Molt De Gust De Conèixe'l.” (Which Means, I’M Really Pleased to Meet You, in Catalan, the Language Spoken by 10 Million People Across Four European States)

CATALAN as part of a Modern Languages programme (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/lcahm/departments/hispanic/catalan/language.aspx)

“Molt de gust de conèixe'l.” (which means, I’m really pleased to meet you, in Catalan, the language spoken by 10 million people across four European states)

Catalan is available from scratch. You can study it at 40 credits, alongside:

 German  Italian  Japanese  Mandarin Chinese  Portuguese  Russian  Spanish  English Language

Year one Catalan modules

Catalan Language and Culture (08869/ 08870) - 20 credits On completion of this module the student will be able to demonstrate above threshold level communication skills in Catalan: read, comprehend, interpret and translate cultural texts and placing them within the wider context of the language and culture of the Catalan-speaking territories.

Semester 1: The three weekly hours are distributed between communicative language and grammar classes (2 hours per week) and a parallel culture hour to develop comprehension skills and to provide an introduction to Catalan literature and culture.

Semester 2: The three weekly hours are distributed between communicative language and grammar classes (2 hours per week) and a text reception and production hour to develop reading and writing skills and promote the development of independent responses to Catalan literature and culture.

The student will also have the opportunity to achieve an extra qualification by taking the International Catalan Certificate issued by the Institut Ramon Llull and held at the University of Birmingham.

Iberian Language and Linguistics (22080) - 10 credits

The module covers the basic principles of linguistics, with specific emphasis on language change and the minority languages of Spain. Sections include: Introduction to Linguistics/Principles of linguistics; Native speaker's competence; Language change over time; the Indo‐European group/Romance Languages; Language change over region; Dialectology; Language change in society; Sociolinguistics; Principles of language planning/Language planning in Spain; Catalan, Galician & Basque.

Catalan Language Project - 10 credits

Year two Catalan modules

Catalan Language and Literature (12472/ 12473) - 20 credits This module builds on the language skills developed in the Catalan Language and Culture I module. It also provides an introduction to Catalan literature through the study of a range of short stories.

This intermediate Catalan Course focuses on expanding language skills acquired in the first year, and particularly on consolidating grammar knowledge and further developing oral and written skills in Catalan. The course will also provide and introduction to the study of Catalan literature, through and overview of the most important modern and contemporary literary movements.

On the completion of this module the student will be able to: demonstrate higher than threshold ability in the four language skills in Catalan. Show ample understanding of the structures of Catalan in order to function effectively in a Catalan-speaking environment, demonstrate good basic knowledge of Catalan literary culture.

Barcelona, Urban Space and Cultural Identity (18379) - 10 credits

The Capital of Barcelona is both one of the key symbols of Catalan cultural identity and a network of multicultural urban spaces in which identity is negotiated on a daily basis. Focusing on a number of key cultural representations (literary and visual) of Barcelona in the twentieth and twenty first centuries, this module will explore the changing shape of the city in relation to changing conceptions of cultural identity in Catalonia. The course will analyse and increase the awareness of the cultural forms and practices particular to Catalan society. It will focus on the dynamics of the relationship between space, memory and identity, including gender, political and historical discourses. The module will first introduce key concepts of the theoretical debates around political and urban representation (language, hegemony, power, simulation, etc.) and then it will move on to examine the selected texts.

Constructing Communities in the Catalan-Speaking Territories (21621) - 10 credits

This module is designed to provide the student with an overview of the cultural, historical and political context of the Catalan speaking-territories, emphasising the analysis of the multiple and controversial discourses around the label of ‘Països Catalans’. The first half of the semester will focus on recent theories of building nation and national identity as well as presenting the existing communities within the Països Catalans: Principat, Illes Balears, País Valencià. It will also establish the main debates surrounding the nature of their relationship with each other and with the rest of Spain. These theories and ideas will then be applied to some selected texts from theatre, film, media and narrative. Overall this course explores the relationship between the individual and the collective; hegemony and power; history and cultural memory; centre and periphery.

Year three if you study Catalan

Students of Catalan are given priority on university placements in Barcelona and Valencia:

 Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona  Universitat de Barcelona  Universidad de Valencia

Year four Catalan modules

Advanced Catalan Language (15035/15036) - 20 credits

This module is designed to consolidate linguistic competence in Catalan and expand knowledge of specific areas of grammar. Emphasis will be placed on oral and written competence, as it will be assumed that reading and listening competence are quite strong. The course is taught by three hours per week, all primarily in the target language, covering advanced grammar, translation, stylistics and oral and written production.

Currents in Catalan Literature (18379) - 10 credits

Students interested in Catalan Studies will have the opportunity to acquire a deeper knowledge about Contemporary Catalan Literature and the various critical theories that have been applied in analysing it. In the first part of the semester, students will achieve an overview of the literary and cultural developments (avant-garde, exile, postmodern and postcolonial literature) in Catalonia, set within a wider consideration of the Hispanic and European context. The second half of the semester will be focused on the analysis of key authors: Carles Riba (poetry), Mercè Rodoreda (short stories), Carme Riera (novel) and Sergi Belbel (theatre) whose work will be closely analysed. This module will encourage a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary and intertextual approach in order to increase awareness of processes of canonisation, modernisation and the impact of cultural interaction. This module is taught in English and students do NOT need previous knowledge of Catalan Language.

A further 10-credit module is under development