What language should you speak in Barcelona?

Introduction

One question, a thousand answers!

After having acquired "a bit" of experience, I feel like I can finally respond to this question. The answer, however, is quite complex and it really depends on what interests you have when you visit this dreamy city.

Months ago, before even landing in Spain, the Catalan language was nothing but a distant thought for me. I was asking everyone I knew to tell me what language they thought I should be speaking in Barcelona. If you've read some of my previous posts, I'll remind you that the language issue was initially the main factor that kept me away from Barcelona.

Despite this, however, I need to thank the Language Exchange group that has taught me almost everything I know about the Spanish language! In this picture you can notice how I made an unexpected friend during one of our multilingual group conversations at a picnic in Barcelona's Ciutadela Park.

Fearing Catalan

So after asking around my friends, I had been led to believe that if I didn't learn Catalan I would not have it easy in Barcelona.

At the same time, however, I was feeling quite confused because some other people were telling me that they got around fine in Barcelona with Spanish, or at least with some English. So how does it really work? I can only answer that now, after having lived it for myself.

English? No thanks!

I believe that the people who say they got around with only Spanish and some English in Barcelona didn't live the full experience, but rather only a fleeting impression of the city. This is precisely why I believe that the language you'll end up using in Barcelona doesn't depend on the city, but on you. More specifically, it revolves around the reason you're in Barcelona in the first place.

I'll try to simplify these ideas to be as clear as possible as well as to hopefully provide you with some useful information.

A Language for Tourists!

As some of my friends had told me, if you're an Italian tourist in Barcelona it's easy enough to "learn some Spanish" on the spot in order to communicate with the locals (this is especially relevant if your native language is Italian, or another Latin-based language, though I cannot guarantee that it's as easy for speakers of other languages). In the spirit of being a good tourist, however, I would advise you to at least inform yourselves a bit prior to your trip about some language peculiarities in Barcelona.

If, however, you're coming to Barcelona to work in a primarily English-speaking workplace, as is the case for my flatmate, you would be able to "safely" get by speaking only English. I'm stressing "safely" because it's important to note that one of the few shortcomings of the Catalans is that very few people participating and working in the tourist sector actually know English.

A bit of Spanish!

If you are an English speaker, it would be a shame if you only spoke to people who understood your language, and thus I would encourage you to at least repeat or learn a bit of Spanish.

If you're coming over to Barcelona as an Erasmus exchange student, don't be discouraged!

Exams in Spanish for Everyone!

While studying here in Barcelona I learned that many professors allow students to write their exams in Spanish instead of in Catalan. Personally, my situation is quite a bit different since I came to Barcelona to work on my thesis, and it was suggested to me that I undertake this opportunity to study entirely in Catalan, which I am doing with pleasure.

Long Live Catalan!

When thinking back to my first impressions of the Catalan language and about the general impressions people tend to have about it, it made sense to have some doubts and fears about having to learn it. Fortunately, after a mere few days of immersing myself in the language, my opinion about it evolved quite radically.

For this reason alone I would invite you to read my article about the Catalan language, as, with great pleasure, I'll show you that it's a language that merits a post "all for itself. " The Catalan language has the ability to surprise you beyond what you can imagine!

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