That's not really 'nothing' though is it? 

It seems to me that the locals here are happy to accept anyone, whatever their nationality, who is willing to work hard and/or take part in village life.

The point I was trying to make is that it often seems that the British emigrants feel as though they don't have to bother to learn the language or integrate in other ways yet they get upset if immigrants into the UK don't.  It's like the sun never set on the Empire.

I think There is a big difference to immigrants moving to the UK, and immigrants in Spain mainly that the  majority in the UK are  there for the Benefits and free health care and crime  I am in no way classing all like that  but that,s the way I see it.
Also  I would love to speak Catalan/Spanish but what with work, life, I just don't have the time to learn whilst you were all tucking into your Xmas dinner I was working all day any yesterday did a 14 hour day "Yes in a dirty NHS hospital" more than likely for the last xmas as this job is coming to a end this year after 12 years.

philmountains wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 10:03am:

I really don't think that 'the majority' of immigrants to the UK are there for the benefits etc even if a lot of them are but I suppose we all have a different perception of that.

I genuinely think that if people want to settle in a country they should learn the language.  Isn't it a bit arrogant to assume that everyone else should help you?  And isn't it dangerous not to understand what the doctors, police or other services are saying to you?

I suppose it depends on whether you are dealing with Catalans or the rest of the world in your daily life as to whether or not you learn the language.  Spanish, of course is one of the major spoken languages in the world and well worth learning.

The right to a translator is enshrined in EU law which is one of the things that seems to piss off the British when they are expected to provide translators in Polish or Romanian but they are happy to take advantage of it when they get pissed up and arrested in Spain.

Again my point all along has been that the British are just arrogant in assuming that everyone will speak their language when they aren't tolerant of people who haven't mastered English when living in the UK.  Double standards.

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Your experience relates to a Village, not Tortosa or Amposta, as I said, villages are different.



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So then, how do you view the locals view that everybody should speak Catalan ?

Do you realise that around here they do not even speak Catalan, they speak Tortosien, a mix of Catalan and Castellon dialect spoken with a very heavy [aka unintelligible] accent ?

People who do learn Catalan end up learning 2 versions, one of which is of zero use in Tarragona or beyond and one of which is useless [and ultimately offensive] to the rest of Spain and Spanish speaking people.

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We don't go to Amposta much but we go to Tortosa regularly and we have  found people there to be very friendly on the whole.  Obviously not everyone is going to be lovely any more than everyone in a British town would be.

Of course I'm aware that everyone speaks a different dialect, in our village its 'Masover' but we have never had a problem with anyone understanding basic catalan as far north as Perpignan and as far south as Valencia.  Our experience has been that if we make an effort, and we do mix in castillian too, then we are understood.  When we are in 'the rest' of Spain we speak castillian and if we have lapsed into catalan I have never noticed anyone being offended.

As for "the locals view that everybody should speak Catalan" that just isn't true of the majority of people we have talked with when applied to immigrants/ex-pats, they are more than happy to speak castillian.  Obviously catalan is the first language and it makes sense to know it, you can't go to school or work for the Government if you don't.  I actually think that they have made a mistake with their hard line approach but that is a political opinion.

The reason that I personally made the effort to learn catalan is because I would feel isolated if I lived somewhere where I couldn't understand all the chatter going on around me when I go shopping or go to the bars or restaurants.

I really wish I could get down to just learning some Spanish for a start !! I would love to be able to talk to my neighbors,friends Its  hard work with sign language or scratching "poor" drawings in the dirt I  made a new friend "farmer" last time over but as the week went on he just stopped trying to talk to me as we both knew that I did not understand a word !!!!
By the way everything is moving on at speed for my 1st driving down to Tortosa trip in February. Just bought a van (06 LT35) priced up ferry etc..... and  Euro Tunnel cheapest at £309 Return,  contacted Les the van man for advise but  no reply as yet, so any advise Re the Trip appreciated,  reccomended route down, good places  to stop, parts to avoid etc........
Thanks Phil