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Born in London, moved to Barcelona in 1998. Married to Pilar with two kiddies.

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1. 

   Comment by cescu on 25 September 2007:

   Hi, Steve. I’ve just read your comment searching around the net, and I wanted to comment something. I don’t know what kind of friends you have, but the one’s that told you to say cristiano, i hope they were saying it as a joke.

   To ask the girl to speak you in cristiano is very despective way, is like a great swearing to someone that is catalan. Is like telling nigger to black people in the US.

   Catalan was forbidden under Franco’s dictatorship for 40 years. An immigration of policeman, country’s administrative and workers for other regions in Spain came to Catalonia. Today half of the people that live in Catalonia are descendent from those that arrive in the 60’s, that is the reason why Spanish is so spoken in Catalonia.

   Policeman and Spanish nationalists despised Catalans and catalan language. When someone spoke in catalan to those, they would say speak in cristiano not in polish (referred to catalan) because we are in Spain.

   I’m going to answer you about the question of the language at school. It’s normal that school is done in catalan, is the language of the region and it was like this before Franco.

   Next time, i hope you don’t repeat the error.

   Gaudeix de Catalunya i dels catalans, que encara que sembli que no en som molts. El que passa que no cridem tant com els altres.
2. 

   Comment by steve on 26 September 2007:

   Hi Cescu thanks for your comments. I didn´t actually ask her to speak in “Cristiano” only Spanish but I felt like saying it if you get my meaning and I think the situation deserved it.

   May I ask you a few questions - Do you not think that the girl behind the counter who obviously spoke perfect Spanish as well as Catalan should have spoken to me (a guiri) in Spanish? Wouldn´t it have been kinder knowing full that that I didn´t speak Catalan to attend me in Spanish?

   Regarding the schooling here in Catalonia: I think it´s great that the kids do it all in Catalan but to treat Spanish as a foreign language is a joke - especially being in Spain.

   I do not see the point of teaching kids 1 or 2 hours of Spanish a week. I used to teach English and quite a few children had problems writing and even speaking Spanish properly. It seems that the schools are putting more emphasis on learning English rather than Spanish, now that really is sad, isn´t it?

   I think what happened in the past should be left there and not be used as an excuse to use Franco´s same tactics to impose Catalan on the people here.
3. 

   Comment by cescu on 26 September 2007:

   Hi Steve,

   The linguistic thematic is a very sensible thematic. I don’t know the situation you had in the town hall, and why the woman answered you in half catalan, half spanish. So, I can’t know the reason, usually if you kindly demand to speak in Spanish there should not be a problem, we, catalans are a very open-minded people. We like to talk to foreigners and to know their cultures.

   The problem for the survival of our language is that we have received lots of immigration, I remembered 12 years ago there was any immigration from out the Spanish State. And people who came from Spain, where being integrated, speaking catalan, participating in cultural acts, ….

   In this integration, school and catalan medias have played a very important role. For people from “ghettos” of the 60’s immigration like Santa Coloma de Gramanet, Cornellà, Sant Adrià del Besòs and others it was the only way they could hear and learn catalan.

   In the other way, people in catalan speaking environments can hear Spanish and learn Spanish in many other places, TVs (there are 5 spanish channels for every catalan channel),radios and newspapers (the same than in TVs), movies, and all commercail stuff. You cannot call to change your phone number for example and not speak in spanish.

   In studies made the levels of catalan and spanish comprehension, writing and reading for students were the same for both languages.

   It may be difficult for you, foreigners, to understand, but I have been in Italy, France and the states, and the only way you learn the local language is when the language is necessary. For example, if you can live in Amsterdam, only speaking in english, u won’t learn Dutch.

   Anyway the educational system, has avoided to divide the catalan society. Shools in Catalan, and others in Spanish just bipolarizes society and creates more incomprehension and conflicts. Now, schools have to trey to integrate the million (out of 7 milion inhabitants) foreigners and their children that have come in the last 10 years in Catalonia.

   After linguistic thematic there is also politics, but that is another question, that you will discover.

   I hope it helped you, I would encourage you to learn our language and to visit Catalonia, not just Barcelona.

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