what languages are you doing or want to begin?

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Reply 120

Richy Rich$$

Manatee

Isn't Romanian supposed to be the living language which is closest to Latin?

Im not sure, but it is quite close to latin, but the grammar isnt as hard as latin.

Reply 121

Goldenratio

i dont think it actually is officially an EU language yet, it has semi-official status, like galego and euskara. however, it is spoken by millions of people, more people than the scandinavian languages, and i think about the same number as portuguese (within europe) and greek.

as for the funny looks, that kind of thing doesnt bother me.

what use is catalan? well, thats like saying what use is studying dutch if you aint gonna live in the netherlands. i chose to study it because i do like my romance languages, and as i learn it i love it more and more. whether it is useful or not, i think it depends on what you want to do. i may well want to live in catalunya in a couple of years, and i am going there for six months in 2006, so it definitely will be useful for me. and it is a growing language, its not dying out, and i reckon it will see a growth like welsh did. i think regional identity is still important to the catalan people, and the language is such an intrinsic part of this identity that i doubt it will disappear. but i think their bilingualism is very important also. and if and when it does eventually get official status, there will be loads of jobs created for people with a knowledge of catalan, i reckon. the spanish government paid for the three regional languages to become semi-official in the EU, and this shows that they are actively supporting and protecting them, so they wont vanish. plus, it is the language of the most beautiful city in the world, and one of europes greatest football teams, so if speaking it increases my chances of getting a job there, excellent.

Yes i certainly do agree with you about the football team! :biggrin:

hehe
As far as national identity, most of the regional languages are linked to nationalistic movements in Spain. Catalunya considers itself as a different country to Spain, just the same as Euskadi does, but without the violence.

The nationalism dates back to the Franco era, when all languages apart from Castellano were banned, which cuased them to become clandestine.
Absolutely, a job in the province will need català, as most people won't even give you a second glance if you don't speak it. It can get very nasty in that respect. :P
The language is often used as a means of superiority and to shun foreigners (la gent qui no parla català).
I'm going to study in Amsterdam as from September, that's the main reason i want to learn dutch. I thought its sentence structure would be very similar to german, but i'm noticing it's not, as some verbs are moved into strange places :s-smilie: