Oh Valenciano…

Today I had a conversation with my dad. He said that he was sure that my Spanish was excellent now, since I’ve been in Spain for over 5 months. “Well, actually,” I said, “I think my Spanish has gotten worse since I’ve been living here.”  He couldn’t believe my answer.

How could it make sense that my Spanish has barely improved after living in Spain for 5 months? There’s a very simple answer to that question: Valenciano.  

Oh Valenciano…

Because I like in a very small pueblo in the Valencian community of Spain, I am exposed to the regional language known as valenciano all day, every day.  Before coming to Spain I feared that I was going to be exposed to so much valenciano that my regular Spanish wouldn’t improve as much. I wouldn’t necessarily say that that fear has come true, but I will say that it’s been a struggle.

It’s not fair to say that I don’t get a chance to practice castellano as much, I mean I have no choice but to speak it to my roommates and co-workers and everyone else in Spain that I come in contact with, but I sometimes feel that when I speak it with the people in Jávea, It’s almost impossible to have an genuine conversation with them. When I speak to the people that I live and work with, they usually respond in castellano also, but it gets so hard for them to differentiate between the two languages that they often throw in valenciano words in the middle of their sentences. I don’t even think that they realize that they are doing it most times.

 I also believe that they feel that I’ve been here long enough to understand a lot of casual valenciano words and phrases, so when they see me in the morning, they’ll say Bon Dia (instead of Buenos Dias), or when it’s cold outside they might say Fa fret, no? (Instead of Hace frío, no? )  Even when the people here do speak to me in Castellano, I’d rather them speak valenciano because it seems so unnatural to them. Not only do they casually mix in valenciano words because they are so use to saying them, but they also have such a Valencian accent that it just sounds strange when they speak in castellano.

Not only do I get a strong dose of valenciano from my co-workers, students and roommates, but I also attend valenciano courses three times a week where I learn how to read, write and speak it. So now I oftentimes find myself saying a lot of valenciano phrases and actually putting sentences together when I am speaking to different groups of people.

This is what has caused my castellano to suffer.

Let me just say that I am certainly not complaining about the amount of a valenciano that I have absorbed while I’ve been here. In many ways, I feel very privileged. I feel that I was given the opportunity to be exposed to a whole new language and culture, something that other foreigners living throughout varies cities in Spain aren’t able to experience. Not only am I able to enjoy every aspect of living a Spanish life, but I also feel as though I am able to interact with and appreciate people from a more secluded culture within Spain. I am so grateful to have this opportunity.

The question is: what can I do to improve my castellano? Here a couple of solutions that I’ve come up with:

1.      Read more: I truly believe that reading has a significant impact on how strong a person’s vocabulary is, so I believe that reading good Spanish books, or even newspapers and magazines will help build my Spanish vocabulary.

2.      Turn to the media: Watching at least an hour of Spanish television a day will also help improve my Spanish speaking and listening skills.

3.      Speak more: I think that I should start initiating, and participating in, more stimulating Spanish conversations.

4.      Take Spanish classes: This could be another option if I had more time take classes. I wished that I would have enrolled in Spanish classes when I enrolled in my valenciano classes, but I probably would have driven myself crazy.

5.      Travel more: The only time when I really get to converse with a more authentic castellano speaker, outside of the Valencian region is when I travel to other cities within Spain, such as Madrid. Travelling more throughout Spain will definitely expose me to more castellano.

Maybe I’m being a bit dramatic, I mean my Spanish isn’t horrible; I haven’t had any problems speaking to or understanding anyone here. But I do feel like my speaking ability is definitely not where I expected it to be at this point in my journey. I am, however, staying optimistic and I am at least happy to say that when I come home, I will have a lot of knowledge and understanding of an additional language: Valenciano.