Catalan survival kit

About this kit

Catalan (català) is spoken by around 10 million people in Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, Andorra and French Roussillon. A fully fledged Romance language (not a dialect of Spanish), it has its own literature, academy and thousand-year history. With this kit, you have the bare essentials for Barcelona, Valencia, Palma or Andorra.

Catalan (català) is a Western Romance language spoken by around 10 million people across Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, Andorra (where it is the official language), part of Aragon (Franja) and French Roussillon (Northern Catalonia). Often wrongly described as a dialect of Spanish, it is in fact a fully fledged language, closer to Occitan than to Castilian, with its own thousand-year literature (Ramon Llull in the 13th century), academy (Institut d'Estudis Catalans, IEC), normative dictionary (DIEC2) and public media (TV3). Catalan phonology stands out for its open and closed vowels marked in spelling (è/é, ò/ó), its neutral schwa /ə/ in unstressed positions (central variety), and its specific sounds such as /ʎ/ (ll), /ɲ/ (ny) and /ʃ/ (ix). Travelling in Catalan-speaking lands means discovering Barcelona and Gaudí's Sagrada Família, the Gothic Quarter, Montjuïc, but also Valencia and its City of Arts, the beaches of Mallorca and Menorca, the perched villages of the Costa Brava, the wines of the Penedès and cava sparkling wine. This kit gathers the bare essentials to handle an arrival at El Prat in Barcelona, a metro or train ride, an order at a bodega or braseria, a medical emergency and a smooth departure. You will find greetings adapted to the formal Catalan address (vostè), phrases to find your way, key words for eating and sleeping, plus cultural tips to distinguish Catalan, Valencian and Balearic. Memorise these expressions before leaving and you will gain confidence and the respect of the locals.