Prof: Molt bé, bon dia a tothom. Avui parlarem del futur del sistema capitalista global.L'Auberge Espagnole (France), d. Cédric Klapisch, 2002.
Very well, good morning, everyone. Today we’ll talk about the future of the global capitalist system.
Isabelle: Por favor, ¿señor?
Please, sir?
Prof: ¿Sí?
Yes?
Isabelle: Perdone, ¿pero podría dar la clase en castellano?
Excuse me, but could you give the class in Spanish?
Prof: Lo siento, señorita, pero no podrá ser. La mayoría de estudiantes son catalanes, o sea que no creo que tenga que cambiar de idioma.
I’m sorry, miss, but that can’t be. Most students are Catalan, so I don’t think I should have to change languages.
Isabelle: Somos más de 15 estudiantes de Erasmus que no hablamos catalán. Y para usted no es un problema hablar español.
We’re more than 15 Erasmus students who don’t speak Catalan. And it’s not a problem for you to speak Spanish.
Prof: Mire, yo la entiendo perfectamente, señorita. De verdad. Perfectamente. Pero usted me tendría que entender a mí también. Estamos en Cataluña, y aquí el catalán es idioma oficial. Si usted quiere hablar español, ¡se va a Madrid, o se va a Sudamérica!
Look, I understand you perfectly, miss. Honestly. Perfectly. But you’d have to understand me too. We’re in Catalonia, and Catalan is the official language here. If you want to speak Spanish, you go to Madrid, or you go to South America!
I decided to look up what Spanish/Catalan law has to say about this topic, which is incredibly controversial.
Article 3 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 is the article enumerating the language issue in Spain, and reads thus:
- Spanish is the official Spanish language of the State. All Spaniards have the obligation to know it and the right to use it.
- The other Spanish languages will also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities in accordance with their Statutes.
- The richness of the different linguistic modalities in Spain is a cultural patrimony that will be the object of special respect and protection.
Therefore, Spanish is the only language required by law in Spain, in any region, and the regions themselves have the ability to regulate the usage of whatever language they want. Now that I know that it's up to the regions to decide what to do with their languages, Let's look at what the Catalan Autonomy Statue (approved in 2006) has to say about language rights in Catalunya. They are enumerated in Title I, Articles 32-36, with Education being enumerated in Article 35:
- All persons have the right to receive education in Catalan, in accordance with what this Statute establishes. Catalan must be used normally as a vehicular and learned language in university and non-university education.
- Students have the right to receive education in Catalan in non-university education. They also have the right and the obligation to know oral and written Catalan and Spanish sufficiently upon finishing mandatory education, whatever their usual language may be upon incorporating themselves into the education system. The teaching of Catalan and Spanish must have an adequate presence in study plans.
- Students have the right to not be separated into different centers nor in class groups due to their mother tongue.
- Students who are incorporated later than the corresponding age into the Catalan school system enjoy the right to receive special linguistic support if the lack of comphrension makes it difficult for them to continue their education with normalcy.
- Professors and students of university centers have the right to express themselves, orally and in writing, in the official language of their choosing.
Emphasis mine, translation mine.
Therefore: it is up to the professor to teach in whatever language he or she chooses in the university classroom, and for younger students, Catalan is the primary language of education, though students must also have a sufficient knowledge of Spanish as well.
So. Our professor in L'Auberge Espagnole up there is perfectly within his rights to teach his class in Catalan, according to Catalan regional law. He could, if he chose, switch into Spanish at the request of the non-Catalan speaking students, but he is under no obligation to do so. Is it frustrating to sit in a class that you are required to take as part of your program that's being taught in a language you don't understand when you're expecting to be able to use a language you are more comfortable using? Sure. Especially when the professor refuses to switch languages for you. That being said, as the student also has the right to express himself in whichever official language he chooses (i.e. Catalan, Spanish or Occitan in the Aran Valley), the Erasmus students do have the right to write all their class papers in Spanish without penalty, as well as to discuss things with the professor in Spanish as well.
What's your take on all this?
Very interesting blog post; thank you. I work in a school in Catalonia which, as a primary school, means I'm rarely hearing any Spanish despite our location in the world. I had no idea that it was the teacher's choice - we have a teacher from the south of Spain, the only non-native Catalan who constantly tells me she should be speaking in more Catalan, but just can't compute with the translation when she teaches English; Spanish is her first language and she learned Catalan very late on. Nice for her to know she isn't breaking any rules by speaking in Spanish in her lessons! It's more the mentality of the people, I find. From an outsider's point of view, I do want to learn Catalan, but second to Spanish, and it rather doesn't help when at time I speak to some teachers in Spanish and they reply to me in Catalan. The feeling of 'you're here, you should be speaking Catalan' is certainly the one I get, but the rest of the world has little to no idea how much it is actually spoken. If I wanted to go to Madrid, I would have gone there!
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