How to Learn Catalan

Or rather, “How I taught myself Catalan in under a year”

So I’ve gotten a bunch of people over the course of my life on social media who have asked me how I started learning Catalan, especially after 2008 when I began my studies.  How I did it, sometimes why I did it, and all that.  And I’ve written nice long responses to them.  But because now people want me to get all really specific about what I used to do it, I figured I’d compile a list of resources I used to learn.  But before I start, I want to make a few things clear, and I’ll put them in bold so you can’t miss them.

1. Catalan is a language.  It’s a real language that people actually speak in everyday life.  It has its slang and its colloquialisms.  It has its dialects and accents, so you should really keep that in mind when you start.  The Catalan spoken in Andorra is different from the Catalan in Mallorca, which is different from the Catalan in Barcelona, which is different from the Catalan in L’Alguer, which is different from the Catalan spoken in Valencia.

2. Catalan is a hard language.  I’m going to come out and say that if you’re having trouble with Spanish, Catalan is not going to be any easier.  At all.  You’ll probably want to end up tearing your hair out at some point because if Spanish doesn’t make sense to you, Catalan will make even less sense.  It’s not easy.  The verbs are complicated, the sentence structure is complicated, the grammar in general is complicated.  And so is the pronunciation, regardless of the accent.  Do not go into this thinking it’ll be easy.

3. Learning a language by yourself is never recommended (unless you’re using a program like Rosetta Stone, and even then, it’s a great idea to have other resources to back that up).  Mostly because one of the things a classroom setting gives you is a chance to use the language, even if it is strictly in a classroom setting.  You also have a teacher there to give you feedback and correct your mistakes.  If you’re an autodidact (i.e. self-taught), you’re going to commit even more mistakes and they’ll probably stay with you for much longer than if you were to take a class.  However, given that Catalan is offered in very few schools to learn and the fact that outside of Europe few people even know it exists, learning by yourself is really the best you can do.  But it’s not recommended.

4. Finally (and I feel weird putting this in here, but it needs to be said), just because you know someone (namely me) who taught herself, it doesn’t mean you’ll achieve the same results.  I managed it because I had a lot of time on my hands,  a heavy background in languages (I’m fluent in Spanish and have studied French for 9 years, and I’ve studied a few others), and I was able to get creative in looking for resources and using them.  I also know how I learn languages; I know how my brain works, which helped immensely.

Now that that’s done, we can start.



1. First thing that I did that really helped me get started was to download my web browser in Catalan. You can also start off by setting your computer language to Catalan (at least if you have a PC, I know next to nothing about Macs). All it will really change is how your time and dates (basically, the calendar) and the numbers are displayed on your computer. The latter option is good for learning the days of the week and the months. The former is good because it helps start off your immersion into the language. Seriously. Browsers that currently offer support in Catalan are Firefox and Google Chrome. Internet Explorer doesn't work because it works with the language your computer was installed in, though you can use Live in Catalan. I haven’t been able to get Safari in any language other than English (this may be a hardware issue, similar to IE), or Opera. You also have the option to set your entire Google account (if you have one) to Catalan.  I like this option because it uses your muscle memory: if you already know where everything is in your original language, you should still be able to find everything in Catalan. It works just like an immersion experience. You’re doing everything you normally do, just in another language. It forces your brain to adapt to it and use it.

2. The next step is, once you’ve gotten comfortable with browsing the web in Catalan, is to work on your grammar. Basically, this is the part where you’re actually learning the language, not just using it. A great place to start is Wikibooks. There is currently a version in English and Spanish (though the Spanish version is far, far better and more concise, as the English version is incomplete and is missing a lot). It’s definitely not definitive, as it doesn’t go into the greater complexities (obviously, it’s meant as a beginner course). But it’s a good start.

3. At this point is where I started reading longer texts in Catalan. Books, articles, anything I could find that was in Catalan. I also started listening to it on a regular basis. The two major Catalan radio stations, Catalunya Ràdio and RAC1 both broadcast live on streaming radio and are the best for learning the Barcelona accent. If you’re interested in another accent/dialect, a quick Google search will pull up local radio stations that probably broadcast live. I’m a huge football (soccer) fan, so when I was doing this thing where I'd watch every FC Barcelona match I could, I'd find a good radio stream and usually keep it on for the rest of the day as background "music". My personal favorite is RAC1 because I like the programming better, but Catalunya Ràdio is good too, as it’s the public station and they have various sub-stations. Also, if music is your thing, there are a few music stations based in Barcelona that also do broadcasts. My personal favorite is FlaixFM, which is a dance radio station. It’s mostly music (in English primarily), but certain sections have significant amounts of talking in Catalan. But whatever you can find text-wise (online newspapers, magazines, books, anything goes!) will be incredibly helpful as well. Reading gives you a feel for how the language is written: punctuation, written accents, etc. and is something that you really should do a lot of in order to really get the language right.  I found eBooks, and when I was in Barcelona I picked up some actual books in the language.

4. If you have further grammatical questions, it’s time to focus on that. I found these exercises in a Google search (Google is your best friend while language learning) and while I mostly focus on the Superior exercises, the Oral ones are great for practice. Just a warning though, they focus on Valencian dialect, which has noticeable differences with Catalan, especially in verb conjugation, so you should be aware of that. It’s not a deal-breaker, but if you do mix up the two in conversation, you may get funny looks. Unless you really want to learn Valencian. By the time I discovered these, I already knew how Catalan grammar worked so I was able to move things around in my head so I could use the Valencian resources without getting thrown off. They’re also entirely in Catalan. For further questions, the Superior files are excellent, as they really clarify the uses of the weak pronouns and make things a little easier to understand.

5. If you need any help with pronunciation (hearing it is one thing, seeing the words and their pronunciation is another), the people who give you TV3 (Catalan public TV) and Catalunya Ràdio (as well as the Catalan government) created a Catalan linguistic portal, called És a Dir (roughly translated as “that means” in English). What És a Dir does is it answers any technical questions anyone, even native Catalan speakers, could have about the language. It is entirely in Catalan, but it’s incredibly concise. There are even diction sections, where they will actually show you how to produce a certain sound. It also specifies grammatical rules and orthography (spelling). It’s amazing.

6. Finally, find other Catalan speakers to “speak” with, even if it’s just over the internet. This is important, because you really need to use a language, whether speaking or writing, in order to learn it properly. A good place to start is with SharedTalk by Rosetta Stone, where you can have a language exchange with people. You teach them your language, and they’ll teach you theirs. A word of warning though: a lot of times you’ll come across people whose written Catalan is absolutely atrocious, which makes it really hard to communicate, especially if you’re learning. You’ll find that Catalans are more than happy to speak their native tongue with people regardless of where they’re from.

7. Parla.cat. It’s an “online classroom” set up by the Generalitat de Catalunya whose purpose is to teach Catalan. There are two options: by yourself or with a tutor/teacher (the “teach yourself” option is free, the teacher option costs 90€), and everything’s pretty straight-forward; there are worksheets and exercises to do. You need to register to get access, but registration is free.

8. Finally, just have fun. You need to enjoy learning and using a language in order for you to learn it. If there’s no enjoyment, it’ll become a chore and a bore, and if you’re learning by yourself you’ll end up dropping it and you won’t pick it back up again for awhile, and you’ll probably end up losing most of what you’d learned earlier. Going back to the “disclaimer” points, it is a hard language, and there will be more than a few times you’ll want to pull your hair out, or hit something. I guarantee it. It’s not going to “learn itself”, and it’s going to take a lot of work on your part. But it’s not impossible. It just takes patience, creativity, and an open mind. Happy learning!