Where to study Catalan in Barcelona for free?
Are you thinking of moving to Barcelona, but are you worried about not knowing Catalan? Don't worry, in this article we try to give you some recommendations on where to learn it and make you lose your fear.
A very generalized belief is one that says that Catalan is a dialect of Spanish, but this is not the case, since it is a totally independent language that evolved from Vulgar Latin. Today, this language has a total of 12 million speakers and is spoken throughout Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia, but also in some areas of Aragon. France and Italy.
Although speaking Spanish you will be able to handle yourself perfectly throughout the city, and be able to communicate with everyone, it is always advisable to learn Catalan to complement your training and be able to take courses in that language, or apply to job offers that mark it. as a requirement. If you stay in an apartment for young professionals and students, or in a student residence, it will always be much easier if you learn the language.
Our recommendations in Barcelona
First of all, you should know that learning a language does not have to represent a large economic investment and that there are centers and options that teach classes and make quality didactic content available to you, for very little money, or even for free.
One of these options is El Consorcio para la normalización lingüística. This is a body made up of the Government of Catalonia, town councils, county councils and provincial councils, which organizes Catalan courses for adults (from 16/18 years old) of all levels (from initial level to higher level) in most of the populations of all Catalonia, being able to choose between the face-to-face or remote modality. Best of all is its price: FREE. To learn Catalan for free in Barcelona, you must search the list of centers for the one that most interests you by proximity.
On the other hand, there are applications and web pages that also offer language learning without leaving home, just using your computer or mobile phone. In that sense, we recommend that you consult the website Parla.cat. They offer four levels of learning and each one is organized into three grades (each grade lasts approximately 45 hours over 3 months). You can choose between two modalities: free (totally autonomous learning) or guided (with a tutor as a guide), although the free modality is the only one totally free.
Finally, there are also a wide variety of schools and centers that offer Catalan courses, for all levels and at different costs. We recommend that you check those that are best valued on Google, and those that are closest to your place of accommodation or university.