Adult Learners in Catalonia

Alicia Company from the Consortium for Linguistic Normalisation spoke about how non-Catalan speakers who move into Catalonia are supported in order to learn the language and become immersed in the Culture.

They have a mentoring system, where a Catalan speaker is paired with a non-Catalan speaker in order to help the non-Catalan speaker learn the language. There are very strong links between institutions and newcomers in order to make them feel welcome.

The culture of new citizens is to be valued and recognised, and in turn the new citizens will embrace the culture and language of the receiving community and they become part of the community's identity.

They achieve this in a variety of ways. A book has been produced by the centre in El Prat called Simbols recognises the origins of the immigrant people and the diversity of cultures, but also shows the ability of all people of different cultures to come together. It promotes linguistic and cultural diversity and sees it as a positive factor. The book looks at the different symbols of the world and what they mean to individual cultures.

Every year, parents and members of the community come together to put on a theatre production for the children of El Prat. This is performed entirely in Catalan and it shows the collaboration between parents and children and the value they place in the Catalan language and community.

The vast majority of people living in Catalonian have the will to learn and communicate in Catalan. In order to live fully within the community, in terms of work and making friends, it is not just advisable to learn Catalan, but a necessity.