Is it more difficult to learn to speak and understand catalan than spanish?
I would like to learn at least some phrases when I visit Majorca with my kids for the first time. My kids have severe allergies so I need to secure their staying.
And I do want to be able to have good manners and be able to say "thank you".
So is it more difficult to learn? I speak some french and some italian and I´ve been starting to learn spanish. Do I have a chance to speak/understand in june? Help help 
Thanks
Home | Contact | About | Privacy Policy | Sitemap
Filed under: Spanish Lessons
Catalan is not really any more difficult than Spanish – but I wouldn’t worry about learning "a few phrases" for your holiday in Mallorca; the use of Catalan in Mallorca can be a touchy matter and its use by foreigners is best restricted to social use by people who speak it fluently and only when they are very sure of their ground. The reasons for this are:-
(a) All Spaniards – including those in Mallorca – speak the national language, Spanish
(b) There is a great deal of controversy in Mallorca between (i) those who are opposed to the use of regional languages, (ii) those who say the regional language of Mallorca is Catalan (which, liguistically, it is, and standard Catalan is what is taught in schools) and (iii) those who insist that Mallorquí is a separate language, quite distinct from Catalan; your "few phrases" of Catalan would be no use at all for communicating with this latter group, who adhere to regional dialect forms which even standard Cataln speakers find hard to understand.
(c) Many people who live in Mallorca, especially those employed in the tourist industry and, therefore, those you are most likely to come into contact with, are not local; they come from other regions of Spain, as well as from other countries (South America and, especially, Brazil) and they are extremely unlikely to know any Catalan/Mallorquí at all.
it shouldn’t be a problem if you only wanna learn basic word.you can buy an electronic dictionary,that will help you ,I think,when you go there.