18108 - Catalan Language

Learning outcomes

At the end of this module, students should be able to reach Level A2+ of the language proficiency levels described in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Course contents

Grammar contents

• Introduction. Basic notions: The alphabet, pronounciation and accent.
• The article, the apostrophe, the demonstrative pronouns, the interrogative pronouns. Names of countries and nationalities.
• Presentations. Courtesy expressions. Formality and informality.
• Personal descriptions. Vocabulary, family. Adjective and noun morphology. Possessive adjectives.
• Routines and everyday actions. Simple present. Verbs of the first, second and third conjugation.
• Telling the time and other time expressions. Frequency adverbs.
• Vocabulary of jobs. Adverbs of manner. The future and the obligation forms. Forms of duration, the gerund.
• Descriptions of places. The house, the city and the means of transport. Adverbs and expressions of place. Conditionals.
• Trips, events from the past. Past verb tenses (imperfecte, perfet, perifràstic i plusquamperfet). Time expressions. The participle.
• Vocabulary of food. Imperative forms. Pronoums. The subjunctive mood.

  Cultural contents

• Introduction. Geography of the Catalan speaking territories.
• Sociolinguistic situation.
• General aspects about dialects.
• Linguistic variations. Future.

Readings/Bibliography

Reference manuals:

BASTONS, Núria, BERNADÓ, Cristina, COMAJOAN, Llorenç (2006). Gramàtica pràctica del català. Barcelona: Teide.

JANÉ, Albert (1988). Pas a pas. Curs pràctic de llengua catalana. Barcelona: Publicacions de l’ICE.

Serveis Lingüístics de la Universitat de Barcelona (2006). Guia de conversa universitària. Italià – Català. Barcelona: Publicacions de la Universitat de Barcelona.

Useful resources:

Diccionari de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans: Dizionario dell’IEC, Dizionario català-valencià-balear, Dizionario di sinonimi e dizionario terminologico.

Optimot : Dizionario di catalano, dizionario catalano-spagnolo e spagnolo-catalano, dizionari terminologici.

Dizionario di dubbi del catalano orale : contiene audio di tutte le varianti diatopiche del catalano.

Portale linguistico della Corporazione Catalana di Mezzi Audiovisivi : dubbi e neologismi della vita quotidiana.

Dizionario catalano-italiano on-line dell'Enciclopèdia Catalana.

Versioni cartacee disponibili in biblioteca:

Diccionari català-italià, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1986 [reed.].

Diccionari italià-català, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2002.

Gramàtica catalana (Institut d’Estudis Catalans)

Vivim junts. Làmines per aprendre català / We live together. Prints to learn Catalan (Generalitat de Catalunya).

Teaching methods

The course will be carried out in Catalan language and it will address the communicative issue. Emphasis will be given to the learning of grammatical basic notions of the language and on the expressions that are found in given situations. This way, students will be able to face communicative scenarios with native people. For this reason, students will be invited to participate actively during the sessions.

During the year several activities will be organized using multimedia materials, so that students may improve their oral expression and oral comprehension. Moreover, these activities will be held to delve into the comprehension and written expression using writing programs and interactive exercises.

Students are strongly advised to attend this course in order to guarantee a fruitful acquisition of the language.

Assessment methods

Along the course, students will have to reflect their own learning process and, thus, they will have to participate in their own assessment. Hence, students will carry out self-assessment exercises in order to evaluate their evolution.

At the end of the course, the students will have to pass a written exam (with grammatical contents, written comprehension and expression) and an oral exam (listening and speaking), which will be evaluated during a colloquium in Catalan about the cultural contents studied and about some of the communicative situations dealt with at class.

Before the final exams, samples of tests will be passed to the students so that they are able to practice aspects that may not be clear enough. The teacher will be available to students in order to carry out the appropriate corrections of these exams and, needless to say, to clarify any doubt that can arise during the learning progress.

Teaching tools

Other meetings, language training activities in Catalan and/or a book club will be held. Furthermore, other cultural and literary activities will be organized, such as small literary events and/or different poetry recitals.

Office hours

See the website of Pau Sitjà Márquez