opinio
A timely warning for all Catalan speakers Catalan losing migrants
Number of newcomers studying Catalan falls by 44% in past five year with only 4.2% habitually using the language
Polls suggest Catalan is in a healthy state, with ever more people using the language on a daily basis. Yet studies also point to a blind spot: the slow progress in the spread of the language among migrants. The survey of linguistic use for 2013 found that 4.2% of residents use Catalan habitually, well below the 56% who use Spanish regularly. What's more, the figures are in stark contrast to the 68% of people (in the same survey) who claim an interest in learning or improving their Catalan.
Nor are the numbers on courses of the Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística (CPNL) encouraging: in five years the number of students has fallen by 43%, a higher percentage than that of migrants who have left the country due to the effects of the crisis.
The question is how to explain this decline at a time when Catalonia is immersed in a process that could lead to independence, and with integration legislation (llei d'acollida) granting residency in exchange for passing basic qualifications in the Catalan language.
A necessary tool
Sociolinguists have long warned that the language will only be more widely used if it is seen by its potential speakers as necessary for everyday life, which is still clearly not the case in Catalonia. To this must be added the effects of the economic crisis, which according to the CPNL and the Catalan culture department, has been crucial in keeping newcomers from taking the plunge and learning Catalan. High unemployment has led many migrants to return to their own countries, but also fewer foreign residents are arriving, who are the people who can benefit most from Catalan courses. At the same time, those migrants who have stayed now have a lower standard of living, and therefore less disposable income and less free time.
A ‘normal' decline
Eulàlia Buch, regional coordinator for Acollida Lingüística of the Plataforma per la Llengua, says it is “normal” that the numbers signed up with the CPNL should go down due to the corresponding fall in the numbers of newcomers arriving in the country. Buch also points out that “there is now a wider range of options to learn the language, such as online courses or the Voluntariat per la llengua programme, which last year included 10,189 linguistic pairings.
Meanwhile, Javier García Bonomi, president of the Federació d'Entitats Llatinoamericanes de Catalunya (Fedelatina) says the issue should not be seen in purely economic terms: “Studying Catalan has to be done out of an interest in the country and for personal development,” he says, referring to the links of “affection” often created between linguistic pairs.
The Fedelatina president also says that it is a difficult time for many migrants: “There are a lot of people at risk of social exclusion, who do not have the money to buy the Catalan textbook, while there are others who have to do two or three jobs to get to the end of the month, and who cannot find courses at the weekend,” he says. Bonomi calls on the authorities to make a greater effort where newcomers are concerned: “Migrants have been overlooked by the Catalan sovereignty process,” he concludes.
The IEC report warns about a decline in the social use of Catalan, and about a difference in the numbers of those who habitually use Catalan and those who use Spanish. The news that Catalan is no longer attracting as many foreign newcomers is itself an indication that the interest in and the use of the language is stagnating. The data provide a warning about where this issue may end up if the process towards independence does not progress, or if it becomes bogged down in interminable discussions about candidates and electoral strategy. The language is at the heart of who we are and these warning about a decline in its use on the part of migrants should not be underestimated. The institutional threats against Catalan in places like the Balearic Islands and Valencia may have disappeared, but there are plenty more at home here in Catalonia.
Integration law at a snail's pace
In April 2010, the Catalan parliament passed a migrant integration law that, among other things, grants residency to foreign newcomers who manage to obtain a basic Catalan language certificate after doing a set course. However, the final stage of the legislative process was not completed until last November. Only now are some local authorities beginning to put the new regulations into effect.
Nevertheless, the director general of the immigration department, Xavier Bosch, is convinced that the “ambitious and pioneering” law will eventually lead more migrants to sign up for Catalan courses.
Newcomers to the country who want to get the certificate have to complete a 90-hour course. Passing the course accredits their Catalan language skills at the basic A1 and A2 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The standard by which language proficiency is judged on a European level.
Catalan with a Honduran accent
Although they work from Monday to Friday, each Saturday a group of women of Honduran origin get together to study Catalan in the Sortidor civic centre in Poble-sec. They come from all over the greater Barcelona area with the aim of aiding their integration by learning the local language. Yet, they are the exception rather than the rule: “There are almost no Catalan courses on Saturdays and Sundays,” laments Jorge Irías, president of the Federació d'Associacions d'Hondurenys a Catalunya, which years ago reached an agreement with the Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística to do Catalan courses for its member on Saturdays, from 4 to 8 pm in Poble-sec.
“The timetable is limited. In Barcelonès and the surroundings there are enough courses, but further afield it is hard to find any,” says Maria Lapasset of the CPNL.
Brenda and Ilsa are studying Catalan because they believe it could be useful for finding work and as a tool to “integrate into Catalan society and culture”.
“Everyone has their own reasons for learning Catalan: some for work, other to help their children's studies, and so on, but in every case we value it as personal development,” says Irías.