Coming back from a short trip to Catalunya I am a bit absorbed in many thoughts that I wanted to share with you. 💫
🏞️ Catalan is a minority language spoken in the surroundings of the Balearic Sea. It is spoken by 10.000.000 people in Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Aragon, Murcia, the Pyrenees and l'Alguer (Sardinia). In some places, the language is known by the name of the variety (Valencian, Menorcan, etc). 🏞️
🤓 Catalan also happens to be the only minority language that I am learning (the rest are hegemonic languages). Even though I chose to learn a minority language close to the Basque Country for ideological reasons, every time I travel there it is a bit of a challenge to put it in practice, rather than sticking to the commodity of speaking Spanish. Luckily, Catalan people proudly speak their language and tend to be very welcoming to those who are trying (mersi per això 💖). During my journey, I met a Catalan who spoke Basque better than most people I know. Our exchange happened in Catalan and Basque, which I think was pretty awesome. 🔥🔥🔥
In short, I just feel grateful for the chance I had of meeting new people and keeping the wonderful friends I already have of such a soul warming culture, even if it is for some days now and then.🤔
❗Interestingly, all of them have talked to me about how Catalan's situation is terrible, or even that it is going to be extinct in the next 50-100 years. As a Basque speaker, I tend to think that they are crazy, because I compare it to the low numbers of Basque. This discrepancy, however, only shows how much work we still have left when it comes to linguistic rights, no matter how many speakers a language has...
🗺️Have you ever tried to get to know a minority community during a holiday or somewhere you moved to?
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