Language in Barcelona
 

hello, I am planning to go to Barcelona in April.
I don’t speak any Spanish, will that be a problem?

No especially since the local language is Catalan not the Spanish - though I understand the languages are close and Spanish is widely spoken. But not knowing either will be no problems -never had problems in my several visits.

https://www.barcelona-university.es/...-castilian.htm

Thank you

Gracias - and as always learning a few phrases of the local language is always appreciated. Like Thank you, good-bye, excuse or pardon me, etc.

Actually, I wouldn't say Catalan is close to Spanish at all, it is close to Occitan, the language of SW France. However, that isn't the reason for no problems as people in Barcelona DO speak Spanish, of course. I don't know Catalan, just studied it a bit for a few words (as it really isn't any use elsewhere), but I do speak Spanish enough to get by and there wasn't a single person in Barcelona who couldn't converse with me in Spanish, such as people in the neighborhood, stores, museums, any kind of service personnel, etc. It just isn't true that people in Catalonia don't know Spanish, they couldn't get along in the world if they couldn't, such as getting jobs. I think you may find some old people out in rural areas or something like that who don't know Spanish. Now the signs in some small stores may only be in Catalan as it is this big identity thing now (if you've been to Quebec, you know what this issue is), and I think they are requiring it more in schools due to that reason, but otherwise, no problem. Younger people certainly know how to speak in Spanish. I don't recall signs in museums, etc., only being in Catalan. I remember buying some ground coffee in a neighborhood market (as i was staying in an apt.) and the label and info was only in Catalan and I had to ask someone I found shopping there what some of the words meant, but he certainly understood Spanish which I could speak.

But the reason it won't be a problem is Barcelona is a very popular tourist destination and people in hotels and restaurants, etc., know enough English that you shouldn't have a problem. Now there may be some service people who do not, though (such as metro ticket clerks, maybe even some train or taxi personnel, etc), but thousands of tourists get by there and you will too.

The language of Barcelona is Catalan. It's not "close" to Spanish. As Christina notes, it's very similar to Occitan, which if you've a background in latinate languages isn't that hard to understand, but it's not Spanish by any means. At any rate, everyone in Barcelona will speak Spanish and/or English, so you needn't worry about language issues unless you venture into the deep countryside. The same is true for the Catalan-speaking areas in France.

As noted above they speak both Catalan and Spanish in Barcelona and plenty of English. And one of the conceits of the Catalans is to speak an excellent version of Spanish besides their tradition tongue. Tourists abound in Barcelona and for your purposes you will not have a problem. For example one spot you are sure to pass is Plaça de Catalunya. That is Catalan while the Spanish version is Plaza de Cataluna. There is little difference. Have a wonderful time.
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Languages
 

Catalans speak both Spanish and Catalan. Just across the border they speak Catalan and Provençal. In SW France they speak French, Euskara, the language of the Basque speakers, Béarnese, which is a variant of Gascon, which itself is a dialect of Occitan. Tourism professionals typically speak English.

You probably won't recongize the difference between Catalan and Spanish - many go to Barthelona (as it's pronounced in Catalan I believe) and think Spanish was the lanugage.

No, Pal, it is not pronounced Barthelona in Catalan. It is pronounced Barcelona. With the "s" sound. Stop making stuff up.

And anyone with half a brain would realise that Spanish and Catalan are two entirely separate languages. And quite different from each other. If you understand Occitan, which I do to a certain extent, Catalan isn't terribly difficult. But it's definitely not Spanish.

yesnomaybe, in most tourist areas, you'll find English understood. English translations abound. As others above have mentioned, do learn the basic please and thank you! Good day.

The 'th' sound in Barcelona is the Castilian Spanish, yes? I read that 30% speak Catalan (at least publicly) because Franco banned its use during his long dictatorship. My 4th grade teacher said "Ponth" de Leon rather than Ponce.

I tried to learn Catalan and found vast differences, PalenQ but that could have been me.

When I stayed in Barcelona some years ago, the concierge in our building spoke only Catalan. I don’t speak Spanish, but if I spoke French and he spoke Catalan we managed to communicate.

https://www.hudin.com/blog/going-to-...ot-barthelona/

Not clear as to Barcelona or Barthelona to casual listeners like moi. Interesting take.

Not unclear at all. It's BarCelona. Did you read the article?

Or they could just rename it Gaudiville and be done with it.

Everyone pretty much speaks English. Everyone speaks Spanish, and also Catalan. The th in the pronunciation of Barthelona is Castilian which is Spanish. Catalan is very different from Spanish. I used some Spanish, but don't worry about not knowing any. Saying please and thank you in Spanish is usually appreciated.

Catalan more like French
 

I've been working on learning just enough Catalan for our visit. It is much closer to French than I anticipated. Which is good because I really could not get my tongue around Castilian Spanish.

French can't be too much like Spanish - my French son struggled with Spanish in school and after a few years' studying knows nearly nothing.

I find Spanish and English and French have many common words from Latin but little else.

yesnomaybe - I just got back from my first trip to Barcelona a few hours ago. I can tell you that you will be able to communicate pretty well in English. Almost everyone I met spoke some English, with many people being near-fluent. English versions of menus are also common, even away from the typical tourist traps like La Rambla.

You should jot down a few very basic Catalan or Spanish phrases, though, as this is more respectful and will also make your life easier. I found both languages used widely - in fact, Spanish more so. Here are the essentials:

Hola = hello - this is really essential, you will be greeted with hola everywhere
Gracias = thank you (again, essential)

De nada = you’re welcome - you will often hear this said to you in restaurants or bars when you say “gracias” (or if you help someone and they say “gracias”, you can say this in response)

La cuenta, por favor = the bill/cheque, please

Also -

the word “sortir” = it means “exit” in Catalan, and this is what you will see in Metro stations. Handy to know!

The other thing that that will help you is to learn how to order popular drinks in bars (if you drink):

una copa de cava - a glass of cava
una copa/pinta Estrella - a glass/pint of Estrella (or whatever beer)
una clara - half beer, half lemonade
una tinto de verano - half red wine, half lemonade

I hope you have fun in Barcelona! Don’t be scared about the language at all. You will be totally fine!

Maybe an old thread...but I was planning to visit Barcelona to learn Spanish in September.

I guess I will learn Catalan phrases. I want to be polite and respectful.

But I really want to learn Spanish for work purposes (I just feel like Barcelona would be a better place to live for a month with my family, a lot to see etc). If speaking Spanish is OK to get by does anyone know if there's like a strong accent?

I studied Spanish in school and went on holiday once to near to Cadiz and...I couldn't understand a word! Please, I'm fully respectful of local cultures, and I know this is a self-interested question. But where's best to learn for the accent?

As a Basque native, linguist, fluent in Spanish, English, French and a good knowledge of Basque: Catalan has many similarities with Spanish, but of course with many differences. I could understand most of a written Catalan (which also has several dialects) but not much of spoken Catalan. The one spoken in towns is much more complicated to understand, as the influence of Spanish is weaker. Everybody that speaks Catalan also speaks Spanish, and in cosmopolitan Barcelona you will find no issues with English in most places.

A side note: Spain has one official language, Castellano (as it´s called in the Constitution) or Spanish, and then there are 3 autonomous communities where they (we) also have other co-official language: Catalan in Catalonia (in Valencia and Majorca it´s also called "Valenciano" and "Mallorquín", with much controversy on if it´s the same language), Galician in northwestern Galicia (close to Spanish and Portuguese) and Basque in the Basque Country. As an anecdote, I got a question a few years ago on a travel forum about schedules for bilingual masses in Bilbao cathedral, the OP thought it was English and Spanish, and was really surprised when he attended a Basque and Spanish mass :)

Many Catalan don't want to speak Spanish anyway. It is not a big problem to get around with English only.

[QUOTE=bangkokexpat3048;17586350]Many Catalan don't want to speak Spanish anyway “

I never found that to be true. I speak Spanish ( Castellano) so do Catalans and many citizens of Barcelona who settled in the city from other areas of Spain.

Danon is right. You can get around just fine speaking Castellano (Spanish) in Barcelona. No one is going to expect a foreign tourist to speak Catalan. If You DO speak Catalan, you might get smiles and appreciation but few foreign visitors speak that language and since you will likely be encountering people in the hospitality industry, no one is going to expect you to speak Catalan..I would try to master it only if I were to stay a few months....
Except for elders in rural villages, I THINK that most people in Catalunya have good knowledge of Spanish.

Though I have no answers to the specific questions posed, I've been following these comments with some interest; for after several trips to Spain I still haven’t visited Barcelona, and I realize I should one of these days — and I would appreciate a good pragmatic excuse to study Catalan, which has a rich litereary heritage, and also a close affinity to Provençal and Occitan, which are also of great historic significance.

But while Catalan may be the major common language in Catalonia generally (and I don’t know that for a fact), I do wonder just how extensively Catalan is used in Barcelona itself. For Barcelona is a huge and economically significant city, and I’m sure that people from all over Spain, and perhaps from all over the EU, flock into Barcelona for those almighty Jobs — and only a tiny proportion of those persons, if any, will know Catalan. From which it follows that tourists attempting to speak Catalan in Barcelona may frequently find themselves speaking to people who don’t know Catalan themselves!

So I’m wondering whether I’m right about this, or whether I’m missing something. Will tourists who attempt Catalan in Barcelona usually find themselves communicating with native Catalan speakers? Ot might this be just too hard to judge?

In my experience most of the people that deal with tourists speak English. Some speak French. Some speak German. Some speak Italian. Most will use whatever they think you need.

If you stop a random person on a random residential street? They might speak Catalan to you. It's not a rare event. But unless you're lost in the suburbs language is a non issue.

I agree with Nick.

My guess is that very, very few foreign residents, and their number is huge, speak Catalan.

Master a few basic phrases..good morning, how are you, thank you....that's what I will do next time I go. I speak pretty fluent
Spanish and never had a problem in any area of Catalunya.

Thanks to Nick and eskcrunchy for answering my query, above, on Catalan in Barcelona. My course seems clear; whenever I'm able to make it to that city I’ll plan on using my Spanish (for I always try hard to avoid English), though I suspect that out of sheer interest I’ll seek to acquire as much basic Catalan as I can mange.