Language Soup

I've been taking Spanish classes on and off since I've been here, and this week I've finally started an intensive course of Catalan (which means 5 hours of Catalan and Spanish classes twice a week!). Basically a lot of things I'm learning with Spanish I have to unlearn for Catalan, such as accents and other many minor details. But that's okay, since I do know how to read Catalan, can understand it for the most part. But I need lots of practice speaking it.

What fascinates me is that I've also been absorbing other languages, primarily British English. I hang out a lot with people from the UK and Australia here in my networking groups and Spanish classes. As such, I am picking up the accents, words and sayings. I didn't expect that. (My Spanish class right now is a mix of Anglo-speaking students from the US [me!], Ireland, Yorkshire, New Zealand and Australia.) I also meet up with many English-speaking Germans, Dutch, Swedes and others. More inflections floating in my head on a daily basis.

Most Catalans are familiar with English and French. It seems that before the mid-70s, French was the foreign language studied in school started in primary school, but that was replaced by English. These days, students from as young as 3-4 are introduced to Catalan, Spanish and English. Nonetheless, French and German are offered as electives in later years. It's not uncommon for them to be familiar with several languages, including Italian.