Learning Catalan - An Uphill Climb

It's been now 5 weeks since starting the first level of Catalan and it's been an interesting experience so far.  The good news is that I am understanding some of the basic structure of the language and some of the most commonly used words and phrases.  Already my eyes are comprehending much better store signs that I read in Barcelona and sentences that I encounter (almost all store signs and local commercial publications are written in Catalan in Barcelona, not in Spanish).  I see the potential of accessing much more information and appreciating much more deeply all that Barcelona and Catalunya has to offer.

And, as I had surmised, I have a much better appreciation of the difficulty of learning a new language from scratch, especially as an adult who is in his early 60's.  Chris, of course, is much younger, but he also comments about the ease in which his own 4th grade students can pick up a language, as he too is struggling with continuing to learn Spanish with his Spanish teacher in Kiev.  Also, the urgency in learning Catalan is less than when I learned Spanish in Spain in 1978 in a small city in the Castilla region where hardly anyone knew English.  Here in Barcelona everyone knows Spanish so the necessity to learn Catalan to communicate is much less.

I am lagging behind in my listening comprehension of and expressing myself in Catalan.  But I need to continue to remind myself that this is a beginning course and that this will take time to become basically fluent.  It helps that I know Spanish pretty well, as there are some similarities to the Catalan language.  Also, since the large majority of the class are Spanish speakers, the teacher will default to Spanish to explain some words and concepts when she knows that we will not understand her explanations in Catalan.  But contrary to some people's perceptions, Catalan is not a dialect of Spanish.  It is a completely different language but has similar Latin roots.  Also, here in Barcelona, there could be some "castellanismo" of Catalan, similar to Spanish in Puerto Rico blending English words into its vocabulary.

But what motivates me is knowing that I will eventually be able to take local classes, go to the theater, watch other TV channels, understand friends when they switch to Catalan, and much more.

Upcoming Knee Surgery

On my trip to Amsterdam, I started to experience chronic knee pain.  It did not spoil the trip, but I thought it would be wise to get this checked out.  I went to a doctor who specializes in knee surgery and who was highly recommended.  He ordered an MRI which revealed torn meniscus.  I will have surgery done on Nov 5.  It has been interesting coordinating the logistics with my U.S. Blue Cross/Blue Shield international coverage.  I think it will all work out coverage-wise, but we'll see how it all unfolds.

Prague

Speaking of trips, on Monday I will be flying to Prague where Chris will meet me and we will spend a week together.  I can't wait to be with Chris again (it's been two months since we were last together) and to explore Prague together.  Everything I have read and heard about Prague makes me very excited about spending 7 days there with Chris.