[Eberhard Leclerc]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Pelgrim

Beroepshalve kom ik vaak in contact met de taalbewegingen van die talen die als bedreigd beschouwd worden. Wat ik al enkele jaren zie is dat er in veel van deze gevallen een nieuwe generatie is opgestaan die dankbaar gebruik maakt van de nieuwe mediamogelijkheden, waardoor veel van deze talen een tweede adem vinden.

Ik stuitte op dit stukje van een Catalaan (in het onvolprezen talenforum:http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum) :

People! How can Catalans be proud of their language when they switch to Spanish with every foreigner they meet? Or even with persons who have been living here for 40 years, but do not speak Catalan. How can they be proud of their language when they always read books in Spanish? Think movies in Catalan are so "artificial"? Think songs in Catalan sound ridiculous? Why do non-Catalans think we are very proud of our language, when the truth is we aren't? It's because some Spanish media spread lies about Catalans, like we are very proud of our language and culture and close-minded, and you just believe them?

There are many, many Catalans who think like me. But they just don't want to recognize it, because it hurts: that Catalan is an useless language, that no one cares about this language, that immigrants don't need it, that Catalan artists/writers/singers prefer to do they works in Spanish (even if they have Catalan as their first language, I know some cases) because Catalan doesn't work? That people really interested in preserve the language have to deal with other people living in their country that even know the language exists? That the only useful language is Spanish, and Catalan companies promote it, instead of Catalan? That 30% of Catalan vocabulary have been borrowed from Spanish, and no one really knows how to speak it?

One can say it's not the language what's sick, but the people. In any case, one think is clear: many common words are missing in Catalan, and are being replaced from the Spanish ones. Catalan doesn't change, it only incorporates Spanish and/or English words, maybe that's why it sounds so unexpressive.

Maybe it happens with all endangered languages: the endangered thing is not the language, but the people who speak it. The number of language speakers doesn't mean anything, because Catalan policies tend to lie a lot, and they count as Catalan speakers those who are only able to say 3-4 Catalan words, or just "have some expectances to learn Catalan in the future". Only 1 in 4 Barcelonians (27%) use Catalan, and the % decreases every year. That's not endangered? The case is more critical in Valencia: people there apologize when they speak in Valencian.

Many seem to think I hate Catalan. That's not true at all, I'm just being realistic. I speak Catalan with everyone, not Spanish. But, as you can see, I'm getting tired of this useless work.