Linguae Europaeae

by Karol Funez Karol Funez is a senior in Political Science and Global Studies at The University of Illinois. Karol is planning to work in sales after graduation and is interested in Law, she hopes to attend law school in the near future. She wrote this blog post in 418 'Language and Minorities in Europe' course, in spring 2019.  One of the best-known and highest ranked soccer teams in the world; known for having soccer players such as Lionel Messi; is the Football Club Barcelona (FC Barcelona). My family follows Spain’s soccer league very closely and, naturally, are huge fans of FC Barcelona. Usually, both, before and after soccer matches, the soccer players will have either press conferences or interviews. As a Spanish speaker myself, I would notice when soccer players would switch from Spanish to a language that sounded like Spanish but was not. I later learned that this language is called Catalan. Catalan is a Romance language that developed two thousand years ago and remai...

By Emilee McArdle I spoke with my friend, Albert Lozano, who lives in a Catalonian town, Lleida. He is a graphic designer for several different companies in Catalonia. He is 24 years old. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design 3 years ago from the BAU Design College of Barcelona. He represents one opinion from one person in Catalonia, but I believe that his thoughts on Catalonia are very important in representing Catalonian culture. I asked him several questions to see his impressions regarding the Catalan language. Flag of Catalonia What are your thoughts regarding the national government (Madrid) in relation to the region (Community) of Catalonia? That’s a tricky question. It’s not easy to define feelings about both institutions. If I am honest with myself. I need to recognize that my feelings towards Catalonia are significantly stronger compared to the combined feelings with Spain. I feel Catalonian more so than Spanish. It’s true that since the 20th centur...

by Rafael Arturo Rodriguez Diaz History has taught us that when a region develops certain elements, such as a sense of identity and even independent governance, they will look for sovereignty. Language is one of those essential elements for a population to develop an identity and distinguish themselves from others. In Spain, a wealthy and highly industrialized region with a strong desire for independence is Catalonia (BBC). Catalan, with more than a millennium of history (“Latin American”, 3),  is recognized as the official language of the region, along with Spanish. However, the region is also known for its many Latin American immigrants which live in some of the most touristy places in Spain, like the city of Barcelona. In the next few paragraphs, I will present examples of how Latin American immigration and tourism in the region have reinforced the use of the Spanish over Catalan in the city of Barcelona, and how this represents a threat for the Catalan language and the eagern...

By Erin LePoire Erin LePoire graduated from University of Illinois in Spring 2016, with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, and Spanish. The people have spoken, or at least voted, and the regional parliament of Catalonia decided to begin the process of secession from Spain, with hopes of completing it by the year 2017 ( Time.com ). The likelihood of actually accomplishing secession remains to be seen, but the fact that the process has begun is a big step in and of itself. To look at how Catalonia got here, it is important to review Catalonia’s past. Catalonia came to be a part of the Frankish Empire in the late 9th and 10th centuries, not becoming a part of the Spanish Empire until the 15th century with the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand. The war of Spanish secession in the 18th century was a real blow to Catalonian independence, in that the Catalonian state was abolished and Spain became a ‘unified nation’ ( cataloniavotes.eu ). Fast forward to Franco’s dicta...

Photo by Jorge Guerrero, courtesy of Yahoo! Could sound-change in language contact situations threaten a language? The case of Spanish-Catalan bilingualism By Stephanie Landblom Stephanie Landblom wrote this blog entry for the course “Language and minorities in Europe” (FRIT 418) in Spring 2016. She is a graduate student in Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include second language acquisition with a focus on second language phonological acquisition. Despite the fact that bilingualism and multilingualism is a common phenomenon across the world, it is often mired in controversy. For instance, much has been said about whether being bilingual puts speakers at a cognitive advantage or disadvantage, which is especially relevant to parents trying to raise their children in a global society, immigrant parents, as well as for governments considering linguistic educational policies. Decades ago, it was widely believed that bei...

by Cathy Swanson Cathy Swanson is a Masters student in Accounting with a Minor in Spanish. She is planning on working full-time at Ernst & Young’s Financial Services in Chicago and is interested in traveling in the near future. She wrote this text as a student enrolled in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’ in the spring of 2015. Image Source It is impossible to summarize the progress made by Catalan, one of the regional minority languages of Spain, in the areas of culture, officialdom, and formal uses (Pons and Vila 2005). In fact, in many respects, Catalan might no longer considered a minority language in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, as it has become the predominant language of education from kindergarten to university and the local government in the autonomous region of Catalonia (Vila i Moreno 2008). The criteria used by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages to define regional or minority languages include historicity, territoriality, lingu...

by Bernard Brennan Bernard Brennan is a graduate student in Political Science at the University of Illinois. Bernard is planning on researching the politics of separatism in Europe and is interested in regional integration and challenges to sovereignty. He wrote this text in PS 418, ‘Language and Minorities in Europe.’ Image Source El próximo año, voy a tener la gran oportunidad de estudiar la lengua y cultura catalana, gracias a una beca universitaria que se llama “Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship.” Esta beca será administrada por el Centro de la Unión Europea aquí en la Universidad de Illinois. La primera cosa que he aprendido es que las personas van a decir ciertas cosas y van a formular muchas preguntas sobre este tema. Por esta razón, les presento mi entrada de blog. ¿Por qué? Why? Soy estudiante de posgrado en el departamento de ciencias políticas aquí en la Universidad de Illinois. Por eso, la razón por la que quiero aprender esta nueva lengua está basa...

A review of El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante (Bilingualism in the Spanish-speaking world) by Silvina Montrul. by Itxaso Rodríguez-Ordóñez Itxaso Rodríguez-Ordóñez is a Ph.D student in the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese at the University of Illinois where she is conducting her research in Basque-Spanish bilingualism. The author of this book, Professor Silvina Andrea Montrul , is a Professor in the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese and the Department of Linguistics at the University of Illinois. She is the director of the Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism Lab (SLAB) and the founder and director of the University Language Academy for Children . Editor: Jessica Nicholas (PhD Candidate in French) Source: United World College Maastricht Geography wiki What is common between a Catalan, a Basque, and a Galician from Spain? Try this: all three speak a local language at home and so-called Spanish (Castilian) in school and at work. Tru...

by Alyssa Shroyer | Editor: Jessica Nicholas (PhD candidate in French) Alyssa Shroyer is a Senior in Early Childhood Education. In the ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’ (418) EUC survey class, she focused on bilingual education in the Autonomous Territories of Spain that possess political power to enact their own measures on local languages and cultures. In this blog entry, she asks whether local pride should take precedence over global utility when opting for types of bilingual education. I recently read an article by Julie Kaminski regarding two schools in northern Barcelona , the Oriol Martorell School and Colonia Guell that have undergone change in the past decade, incorporating the teaching of Catalan as the primary language of their curriculum.  Spanish is minimally taught for all ages.  English is taught as a second foreign language in early elementary school, only 3 hours per week.  Italian is also a part of the curriculum as “it goes well with music.”...