This module, a Year 2 option within Hispanic Studies, is designed for students with little or previous knowledge of the Catalan language. The module provides an introduction to grammar, vocabulary and standard pronunciation of the Catalan language with the aim of enabling students to achieve a basic but sound level of competence in written and spoken Catalan and to reach a level corresponding to A2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (see http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre_en.asp). Catalan culture and an awareness of its history through knowledge of all the territories where Catalan is spoken is also part of the content of this module: Catalan is the official language of Andorra and the co-official one, together with Spanish, of Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. It is also spoken in some Eastern Aragonese villages, in Southern France and in the town of L’Alguer, in Sardinia. Reading, comprehending, speaking and writing through the practice of translation, grammar exercises, conversation and essay writing will be an essential part of the module. Basic texts from a variety of registers will be read and discussed in class. Audio and visual material will also be used to teach linguistic and cultural aspects of the module.

• show ability for understanding basic spoken information in everyday conversation
• show ability for interacting in Catalan by providing and asking basic information with a degree of fluency
• show ability for reading texts in Catalan of a basic/ intermediate level
• demonstrate a basic but sound competence in the handling of Catalan language through a number of written languages activities
• show knowledge of basic notions about Catalan language and its history
• show basic knowledge of key aspects of Catalan culture

 The module is taught by means of three hours of classes a week over an academic year. Classes combine lectures, seminars, conversation exercises and aural and oral language activities.

This module will provide students with a solid foundation of the basic structures of the target language, as well as some culture and society awareness of the places where Catalan is spoken, therefore enabling them to communicate in the four key language skills at a straightforward level on a range of topics. The emphasis of the module will be placed on achieving the following objectives:

  Reading skills: Read basic texts (advertisements, notes, menus, personal letters, descriptions, short stories, short newspaper articles or abridged literary texts). Find specific information and be able to understand basic details in everyday material.

• Listening skills: Understand phrases and the highest frequency vocabulary related to areas of most immediate personal relevance (basic personal and family information, shopping, local area, employment). Grasp the main point in short, clear messages or announcements.
• Speaking skills: Communicate in routine tasks [i1] requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar topics and activities. Handle short social communicative acts in common everyday life situations: provide and ask information on personal details and on daily interactions; use a series of phrases to describe family, friends and other people, living conditions, educational background and professional situation.
• Writing skills: Write short texts on areas of immediate need and personal information (notes, filling in forms with personal details, descriptions, and personal letters). Write short narratives using the grammatical items for this level.  Be able to translate phrases and short texts from both Catalan into English and English into Catalan.
• Transferable skills: Identify a number of key aspects of Catalan culture and society, relating them to the sociolinguistic context and to the linguistics points studied during the course.

 [i1]Not a usual collocation in standard English

Syllabus content

1. Introduction and personal information

·         Presentation of the course

·         The Catalan linguistic territory

·         The alphabet: letters and sounds of Catalan

·         Spelling different words

·         Greetings

·          Giving information about one self and another person: name, surname, gender, civil status, nationality, place of birth, telephone, professional status

·          Names of countries and nationalities

·          Personal pronouns

·          Possessive pronouns

·          Present tense: ser, tenir, viure, dir-se

·          Numbers

·          Prepositions: de/a

·          Article: el/en, la

 2. Description:  physical description and of character, familiar and social relationships.

•  Demonstratives: aquest/s, aquesta/es, aquell/s, aquella/es
•  Interrogatives
  • Present tense: conèixer, tenir
  • Introducing oneself and others in formal and informal contexts
•  Describing someone’s physical appearance and way to dress
•  Identifying someone, guessing about his/her age, height and weight
•  Describing someone’s character: way of being and of behaving
  • Adjectives of quality: alt/a, baix/a, prim/a, gras/ssa, ros/ssa, maco/a, jove, gran...
•  Parts of the body and adjectives related to physical appearance
  • Providing and asking information about the family: names, personal details, family relationships
  • Short adverts

3. The urban landscape: locations, services and place indications

• Asking and providing information about the place of residence and about how to find specific places in town
• Vocabulary related to public spaces, ways of transportation
• Parts of the day and days of the week
• Times: asking and providing information about times of shows, films and opening times in shops or train/bus schedules
• Present tense: haver-hi, voler
• Locative adverbs: dreta, esquerra, dalt, baix, damunt, davall, a la vora, prop, lluny…
• Adverbs of time: avui, demà, demà passat...
• At the bar: asking for food and drinks in the menu and asking for prices.

4. Education, professional, routines and leisure activities

·         Asking and providing information about studies and educational background

• Exchanging information about professional activities: type of job, timetables, salary…
• Vocabulary of jobs and education
• Asking and providing information about regular activities as well as leisure and entertainment
• Months of the  year, seasons, times of meals
• Irregular verbs: fer, anar, voler...
• Reflexive verbs: llevar-se, dutxar-se…
• Incoatives verbs: repartir, servir, llegir…
• Expressing preferences: agradar, preferir, desagradar…
• Indirect Object Pronouns: M’agrada, t’agrada, li agrada...

5. The private space: places of residence

• Parts of the house, furniture and appliances
• Adjectives related to the house: assolellat, espaiós, gran
• Pronoun “hi”
• Pronoun “en” with “hi ha”
• Comparisons: superiority and inferiority
• Que+adjectiu
• Quin+substantiu+més+adjectiu
• Informal letters

6.  Eating and drinking

• At the restaurant: Making a booking (what day and time, how many people)
• Shops and products
• Mesures: content and recipients
• Adverbs of quantity: quant, tant, poc, gaire, bastant, massa, força, molt...
• Direct Object pronouns: la/el, les/els
• Direct Object pronoun “en”
• Direct Object pronoun “ho”
• Verbs: valer, poder, tenir, haver
• Adjectives in relation to food: dur, verd, petit, dolç, cuit…
• Asking information about products: sizes, quality, quantity, shape. Prices
• Interrogative pronouns

7. Past events

• Passat perifràstic  (vaig+infinitive)
• Talking about past events of one’s life and of the life of others
• Talking about historical events
• Review Indirect Object Pronouns: Em/et/li/ens/us/els
• Review reflexive pronouns
• Pronouns before and after the verb: em vaig llevar/vaig llevar-me…
• Imperfet: regular and irregular verbs

8. Recent past events

• Perfet (haver+past participle)
• Past participle: regular and irregular
• Narrating recent past activities and experiences
• Passat perifràstic vs perfet
• Injuries and cures
• Feelings, moods, states of being
• Pronoun “ho” (attribute)

9. Comparing past events

• Describing how things were in the past and how they are now: cities, towns…
• Expressing opinions about people, activities, routines comparing past and present
• Using the passat perifràstic and the imperfet tense in narrative texts: short stories, abridged novels, autobiographies...
• Passat perifràstic vs perfet vs imperfet
• News: TV news, newspaper articles

10. Future events

• Future tense: regular and irregular
• Future plans: holidays, job, studies, entertaining, trips
• Organising and plan trips: to ask about destinations, timetables, accommodation, transport, prices, bookings
• Degrees of comparison: més... que, menys... que, tant... com
• Future vs Conditional
• Conditional tense: give advise about items and things to do, expressing wishes
• Impersonal tense: talk about the weather and the temperature

11. Cultural aspects to be introduced throughout the year

• Catalan Language’s ‘domini lingüístic’ and its historical complexities
• Cultural and antropological aspects of the different territories where Catalan is spoken
• Catalan popular culture and traditions: La castanyada, Nadal, Sant Jordi...
• Prominent Catalan literary and artistic figures

 Badia, Dolors. LLengua Catalana. Nivell LLindar. Vic: L’Àlber

Bastons, Núria et al. Veus 1. Barcelona: Pam

Clua, M. Jesús et al. Curs de llengua catalana Nivell bàsic 1, 2 i 3. Barcelona: Edicions Castellnou

Wheeler, Max et al. Catalan: A Comprehensive Grammar. London: Routledge

Oxford Catalan-English / English-Catalan (Pocket edition)