversation classes with native speakers and since the latter do this on a voluntary basis, the program is free of charge. Your only commitments are to only speak Catalan and to have ten meetings, preferably on a weekly basis. This summer, I finally had the time to join and last week did I have the tenth and last meeting with Ramon, with whom I formed my first, so called, linguistic couple.
Before meeting Ramon for the first time I was very nervous. Up to then, I had learnt Catalan through self-studies and had little experience of speaking the language. I did not need to worry, because he was fast to adapt to my level. Somehow we found ways to have fruitful discussions on everything from Catalan culture to history and local politics. Except for that, we explored Vilanova’s small neighbour town Sant Pere de Ribes, since that was where we used to meet. Looking back, I am very content with Voluntariat per la llengua and wish to extend my thanks to the Servei de Català of Vilanova for the fast processing of my application and, even more so, to Ramon for all his time and energy.
The fact that I have relatively few natural opportunities to practise Catalan frustrates me, and that is why I come back something which I have already commented on in an earlier blog entry. In my local supermarket, where the staff recognise me thanks to my sometimes not so quiet children, I have reached ideal conditions for language learning. The shop assistants answer me in Catalan, unless they see that I do not understand. When that happens, they temporarily recur to Spanish, but then return to Catalan for the rest of the conversation. However, still today this is an exception.
When I moved to Catalonia, my Spanish was poor. More than once did to talk to shop assistants who did not even try to conceal how bored they were to deal with yet another inarticulate foreigner. And I do not blame them. To communicate with people who do not speak properly slows us down and increases the risk for mistakes, neither of which is rewarded in a work situation. Still, since it was these people’s job to deal with my business they never had any alternative but to follow through with the conversation.
My Catalan today is far better than my Spanish was back then, but I meet with little patience when I use it. An incorrectly conjugated verb can be enough to trigger a switch to Spanish, although the people I talk to seem to prefer Catalan not only with other customers but also with their colleagues. This is quite discouraging for a person who tries to learn a new language.
When I bring this up with Catalans, even young people claim to have been taught that it is good manners to speak Spanish to non-Catalans. I question how it can possibly be considered poor manners to answer a person in the same language which he or she uses to address you and think that this is first and foremost a comfortable excuse for an example of the principle of the smallest resistance. My impression is that while many Catalans complain that their language is being threatened, surprisingly few of them take the opportunity to promote it to new speakers. There is no need to be a voluntari per la llengua to do so – all it takes is to answer the few Catalan speaking foreigners one meets in daily life in this language and not in Spanish. Admittedly, the risk for misunderstandings might increase slightly, but is it not worth that?
Returning to the program Voluntariat per la llengua, as of what I have heard, in Barcelona they arrange big get-togethers in order for the linguistic couples to feel that they are a part of a bigger community. Well, I think I got a better deal out here in Garraf, where there was nothing special about Ramon and me. We were another two people chatting in Catalan while enjoying a cup of coffee in the shade. Although I originally met Ramon in a formal way, it felt as if we were just like everybody else. Now, is that not what integration is all about?
When checking out the Generalitat’s services related to Catalan studies I was positively surprised to find the program Voluntariat per la llengua. In this, students are offered one-to-one conversation classes with native speakers and since the latter do this on a voluntary basis, the program is free of charge. Your only commitments are to only speak Catalan and to have ten meetings, preferably on a weekly basis. This summer, I finally had the time to join and last week did I have the tenth and last meeting with Ramon, with whom I formed my first, so called, linguistic couple.
Before meeting Ramon for the first time I was very nervous. Up to then, I had learnt Catalan through self-studies and had little experience of speaking the language. I did not need to worry, because he was fast to adapt to my level. Somehow we found ways to have fruitful discussions on everything from Catalan culture to history and local politics. Except for that, we explored Vilanova’s small neighbour town Sant Pere de Ribes, since that was where we used to meet. Looking back, I am very content with Voluntariat per la llengua and wish to extend my thanks to the Servei de Català of Vilanova for the fast processing of my application and, even more so, to Ramon for all his time and energy.
The fact that I have relatively few natural opportunities to practise Catalan frustrates me, and that is why I come back something which I have already commented on in an earlier blog entry. In my local supermarket, where the staff recognise me thanks to my sometimes not so quiet children, I have reached ideal conditions for language learning. The shop assistants answer me in Catalan, unless they see that I do not understand. When that happens, they temporarily recur to Spanish, but then return to Catalan for the rest of the conversation. However, still today this is an exception.
When I moved to Catalonia, my Spanish was poor. More than once did to talk to shop assistants who did not even try to conceal how bored they were to deal with yet another inarticulate foreigner. And I do not blame them. To communicate with people who do not speak properly slows us down and increases the risk for mistakes, neither of which is rewarded in a work situation. Still, since it was these people’s job to deal with my business they never had any alternative but to follow through with the conversation.
My Catalan today is far better than my Spanish was back then, but I meet with little patience when I use it. An incorrectly conjugated verb can be enough to trigger a switch to Spanish, although the people I talk to seem to prefer Catalan not only with other customers but also with their colleagues. This is quite discouraging for a person who tries to learn a new language.
When I bring this up with Catalans, even young people claim to have been taught that it is good manners to speak Spanish to non-Catalans. I question how it can possibly be considered poor manners to answer a person in the same language which he or she uses to address you and think that this is first and foremost a comfortable excuse for an example of the principle of the smallest resistance. My impression is that while many Catalans complain that their language is being threatened, surprisingly few of them take the opportunity to promote it to new speakers. There is no need to be a voluntari per la llengua to do so – all it takes is to answer the few Catalan speaking foreigners one meets in daily life in this language and not in Spanish. Admittedly, the risk for misunderstandings might increase slightly, but is it not worth that?
Returning to the program Voluntariat per la llengua, as of what I have heard, in Barcelona they arrange big get-togethers in order for the linguistic couples to feel that they are a part of a bigger community. Well, I think I got a better deal out here in Garraf, where there was nothing special about Ramon and me. We were another two people chatting in Catalan while enjoying a cup of coffee in the shade. Although I originally met Ramon in a formal way, it felt as if we were just like everybody else. Now, is that not what integration is all about?
Sunday, 14 October 2007
Matthew Tree – writer found niche market
An Englishman who as an adult decides to learn Catalan and reaches such proficiency that he can nowadays earn his living as a writer of his adopted language - that is quite a remarkable personality. However, not all interesting writers write good stories.
In literary theory there are many things which the experts disagree about, but in one aspect there is almost consensus; when analysing a text you are to work with it in its own right while leaving the author and his intentions to the side. If I apply this perspective to the two books which I have recently read by Matthew Tree, I feel that there is not much substance left. At the same time, since Mr Tree rarely describes anything without revealing a firm opinion about it, I believe to have learnt a lot about him as a person. Admittedly, I am not yet the right person to evaluate how well he makes use of the Catalan language, but neither do I feel comfortable with his story-telling technique, nor with is selection of topics and details to comment on. Therefore I am happy to have read the books in Catalan and thus, at least, had a chance to practise my new language.
In CAT – Un anglès viatja per Catalunya per veure si existeix, Mr Tree describes what he experiences during a 30-day roundtrip by public transport in the geographic region of Catalonia. To some places he goes for the first time, while to others he has already been and decides to come back. He meets quite a number of people, a few of them being old friends but the majority being random encounters.
Whether Catalonia exists as a cultural entity is indeed an intriguing question for anyone who arrives here as an immigrant and wants to be integrated into local society. I was hoping that this book would offer Mr Tree’s point of view on which places I ought to go to understand, let us say, the 'soul' of Catalonia. Unfortunately, it does not and I believe the reason for that to be all the time spent on explaining travel itineraries, the author’s mood or the background of his friends. There simply is not enough energy left for telling us about the places the author visits and even less how they contribute to the alleged objective of the book - i.e. to see whether Catalonia exists.
In La puta feina we are being presented examples from Barcelona on how deceitful, lazy or sexist bosses ruin the lives of their employees. Mr Tree repeatedly reinforces his message that we should liberate ourselves from the humiliating jobs where so many of us spend a big share of our time. Only in the very last pages of the book, where he outlines a soluciò final - a realistic alternative to paid work - did I finally find something which I recognized as fresh and original. Many a writer has been inspired by the problematic relationship which exists between employers and their staff. To me, Mr Tree’s stereotypical and superficial reflections on the matter would possibly be enjoyable in a blog, but I can not understand how someone could agree to publish them as a book.
Some people seem to think that Mr Tree would be able to earn more money if he would write in English, but I think that it is the other way around. Like any creative entrepreneur, he has built a niche for himself in being a foreigner but writing in Catalan and that is what makes his books sell. To use myself as an example, if I buy further books by Mr Tree, it will not be for their literary qualities, but only because I am interested in him as a phenomenon. And that special status, I judge, could only ever be achieved in a language like Catalan, with a strong craving for international recognition. I dare to bet that no Swedish publisher would ever treat a foreigner writing in Swedish in this benevolent way and I interpret the fact that Mr Tree’s books have not been translated to other languages as an indication that I am right.
A few days ago, Mr Tree launched a new book where, apparently, he proves that God does not exist – a topic which I am usually easily motivated to read about. However, I want for such delicate a matter to be treated with a level of seriousness that I have not seen in Mr Tree's aforementioned books and I am confident that that he has no intention to change his style. For his skills in Catalan and also for his success in making a living of something he likes to do, Matthew Tree is an inspiring example. Chapeau! Having said that, before I buy his new book I will remind myself to see it as a discussion on the life, needs and body functions of its author - and not at all about the existence of God.
In literary theory there are many things which the experts disagree about, but in one aspect there is almost consensus; when analysing a text you are to work with it in its own right while leaving the author and his intentions to the side. If I apply this perspective to the two books which I have recently read by Matthew Tree, I feel that there is not much substance left. At the same time, since Mr Tree rarely describes anything without revealing a firm opinion about it, I believe to have learnt a lot about him as a person. Admittedly, I am not yet the right person to evaluate how well he makes use of the Catalan language, but neither do I feel comfortable with his story-telling technique, nor with is selection of topics and details to comment on. Therefore I am happy to have read the books in Catalan and thus, at least, had a chance to practise my new language.
In CAT – Un anglès viatja per Catalunya per veure si existeix, Mr Tree describes what he experiences during a 30-day roundtrip by public transport in the geographic region of Catalonia. To some places he goes for the first time, while to others he has already been and decides to come back. He meets quite a number of people, a few of them being old friends but the majority being random encounters.
Whether Catalonia exists as a cultural entity is indeed an intriguing question for anyone who arrives here as an immigrant and wants to be integrated into local society. I was hoping that this book would offer Mr Tree’s point of view on which places I ought to go to understand, let us say, the 'soul' of Catalonia. Unfortunately, it does not and I believe the reason for that to be all the time spent on explaining travel itineraries, the author’s mood or the background of his friends. There simply is not enough energy left for telling us about the places the author visits and even less how they contribute to the alleged objective of the book - i.e. to see whether Catalonia exists.
In La puta feina we are being presented examples from Barcelona on how deceitful, lazy or sexist bosses ruin the lives of their employees. Mr Tree repeatedly reinforces his message that we should liberate ourselves from the humiliating jobs where so many of us spend a big share of our time. Only in the very last pages of the book, where he outlines a soluciò final - a realistic alternative to paid work - did I finally find something which I recognized as fresh and original. Many a writer has been inspired by the problematic relationship which exists between employers and their staff. To me, Mr Tree’s stereotypical and superficial reflections on the matter would possibly be enjoyable in a blog, but I can not understand how someone could agree to publish them as a book.
Some people seem to think that Mr Tree would be able to earn more money if he would write in English, but I think that it is the other way around. Like any creative entrepreneur, he has built a niche for himself in being a foreigner but writing in Catalan and that is what makes his books sell. To use myself as an example, if I buy further books by Mr Tree, it will not be for their literary qualities, but only because I am interested in him as a phenomenon. And that special status, I judge, could only ever be achieved in a language like Catalan, with a strong craving for international recognition. I dare to bet that no Swedish publisher would ever treat a foreigner writing in Swedish in this benevolent way and I interpret the fact that Mr Tree’s books have not been translated to other languages as an indication that I am right.
A few days ago, Mr Tree launched a new book where, apparently, he proves that God does not exist – a topic which I am usually easily motivated to read about. However, I want for such delicate a matter to be treated with a level of seriousness that I have not seen in Mr Tree's aforementioned books and I am confident that that he has no intention to change his style. For his skills in Catalan and also for his success in making a living of something he likes to do, Matthew Tree is an inspiring example. Chapeau! Having said that, before I buy his new book I will remind myself to see it as a discussion on the life, needs and body functions of its author - and not at all about the existence of God.
Sunday, 7 October 2007
Learning a new language – maintaining motivation
As I see it, time and motivation are the two most important factors for those who want to learn a language, much more important than individual capacity. I have already discussed the importance of creating time for the new language, since it is the aspect that I consider most people to disregard. But time without motivation does not take us anywhere. So what do I do to stay motivated?
I know of many people who have learnt one or several languages so well that they occasionally are taken for native speakers. If asked, all of these people would say that reaching that level of fluency has taken a lot of efforts. New languages can not be learnt without a true commitment, and that is why many adult learners fail. The busier we are, the more difficult is it to be motivated for projects where progress is slow.
Since many adults lament that children learn languages faster than us, let us take a look at how we differ in motivation. Adults analyze and then prioritise needs while children are direct. My sons, who are one and a half and four years old, respectively, learn Catalan by social necessity. Since people they meet in school do not speak Swedish, they adapt without much questioning. For my wife and me, on the other hand, motivation does not come by itself. We know that Catalan is good to know for daily life here, but also that it is far from indispensable. To complicate matters further, we are aware that there is a trade-off, at least short term; should we learn two languages at the same time, with the risk of mixing them up due to similarities, or rather first strive for perfection in Spanish and subsequently let that be our bridge into Catalan? No wonder we are much more likely to lose motivation than our sons are.
As readers of this blog will understand, I have already made up my mind to learn Catalan although I am still far from fluent in Spanish. To succeed as adult learners we must make a firm decision to learn a language and then immediately capitalize as much as possible on the energy of the initial impulse. Learning new words is hardly fun, but is an absolute must in any language. It is therefore my advice to dedicate the first weeks solely to the vocabulary of the target language, and come back to basic grammar or simplified dialogues only later on. Personally, I collect as many ready-made glossaries as I can find and then start to memorize words. To search up additional words by oneself at this stage is a waste of time since all important words sooner or later turn up in the glossaries. It is equally futile to exclude words only because they do not seem important or too difficult. Let us be honest, if our motivation is so weak that we feel relief in removing two words from a list of 100, we will never manage to learn all the words needed to master a language.
Fortunately enough for my Catalan, I have come through the toughest stage, that is achieving basic vocabulary. I will, occasionally, go back to glossaries to learn new words but rarely do so to revise words which I have already learnt once. I simply consider that too boring. My method for maintaining the vocabulary which I have already achieved is to read a lot, newspapers as well as books. Admittedly, this is a low-intensive way to refresh a certain set of words. However, at least for me, it is a kind of quality exposure to the new language, which I am easily motivated for, since the focus switches from learning the language to making use of it. The important thing to remember in order for this method to work is to concentrate on content and not on the individual words. Any text made for native speakers will be full of vocabulary which we do not yet master and we have to force ourselves to accept that. If we do not, but expect to have a perfect vocabulary before we start to read, we extend the time before we can make use of the new language. For an adult learner, that is an unnecessary risk to motivation.
It will sound like heresy to some, but does it really matter if we miss out on some of the meaning in a book we read? My wife and I have both recently read La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. While I stayed with the Spanish original version, she gave up and switched to the Swedish translation. I admit that there are several details and descriptions in the novel which she, most likely, has understood better than I, but I can live with that. After all, none of us will have to pass a test on what we remember from the book. Except for that, because I read at a slower speed, my experience of reading the text lasted longer. This even my wife was jealous about since we both loved the novel.
I prefer reading, since it allows for me to go about at my own pace, but that is purely a matter of taste. For those who do not like books, thanks to the Internet, there are plenty of alternative tools. From our home we today have access to radio, TV and films in virtually all foreign languages. Look back ten years and you will realize what a fantastic development there has been in the conditions for learning a new language without any travelling. The tools are there, however, as before it remains a personal challenge to find our individual ways to create the time and build the motivation to make use of them.
Post scriptum: In spite of my strong drive to learn languages, there have been times in my life when I have been so discouraged that I have temporarily given up. How to gain back motivation in case you lose it, is a topic I will come back to in a later text.
I know of many people who have learnt one or several languages so well that they occasionally are taken for native speakers. If asked, all of these people would say that reaching that level of fluency has taken a lot of efforts. New languages can not be learnt without a true commitment, and that is why many adult learners fail. The busier we are, the more difficult is it to be motivated for projects where progress is slow.
Since many adults lament that children learn languages faster than us, let us take a look at how we differ in motivation. Adults analyze and then prioritise needs while children are direct. My sons, who are one and a half and four years old, respectively, learn Catalan by social necessity. Since people they meet in school do not speak Swedish, they adapt without much questioning. For my wife and me, on the other hand, motivation does not come by itself. We know that Catalan is good to know for daily life here, but also that it is far from indispensable. To complicate matters further, we are aware that there is a trade-off, at least short term; should we learn two languages at the same time, with the risk of mixing them up due to similarities, or rather first strive for perfection in Spanish and subsequently let that be our bridge into Catalan? No wonder we are much more likely to lose motivation than our sons are.
As readers of this blog will understand, I have already made up my mind to learn Catalan although I am still far from fluent in Spanish. To succeed as adult learners we must make a firm decision to learn a language and then immediately capitalize as much as possible on the energy of the initial impulse. Learning new words is hardly fun, but is an absolute must in any language. It is therefore my advice to dedicate the first weeks solely to the vocabulary of the target language, and come back to basic grammar or simplified dialogues only later on. Personally, I collect as many ready-made glossaries as I can find and then start to memorize words. To search up additional words by oneself at this stage is a waste of time since all important words sooner or later turn up in the glossaries. It is equally futile to exclude words only because they do not seem important or too difficult. Let us be honest, if our motivation is so weak that we feel relief in removing two words from a list of 100, we will never manage to learn all the words needed to master a language.
Fortunately enough for my Catalan, I have come through the toughest stage, that is achieving basic vocabulary. I will, occasionally, go back to glossaries to learn new words but rarely do so to revise words which I have already learnt once. I simply consider that too boring. My method for maintaining the vocabulary which I have already achieved is to read a lot, newspapers as well as books. Admittedly, this is a low-intensive way to refresh a certain set of words. However, at least for me, it is a kind of quality exposure to the new language, which I am easily motivated for, since the focus switches from learning the language to making use of it. The important thing to remember in order for this method to work is to concentrate on content and not on the individual words. Any text made for native speakers will be full of vocabulary which we do not yet master and we have to force ourselves to accept that. If we do not, but expect to have a perfect vocabulary before we start to read, we extend the time before we can make use of the new language. For an adult learner, that is an unnecessary risk to motivation.
It will sound like heresy to some, but does it really matter if we miss out on some of the meaning in a book we read? My wife and I have both recently read La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. While I stayed with the Spanish original version, she gave up and switched to the Swedish translation. I admit that there are several details and descriptions in the novel which she, most likely, has understood better than I, but I can live with that. After all, none of us will have to pass a test on what we remember from the book. Except for that, because I read at a slower speed, my experience of reading the text lasted longer. This even my wife was jealous about since we both loved the novel.
I prefer reading, since it allows for me to go about at my own pace, but that is purely a matter of taste. For those who do not like books, thanks to the Internet, there are plenty of alternative tools. From our home we today have access to radio, TV and films in virtually all foreign languages. Look back ten years and you will realize what a fantastic development there has been in the conditions for learning a new language without any travelling. The tools are there, however, as before it remains a personal challenge to find our individual ways to create the time and build the motivation to make use of them.
Post scriptum: In spite of my strong drive to learn languages, there have been times in my life when I have been so discouraged that I have temporarily given up. How to gain back motivation in case you lose it, is a topic I will come back to in a later text.
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
La Caixa - so great and still late
The savings bank La Caixa is in a class of its own here in Catalonia. No matter how you measure it (capital flows, number of branch offices etc) it is many times bigger than its closest competitor. Its brand name stands for professionalism. Well, at least most of the time.
During the last few months, La Caixa has been preparing for the public offer of Criteria Caixa Corp, an entity which above all will hold and develop the group’s international activities. There has been less media coverage of the event than I expected, but at least all people who watch the nine o’clock news on TVE1 will have seen the classy but abstract advertising. I also assume that most customers of the savings bank, like my own family, will have been approached personally by the staff of the local branch as well as through messages on La Caixa’s web-pages.
In July, when we first heard about the IPO plans, my wife and I decided that we would invest. Then followed the big credit crunch of the summer and our interest faded away. We never doubted about the project as such, but neither did we feel an urge to invest in bank shares while the consequences of the US sub-prime mortgage crash are still unclear. La Caixa is not exactly known for giving away things for free, so we are confident that the initial price for private investors like us will not have much of a discount. “But if we invest we might finally be motivated to follow the stock exchange here”, my wife said and so, in the end, we decided to take a chance. Yesterday, October 2, I signed the power of attorney so that the branch office can subscribe some shares in my name.
All activities a company undertakes can influence its brand name. Today, by ordinary post, I received a standardized letter from La Caixa, reminding me about the IPO and inviting me to invest. The funny detail is that this reached me on October 3, and as far as I have understood it, yesterday was the last day to issue power of attorneys. The fact that the letter is dated “September 2007” does not help me to determine when it was actually sent out. I am prepared to give La Caixa the benefit of the doubt since post here often comes with big delays. But the question remains: Should not a bank, which claims to be great, be able to plan for the fact that post arrives late? Or was the staff not 'under pressure' to get the information out on time?
During the last few months, La Caixa has been preparing for the public offer of Criteria Caixa Corp, an entity which above all will hold and develop the group’s international activities. There has been less media coverage of the event than I expected, but at least all people who watch the nine o’clock news on TVE1 will have seen the classy but abstract advertising. I also assume that most customers of the savings bank, like my own family, will have been approached personally by the staff of the local branch as well as through messages on La Caixa’s web-pages.
In July, when we first heard about the IPO plans, my wife and I decided that we would invest. Then followed the big credit crunch of the summer and our interest faded away. We never doubted about the project as such, but neither did we feel an urge to invest in bank shares while the consequences of the US sub-prime mortgage crash are still unclear. La Caixa is not exactly known for giving away things for free, so we are confident that the initial price for private investors like us will not have much of a discount. “But if we invest we might finally be motivated to follow the stock exchange here”, my wife said and so, in the end, we decided to take a chance. Yesterday, October 2, I signed the power of attorney so that the branch office can subscribe some shares in my name.
All activities a company undertakes can influence its brand name. Today, by ordinary post, I received a standardized letter from La Caixa, reminding me about the IPO and inviting me to invest. The funny detail is that this reached me on October 3, and as far as I have understood it, yesterday was the last day to issue power of attorneys. The fact that the letter is dated “September 2007” does not help me to determine when it was actually sent out. I am prepared to give La Caixa the benefit of the doubt since post here often comes with big delays. But the question remains: Should not a bank, which claims to be great, be able to plan for the fact that post arrives late? Or was the staff not 'under pressure' to get the information out on time?
Sunday, 30 September 2007
Learning a new language – create time of exposure
With the possible exception for the English, Europeans in general seem to be interested in the language of places they visit. It is therefore logic that many of our friends back in Sweden see the language in itself, rather than the nice weather or the Spanish culture, as the biggest opportunity my family and I have when living here. The world has changed, however. Thanks to the Internet, it is easy to create a Spanish media environment in your home, although you live in another country and if you are a committed learner you ought let your target language come alive in everyday life. To increase the time of exposure is a crucial factor for success.
Originally I was planning to write a text on the first books I have read in Catalan. Since I prefer to study languages by myself, starting to read books in a new language is like reaching a first and very concrete milestone. From that point, everything gets easier in a self-reinforcing positive spiral. The two interconnected reasons for this are time and motivation, and they both merit some reflections before I start commenting on what I have recently read. I will start with time, since this is the factor I judge that most people underestimate.
When adults complain about their difficulties to learn languages they often blame it on grammar. How unfair! Grammar is an intellectual challenge and ought to be just as rewarding as the crosswords and sudokus which so many people enjoy in their spare time. It is not rare that the same people claim that children have a fundamentally different capacity to learn languages than grown-ups. I consider that to be a wrong conclusion from a correct observation.
Children are better than adults in achieving a nativelike pronunciation in a non-native language. This, most likely, is due to the fact that they are more open-minded to unexpected sounds and tones which the brain of a typical adult has learnt to filter out. However, when it comes to learning vocabulary, which I dare to claim is the key element of any language, adults theoretically have a huge advantage over children in identifying concepts for which there is a need for words. So why, after some time in a new country, do the children of most immigrant families excel over their parents, not only in pronunciation but also in vocabulary? I am confident that the time spent exposed to the non-native language is the answer.
Under no circumstances do I want to ridicule people who invest time in taking weekly classes of a foreign language, but I do think that they should ask themselves what they aim to achieve. If the main reason for their studies is to have some social time, they by all means do the right thing. However, if they truly strive to learn a language they had better stop. Low-intense language learning is only discouraging for adults, since we tend to remember the amount we have paid for courses and the number of years we have studied, but do not admit what a small fraction of our time we have in fact spent on the new language. It is relevant to make a comparison with children. My two little sons pay attention to, repeat and explore language throughout the whole day. How many grown-ups come anywhere close to that? Is it surprising that children learn so well while we do not?
From a learning point of view, it is this exposure time which is the main advantage of living in an environment where a language is naturally spoken. Since many of my daily activities, like taking the children to school or to the doctor, doing the shopping etc, have to be carried out in in Spanish or Catalan, I spend time with these languages even at times when I would prefer to speak my mother tongue.
At the same time, do not be discouraged by the fact that you do not live in the country where your target language is being spoken. Unless you can find a job where you can make use of the language which you are studying, you might not be able to switch the language of daily life. However, if you really want to learn, I am confident that you will find some extra hours in your daily routines if you scrutinize the time you spend on entertainment. In the beginning, to watch a movie or read a book in a new language will not be relaxing, but I can promise you that you will soon pass that threshold and once on the other side, you will have gained additional hours of exposure to a non-native language.
Entertainment is where I put my focus since that is often the only pool of extra hours which adults have available. It has the additional advantage of being fun and what is fun does not require much motivation. Motivation, however, is so important a topic that I will come back to that in my next text.
Originally I was planning to write a text on the first books I have read in Catalan. Since I prefer to study languages by myself, starting to read books in a new language is like reaching a first and very concrete milestone. From that point, everything gets easier in a self-reinforcing positive spiral. The two interconnected reasons for this are time and motivation, and they both merit some reflections before I start commenting on what I have recently read. I will start with time, since this is the factor I judge that most people underestimate.
When adults complain about their difficulties to learn languages they often blame it on grammar. How unfair! Grammar is an intellectual challenge and ought to be just as rewarding as the crosswords and sudokus which so many people enjoy in their spare time. It is not rare that the same people claim that children have a fundamentally different capacity to learn languages than grown-ups. I consider that to be a wrong conclusion from a correct observation.
Children are better than adults in achieving a nativelike pronunciation in a non-native language. This, most likely, is due to the fact that they are more open-minded to unexpected sounds and tones which the brain of a typical adult has learnt to filter out. However, when it comes to learning vocabulary, which I dare to claim is the key element of any language, adults theoretically have a huge advantage over children in identifying concepts for which there is a need for words. So why, after some time in a new country, do the children of most immigrant families excel over their parents, not only in pronunciation but also in vocabulary? I am confident that the time spent exposed to the non-native language is the answer.
Under no circumstances do I want to ridicule people who invest time in taking weekly classes of a foreign language, but I do think that they should ask themselves what they aim to achieve. If the main reason for their studies is to have some social time, they by all means do the right thing. However, if they truly strive to learn a language they had better stop. Low-intense language learning is only discouraging for adults, since we tend to remember the amount we have paid for courses and the number of years we have studied, but do not admit what a small fraction of our time we have in fact spent on the new language. It is relevant to make a comparison with children. My two little sons pay attention to, repeat and explore language throughout the whole day. How many grown-ups come anywhere close to that? Is it surprising that children learn so well while we do not?
From a learning point of view, it is this exposure time which is the main advantage of living in an environment where a language is naturally spoken. Since many of my daily activities, like taking the children to school or to the doctor, doing the shopping etc, have to be carried out in in Spanish or Catalan, I spend time with these languages even at times when I would prefer to speak my mother tongue.
At the same time, do not be discouraged by the fact that you do not live in the country where your target language is being spoken. Unless you can find a job where you can make use of the language which you are studying, you might not be able to switch the language of daily life. However, if you really want to learn, I am confident that you will find some extra hours in your daily routines if you scrutinize the time you spend on entertainment. In the beginning, to watch a movie or read a book in a new language will not be relaxing, but I can promise you that you will soon pass that threshold and once on the other side, you will have gained additional hours of exposure to a non-native language.
Entertainment is where I put my focus since that is often the only pool of extra hours which adults have available. It has the additional advantage of being fun and what is fun does not require much motivation. Motivation, however, is so important a topic that I will come back to that in my next text.
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
Restaurants in Vilanova: Pika Tapa – the Mediterranean as we want it
Tourist traps are an interesting phenomenon. Very often they are easy to identify – establishments with a lot of natural traffic, usually charging premium prices since they offer a nice view or are located close to interesting sites. The beach promenade at Vilanova is an area where any seasoned traveller will start to look for advice on which restaurants are good and which you had better avoid.
I always feel a bit stupid when I take my family to a restaurant where we could have foreseen that either the food or the service or both would not live up to our expectations, but every once in a while end up in that situation. What do you do when you come to a town which you do not know and it is already well past the children’s lunch time? What do you do when all places where they seem to know how to cook look boring and deserted? At least my wife and I tend to take a chance and head for a place which is busy and easy to find. This probably reveals that our buying behaviour is first and foremost social and not very rational.
The beach promenade in Vilanova i la Geltrú is truly precious and, as all tourists desire, there are plenty of outdoor restaurants to choose between. From personal experience, however, I want to draw visitors’ attention to the fact that only some of these have a regular clientele among the local residents. When I take my family for lunch, most tables at Pika Tapa (Passeig de Carme, 21; phone: 93 815 12 84) are occupied by foreigners, usually a clear indication that you are about to enter into a tourist trap. However, remember that the Catalan and Spanish culture is deceitful in this regard. For inhabitants of Spain it is perfectly normal to have their meals about two hours later than we do in the Northern Europe.
Pika Tapa is located right in the middle of the action and offers light tapes as well as full meals. We have been here for lunches and for dinners, with as well as without our children, and always been satisfied. The paellas (€ 13 per person) will not win culinary prices but are served in a traditional way from the pan and always are very tasty. Competition close by advertises paellas for lower prices, however, those places do not cook by themselves but merely reheat precooked dishes. Caveat emptor!
Pika Tapa has indoor facilities as well, which means that it is open for business all the year around. Having said that, just like the town Vilanova, in summer it is at it's best. Here you find the Mediterranean feeling as you want it – offered at a very reasonable price. The restaurants close to the beach still have their terraces open. Take note of this recommendation in case you want to have another lunch at the seaside. The season is not over yet.
I always feel a bit stupid when I take my family to a restaurant where we could have foreseen that either the food or the service or both would not live up to our expectations, but every once in a while end up in that situation. What do you do when you come to a town which you do not know and it is already well past the children’s lunch time? What do you do when all places where they seem to know how to cook look boring and deserted? At least my wife and I tend to take a chance and head for a place which is busy and easy to find. This probably reveals that our buying behaviour is first and foremost social and not very rational.
The beach promenade in Vilanova i la Geltrú is truly precious and, as all tourists desire, there are plenty of outdoor restaurants to choose between. From personal experience, however, I want to draw visitors’ attention to the fact that only some of these have a regular clientele among the local residents. When I take my family for lunch, most tables at Pika Tapa (Passeig de Carme, 21; phone: 93 815 12 84) are occupied by foreigners, usually a clear indication that you are about to enter into a tourist trap. However, remember that the Catalan and Spanish culture is deceitful in this regard. For inhabitants of Spain it is perfectly normal to have their meals about two hours later than we do in the Northern Europe.
Pika Tapa is located right in the middle of the action and offers light tapes as well as full meals. We have been here for lunches and for dinners, with as well as without our children, and always been satisfied. The paellas (€ 13 per person) will not win culinary prices but are served in a traditional way from the pan and always are very tasty. Competition close by advertises paellas for lower prices, however, those places do not cook by themselves but merely reheat precooked dishes. Caveat emptor!
Pika Tapa has indoor facilities as well, which means that it is open for business all the year around. Having said that, just like the town Vilanova, in summer it is at it's best. Here you find the Mediterranean feeling as you want it – offered at a very reasonable price. The restaurants close to the beach still have their terraces open. Take note of this recommendation in case you want to have another lunch at the seaside. The season is not over yet.
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Swedish – Catalan: 4 – 0
One of the advantages of living abroad is the opportunity to learn new languages. Although possibly of a different magnitude, in this area my wife and I share an ambition for perfection. The objective is not to be a good foreign speaker but to reach the level of those who have the language as their mother tongue. If our whole family would one day speak Catalan, I believe that we will be quite unique. Is it worth the effort? And, if so, how far have we come?
Let me be honest about our background. It was not an interest in Catalan culture that made us move here. A work opportunity was what drew our attention to this place and a desire to learn Spanish combined with the nice climate were factors which made the decision easy. On the contrary to what many Catalans seem to believe, like many other Swedes we were fully aware that there existed a unique Catalan language, but felt as motivated to learn it as most Catalans feel about learning Swedish, i.e. close to zero.
This perspective changed dramatically once we arrived here. Although this is a bilingual region, I consider that learning Catalan is a necessity for anyone who is interested in what is going on and who wants to be integrated in local society. Possibly, you can avoid it if you live downtown Barcelona and get your local news through Lavanguardia - for historical reasons edited in Spanish - but not in the outskirts of the province, like here in Vilanova i la Geltrú. We have moved here with the intention to stay, to build a new home. It is Catalan, not Spanish, which our sons learn at daycare and in school. With this in mind, we have accepted the challenge to learn not one but two languages.
So here we are, a family of four, all with Swedish nationality but quite different backgrounds. In this blog, I plan to follow and share our experience in gaining access to the new language. Twice a year, I will establish which is the preferred language of each family member. At home we speak Swedish, so that language has a home ground advantage. However, it is Catalan which dominates street life here, so it will soon be given a tough match.
Swedish enjoys a strong backbone in my wife and me. We have now spent more than seven years outside our native country, but were both born, raised and educated there. In fact, I do not only believe but also hope that our mother tongue will remain our preferred language forever. Having said that, through our children Catalan will play a stronger and stronger role in our lives. Fairly soon, our sons will be given homework to write and I take it as my personal responsibility to be up to speed to help them once that day comes.
Our four-year-old is the true dark horse of the game. He was born abroad and thus has never lived in Sweden. However, Swedish is very firmly his first language, since it was the only language he brought with him when we moved here. In the future, when he starts to learn English, we will be able to tell whether his early exposure to that language has left any lasting marks. I doubt that we will ever be able to check the same thing with Thai, since the probability that he will want to learn that language is quite low.
Due to the long Spanish summer holidays, our oldest son regularly receives what I could call special injections of Swedish. For the third consecutive year, he has spent more than a month with his grandparents in Sweden. We can not help taking pride in the fact that he has such a rich vocabulary and sense of correct syntax that he is at least on par developmentwise when compared to children of the same age who have grown up in Sweden. This week he was very nervous about going back to school in Catalonia and blamed it on the language issue. However, that might well be a rationalization of a more general fear of having to leave home. My impression when talking to him after his first day back in the class room was that he enjoyed taking part in the activities, in spite of the language barrier.
It would not surprise me if he switches over and accepts the majority language as his preferred language as early as by the end of this year. He has already spent more than half of his life in here and currently is in a phase where he is actively exploring the possibilities of verbal language. If the talent which he possesses for observation and pronunciation of Swedish will be equally valid for Catalan, we can expect to see a remarkable development during the coming few months.
Finally, we have what from the perspective of the Swedish language is the weakest link of the family. Our one and a half-year old son was born here and has spent many hours in a Catalan daycare since he was only four months old. Fortunately enough for Swedish, his language development started to take off during these summer holidays. He now tries to imitate the sounds of more or less any word we repeat to him. It might well be that this interest came about once he felt that one language, in this case Swedish, started to dominate his daily life.
A special observation is that his passive understanding is far greater than his active use of words. For example, he never tells the names of animals, but happily imitates their sounds when we give him their names in Swedish. Neither does he name parts of his body, but is able to point them out when asked to do so. I believe this to be normal for children who grow up in a bilingual environment, since it must be easier to associate Swedish näsa and Catalan nas with one phenomenon, i.e. the nose, than to determine which of the two words you are select when someone asks you for them. Currently, our youngest son prefers Swedish for most basic words; nana (have a nap), godnatt (goodnight), glass (ice cream), äpple (apple), sko (shoe). However, his daycare teacher says that he is very active in repeating words after her as well. An interesting fact is that Catalan seems to have a strong grip of him at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Although he says mat in Swedish for food in general, llet and pa are the only words he has ever used actively for milk and bread, respectively.
To sum up the score, summer holidays has put a strong focus on Swedish and I trust that, to both our sons, this stability has served as a motivator in their language development. Although we have an au-pair who speaks Swedish with them at home, there will now again be a strong bias towards Catalan in their daily exposure to languages. Mid-September 2007, Swedish wins a 4 – 0 runaway victory over Catalan in our family. I doubt that we will ever see such a walkover again.
Let me be honest about our background. It was not an interest in Catalan culture that made us move here. A work opportunity was what drew our attention to this place and a desire to learn Spanish combined with the nice climate were factors which made the decision easy. On the contrary to what many Catalans seem to believe, like many other Swedes we were fully aware that there existed a unique Catalan language, but felt as motivated to learn it as most Catalans feel about learning Swedish, i.e. close to zero.
This perspective changed dramatically once we arrived here. Although this is a bilingual region, I consider that learning Catalan is a necessity for anyone who is interested in what is going on and who wants to be integrated in local society. Possibly, you can avoid it if you live downtown Barcelona and get your local news through Lavanguardia - for historical reasons edited in Spanish - but not in the outskirts of the province, like here in Vilanova i la Geltrú. We have moved here with the intention to stay, to build a new home. It is Catalan, not Spanish, which our sons learn at daycare and in school. With this in mind, we have accepted the challenge to learn not one but two languages.
So here we are, a family of four, all with Swedish nationality but quite different backgrounds. In this blog, I plan to follow and share our experience in gaining access to the new language. Twice a year, I will establish which is the preferred language of each family member. At home we speak Swedish, so that language has a home ground advantage. However, it is Catalan which dominates street life here, so it will soon be given a tough match.
Swedish enjoys a strong backbone in my wife and me. We have now spent more than seven years outside our native country, but were both born, raised and educated there. In fact, I do not only believe but also hope that our mother tongue will remain our preferred language forever. Having said that, through our children Catalan will play a stronger and stronger role in our lives. Fairly soon, our sons will be given homework to write and I take it as my personal responsibility to be up to speed to help them once that day comes.
Our four-year-old is the true dark horse of the game. He was born abroad and thus has never lived in Sweden. However, Swedish is very firmly his first language, since it was the only language he brought with him when we moved here. In the future, when he starts to learn English, we will be able to tell whether his early exposure to that language has left any lasting marks. I doubt that we will ever be able to check the same thing with Thai, since the probability that he will want to learn that language is quite low.
Due to the long Spanish summer holidays, our oldest son regularly receives what I could call special injections of Swedish. For the third consecutive year, he has spent more than a month with his grandparents in Sweden. We can not help taking pride in the fact that he has such a rich vocabulary and sense of correct syntax that he is at least on par developmentwise when compared to children of the same age who have grown up in Sweden. This week he was very nervous about going back to school in Catalonia and blamed it on the language issue. However, that might well be a rationalization of a more general fear of having to leave home. My impression when talking to him after his first day back in the class room was that he enjoyed taking part in the activities, in spite of the language barrier.
It would not surprise me if he switches over and accepts the majority language as his preferred language as early as by the end of this year. He has already spent more than half of his life in here and currently is in a phase where he is actively exploring the possibilities of verbal language. If the talent which he possesses for observation and pronunciation of Swedish will be equally valid for Catalan, we can expect to see a remarkable development during the coming few months.
Finally, we have what from the perspective of the Swedish language is the weakest link of the family. Our one and a half-year old son was born here and has spent many hours in a Catalan daycare since he was only four months old. Fortunately enough for Swedish, his language development started to take off during these summer holidays. He now tries to imitate the sounds of more or less any word we repeat to him. It might well be that this interest came about once he felt that one language, in this case Swedish, started to dominate his daily life.
A special observation is that his passive understanding is far greater than his active use of words. For example, he never tells the names of animals, but happily imitates their sounds when we give him their names in Swedish. Neither does he name parts of his body, but is able to point them out when asked to do so. I believe this to be normal for children who grow up in a bilingual environment, since it must be easier to associate Swedish näsa and Catalan nas with one phenomenon, i.e. the nose, than to determine which of the two words you are select when someone asks you for them. Currently, our youngest son prefers Swedish for most basic words; nana (have a nap), godnatt (goodnight), glass (ice cream), äpple (apple), sko (shoe). However, his daycare teacher says that he is very active in repeating words after her as well. An interesting fact is that Catalan seems to have a strong grip of him at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Although he says mat in Swedish for food in general, llet and pa are the only words he has ever used actively for milk and bread, respectively.
To sum up the score, summer holidays has put a strong focus on Swedish and I trust that, to both our sons, this stability has served as a motivator in their language development. Although we have an au-pair who speaks Swedish with them at home, there will now again be a strong bias towards Catalan in their daily exposure to languages. Mid-September 2007, Swedish wins a 4 – 0 runaway victory over Catalan in our family. I doubt that we will ever see such a walkover again.
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
Els Segadors – a fortunate contrast between lyrics and national identity
During the summer, media has reported on the efforts currently being made to add words to sing to the Spanish national anthem. The aim is to create lyrics with a meaning to the people of Spain, something that is not easily accomplished in a state where big parts of the population prefer to present themselves as separate nationalites. One thing is sure – if they ever manage, the text will be very different from Els Segadors, Catalonia’s national anthem.
Today is September 11 and while the rest of the world will remember the appalling events on Manhattan in 2001, many Catalans will first and foremost look back at something which took place almost 300 years ago. Just before lunch today, I brought my two small sons to the Francesc Macià statue in Vilanova to let them take part in Catalonia's national holiday. Many national holidays serve to celebrate a victory or a major achievement, but here we commemorate a defeat which, on September 11 of 1714, resulted in that Catalonia lost its sovereignty.
Media usually focus on negative news so it is the nationalist struggles for a Basque Country independent from Spain which foreigners tend to know about. It is a sad fact that terrorist group ETA is again actively making use of bombs to reach their goals. For that reason, I want to point out that Catalan nationalism is peaceful and that the relatively high autonomy this region enjoys has been won through successive and democratic reforms. Interestingly enough, this stands in sharp contrast to the fight for freedom as described in Els Segadors, the national anthem.
Since the traditions of Catalonia receive a lot of attention in school here, I hope that teachers wait until children have reached a certain age before the start to analyse its lyrics. A modern interpretation can be that sickles are to be swung at any chain which restrict our freedom, but the text can easily be misinterpreted. Personally, I can not help it, but it makes me recall gruesome pictures of how the Hutus went about to allegedly liberate themselves from Tutsies in Rwanda in 1994. The lyrics of the Catalan national anthem should, as I see it, only be explained as a document of how people used to feel and act back in history. I hope that school will guide my sons to learn to solve conflicts without violence, and that teachers do not attempt to defend the ambiguities of Els Segadors only because it is one of the symbols of Catalonia.
Judging from the calm faces of our sensible fellow citizens while we were singing the anthem today, I have no doubt about the Catalan people’s non-violent approach in gaining further self-determination. As on earlier occasions, in his speach, local mayor Joan Ignasi Elena stressed this by encouraging people to make use of their Catalan identity to support the integration of newcomers and keep an open mind to the outside world. Having said that, I admit to be happy that my oldest son did not ask me any questions about Els Segadors. Already next year, when he will be five years old, I can expect him to be a lot less innocent. Before then I will have to find some good answers to what we are aiming at with the sickles.
Today is September 11 and while the rest of the world will remember the appalling events on Manhattan in 2001, many Catalans will first and foremost look back at something which took place almost 300 years ago. Just before lunch today, I brought my two small sons to the Francesc Macià statue in Vilanova to let them take part in Catalonia's national holiday. Many national holidays serve to celebrate a victory or a major achievement, but here we commemorate a defeat which, on September 11 of 1714, resulted in that Catalonia lost its sovereignty.
Media usually focus on negative news so it is the nationalist struggles for a Basque Country independent from Spain which foreigners tend to know about. It is a sad fact that terrorist group ETA is again actively making use of bombs to reach their goals. For that reason, I want to point out that Catalan nationalism is peaceful and that the relatively high autonomy this region enjoys has been won through successive and democratic reforms. Interestingly enough, this stands in sharp contrast to the fight for freedom as described in Els Segadors, the national anthem.
Since the traditions of Catalonia receive a lot of attention in school here, I hope that teachers wait until children have reached a certain age before the start to analyse its lyrics. A modern interpretation can be that sickles are to be swung at any chain which restrict our freedom, but the text can easily be misinterpreted. Personally, I can not help it, but it makes me recall gruesome pictures of how the Hutus went about to allegedly liberate themselves from Tutsies in Rwanda in 1994. The lyrics of the Catalan national anthem should, as I see it, only be explained as a document of how people used to feel and act back in history. I hope that school will guide my sons to learn to solve conflicts without violence, and that teachers do not attempt to defend the ambiguities of Els Segadors only because it is one of the symbols of Catalonia.
Judging from the calm faces of our sensible fellow citizens while we were singing the anthem today, I have no doubt about the Catalan people’s non-violent approach in gaining further self-determination. As on earlier occasions, in his speach, local mayor Joan Ignasi Elena stressed this by encouraging people to make use of their Catalan identity to support the integration of newcomers and keep an open mind to the outside world. Having said that, I admit to be happy that my oldest son did not ask me any questions about Els Segadors. Already next year, when he will be five years old, I can expect him to be a lot less innocent. Before then I will have to find some good answers to what we are aiming at with the sickles.
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