Everything You Need To Learn Catalan
Catalan (Català) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It’s spoken by roughly 10 million people in Catalonia, Valencia, Andorra and the Balearic Islands.
It is believed to have originated from Occitano after the demise of Latin (the common ancestor of Catalan and French).
If you’ve ever paid a visit to Barcelona, Spain, you’ll have no doubt noticed Catalan signage and possibly even heard locals using it. This is because it’s one of the two official languages in the country.
And though it might look and sound a bit like Spanish, Catalan is actually a distinct language with its only proud history and culture.
Catalan learning materials are nowhere near as abundant as some of the major European languages like Spanish and Italian, but there are more than enough to aid any learner on their language journey.
Catalan Language Learning Books
At some point during your Catalan language journey, you’ll likely need a study book, whether it be a Catalan course book, phrasebook, or dictionary.
Having a good, concise English-Catalan dictionary at your disposal is essential for any language learner, as it allows you to look up the meaning of new Catalan words you encounter and see usage examples.
Other handy books on this list include books that focus solely on conjugating Catalan verbs, something that you’ll need to get comfortable with.
A Catalan book of word search puzzles is a great way to kill time and build your Catalan vocabulary in a fun way.
Catalan Children’s Books
For most Catalan language learners, children’s books are the first books you’ll want to pick up once you’re ready to put your new skills into practice. They’re specially designed to be simple and easy to understand, and are a fantastic way to practice your reading comprehension.
Catalan Fiction
If you’re ready for more challenging reading material, Catalan books for older readers are a good place to start. These books are written in standard Catalan, and use regular language that will present a challenge for learners.
Reading Catalan fiction will expand your vocabulary immensely, and introduce you to new grammatical structures and expressions.
Catalan Movies & TV Shows
If the thought of reading puts you off, then get stuck into some Catalan movies or TV shows. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn just by watching movies in your target language.
Catalan-language movies and TV shows will expose you to different accents and dialects, plus allow you to pick up on colloquialisms, and see how the language is really used by natives.
Watching Catalan entertainment is a fun and easy way to improve your listening comprehension and build your vocabulary.
![N'hi Ha Que Neixen Estrellats (Some Mothers Do'Ave'Em): Catalan Dubbing [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51SZyP9tVvL.jpg)
Catalan Digital Courses
Interactive or audio courses that teach Catalan are great for those who learn best with audiovisual content.
These types of courses are easy to use, easily accessible from almost any device, and present the structure most learners need for language study. They’re also more focused on getting you speaking Catalan right away, which is ideal for those planning to visit the country where the language is spoken.
You won’t find many established Catalan e-courses out there, unfortunately. But Udemy does offer at least one that we know of, details of which you’ll find below.
Udemy’s Catalan course is both affordable and varied, giving you video instruction and downloadable worksheets, all of which you get lifetime access to.
CATALAN UDEMY COURSES
Catalan Products
Here you’ll find Catalan products that aid you throughout your language learning journey. Using these will give you greater variety in your language learning, and hopefully take the boredom out of it.
