“Catalan is screaming out that it is dying; we must save it”

Joaquim Arenas. QUIM PUIG.

If a teacher speaks bad Catalan, it’s a bad model for the students

Elena Ferran / eferran@elpuntavui.cat

Joaquim Arenas was the architect of the Catalan school and language immersion programmes, a project conceived during the Franco regime that made it possible for Catalan to become the vehicular language in classrooms.

Catalan is losing social influence and is going backwards. Is it dying or is there still hope?

It’s a complicated situation. I think there’s a linguistic emergency and it’s good that we have realised that. Catalan is screaming out that it’s dying and we must all save it together. The government won’t. Every citizen must be a supporter of the language. Although it may seem difficult, this must happen. Otherwise, we lose the greatest treasure that the Catalan people have, which is their language.

A weak and minority language. Have we been too soft?

Language defines us and has helped us to form Catalan thought. Therefore, any sphere that forgets language, that doesn’t have it in mind as its first objective, is useless. Have we been too soft? Maybe. The minister Antoni Subirà said this back when the text about the Spanish language was drafted for the Constitution.

Are there too many cracks in the system, allowing judges to abuse Catalan quotas in classrooms?

The language of a state is compulsory, but the languages of the regions must also be protected. The Constitution doesn’t do that. This gives rise to judges having a say in how many hours teachers must teach in Catalan. What do the judges know about learning? Teachers must use the language as a subject and teach in Catalan. They’re always teachers of the language; if they don’t do this, all is lost. In the rest of Europe, small languages are treated very well.

Should some teachers be assessed in Catalan?

The fact that teachers are not sufficiently trained also puts Catalan in danger. If a teacher makes spelling mistakes on the blackboard or speaks bad Catalan, it’s a bad model for the students. Teachers must always be very competent in the language they use. Another mistake that I think has been made has been the elimination of the Catalan Teaching Service, the Sedec, in 2006. This first service provided by the Catalan government had the mission of acting as a spearhead to preserve the quality and use of the language in schools. Its disappearance has led to a decrease in supervision and a loss of quality implementing Catalan in the classroom.

Catalan is the vehicular language in schools, but it’s going backwards. Why is that?

It was from the moment that the general education law, the Logse, came out, that Catalan was supposed to become the habitual language of instruction. And the term “habitual” was used so as not to contradict the Constitution. The Logse gives more strength to Catalan, but in practice it removes the pressure of doing it well in correct Catalan, with good teaching and quality. I wonder where politicians and officials were looking when the decline in the use of Catalan began in 2006. The law gives more presence and security to Catalan within the school, and the administration thinks that this is enough and relaxes. This is another big mistake.

We even say ourselves that Catalan is very difficult.

But we shouldn’t, because it’s hurting the good name of the language. It’s not difficult for a child. They learn it and it becomes completely normal. Spanish is poorer because it has neither the weak pronouns nor all the vowels of Catalan, but Catalan was structured in a very wise way. This was done by Pompeu Fabra, who as a chemistry teacher dedicated almost all his life to structuring Catalan grammatically. He is a character that I have always admired.

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