Valencià

Valencià

I watched a sketch comedy show on television last night that was in Valenciano, or Valencià as it is called in the language. Although I have yet to formally study it (I have my hands full with Spanish) it seems pretty obvious that it is a dialect and not a completely separate language. I was able to follow most of the skits which were pretty straightforward comedy. This was really the first time that I actually made an effort to watch something in the local dialect.

There are almost as many TV channels here in Valencià, and its linguistic cousin Catalan, as there are in Spanish so it may be easier to pick up at least a bit of these dialects than I thought. I once again stress that I don’t think that the word “easy” is in any way appropriate when describing language learning. I just meant it in a relative sense like if I were to say that hopping on one foot from one side of Spain to the other is “easier” than crawling that same distance.

I still haven’t picked up a grammar book, the first step in really learning a language. Without a grammar trying to learn Valencià is like trying to find some place without a map. I have mentioned before that I rarely hear people speaking to each other in Valencià in the street or in stores. I have a feeling that the dialect is more persistent in Barcelona than here. I notice that in the countryside here people also speak the dialect more often. When I pass someone on my bike out in the country I greet them with “Bon dia.” I know a lot more but I never use it.

After the comedy sketches the station segued into Spanish. I thought it was a commercial because usually I’m used to a advertising break in between programs. It showed a bunch of yuppie women at a wedding shower giving out risqué gifts and then a police showed up who turned out to be a stripper. I still thought it was a commercial but it turned out to be some god awful courtroom murder mystery show dubbed into Spanish. It looked like a fairly recent show and probably one that never saw the light of television day in America.

They get a lot of that over here, American TV rejects. I suffered through this one just for the practice. It was entertaining for me because I am now able to mock this low-brow crap in Spanish and I was able to get a laugh out of some Spanish people watching with me. Telling a joke in Spanish for me is the most satisfying aspect of learning the language. I would love to write some sketch comedy for the show in Valencià. I have already outlined about 30 humor skits revolving around Spanish life as I have observed it so far and a lot of them don’t even involve dialogue.

It is too bad that Spanish television must rely so heavily on American imports as the locally produced comedy show in Valencià was quite good. Television is an insatiable beast that never sleeps and must be continuously fed. Television is a way of promoting a language and the huge quantity of programming produced in America has insured English hegemony around the world. I read recently that the Catalan government is going to spend money to finance pornography in Catalan to promote their language. I guess that every little squeal and moan helps when you are battling to keep your language alive.

It is difficult for an outsider like me to judge the health of the local language but I would assume that Valencià is struggling to stay alive. Not only must it compete with English, Spanish is also a fierce rival. As my Spanish improves my Valencià does also and I will be in a better position to observe and understand it.