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SUE
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Ummm Spanish! Duh!
There are some places where English is widely spoken, and Catalán is the second official language in Cataluña, Gallego in Galicia, and Basque (or, properly called Euskara) in the Basque countries...leave those regions, and you won´t find many people with much familiarity with them....There are variations of Catalán in other regions. English is most widely spoken where there are lots of English tourists...Parts of the Costa del Sol, for instance, and many people in Barcelona speak passable English...but it is hardly an official language, and as one Spaniard noted, often not terribly good (though I´ve met some people I can understand in English).
Andalusian is NOT a dialect, it is an accent. Catalán is NOT widely spoken outside of the coastal area from Valencia to the French border, and the Baleares...where it varies some, from place to place, but is closer to Catalán than Spanish.
But SPANISH is the main language spoken in Spain...hence the name. |
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Alejandro B
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Im form Spain. Here everybody speaks SPANISH, these other three languages are spoken by bilingual people: Galician and Basque only by a minority, and Catalan and its variations are more extended all around the eastern coast and Baleares, but do't worry, everyboy here speaks Spanish ( also called Castellano ).
Oh! And our English is not very good, you'll know.
Obviusly we don't speak it in our daily life.
Oh! I forgot, these three languages are completly different from Spanish ( OK galician may be similar ), and there are not dialects like Andalusian or that, its simply Spanish with different accents, like in argentina, cuba, mexico...
Just like American English with accent from Texas, NY...
--------------------------------------...
yeah, OK, but vanciano is really a variation from catalan, its called like that for political reasons..., |
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biswox
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The language in Spain is Spanish (or Castillian is also called). Catalan is spoken only in Cataluña, Basque in The Basque Country, Galician in Galicia, and that's all. Anyway, everyone speaks Spanish and many people speaks English also. |
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Bonnie Ayr
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This must be a joke as spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and it is named after the country it originated from i.e. Spain .
Spanish is spoken in all of Spain and is called castellano or castillian Spanish.
Regional languages also include Catalan, Euskera and Gallego |
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orri
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I'm guessing spanish? |
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Jose
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David and Alejandro make this point clear but I want to insist. Just to make sure people abroad have it clear. In Spain the words “español” and “castellano” are essentially synonyms. In fact, the word Castilian, in our times, is mostly used to denote the Spanish spoken in all of Spain as compared to Spanish spoken in Latin America. And I have never heard using this word so much until I came to Los Angeles –and I should have, I was born in Burgos, a Castilian province. I mean, my mother is from Granada and I don’t think she would be very happy if you tell her that she doesn’t speak the official language of Spain. So, when we say Castilian, we really mean Spanish from Spain. |
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David B
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garrison: they are NOT all Spanish. Spain has various official languages, but the main one spoken is Spanish (in spanish it's called Español OR Castellano - BUT that's because it is regarded as originating from "Castilla" one of the regions in Spain.
Spain is broken up into different regions and some of those regions have their own language. You may have heard that Catalunya and the Basque country want independence from Spain - this is where you hear Basque (which sounds absolutely notyhing like Spanish) and in Catalunya you hear Catalan (like a mix of French and Spanish) but they are considered as official languages (Andorra's 1st language is Catalan, for example), and are not considered to be dialects or accents. It's like saying that in the UK you have england Ireland Scotland and Wales, and in Wales they speak English and Welsh, but they're really the same language. Rubbish.
Anyway, as others have pointed out, everyone speaks Spanish anyway, so you can travel all over the country only speaking spanish (ok, some back of beyond village in Catalunya might get some old person who doesn't speak spanish) with no worries.
with regards english, it's compulsory to study englsh until you're 17 in school, so most people have a basic understanding and can give you directions on the street etc.but English schools make a load of money all over Spain so it goes to show you something! |
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bcn_mimosa
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Spanish is the main language but depending on the region of spain that you visit , they may speak more then one ..
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BarcelonaMan
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None of the above. The official language of Spain is "Castillian" or "Castellano". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain
Recognised regional languages: Aranese, Basque, Catalan/Valencian and Galician
Saludos, MadridMan/BarcelonaMan @ you-know-where! |
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Mirielle
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Castellano in Madrid, Castilla y LeĂłn, Extremadura, etc.
Valencian in Valencia.
Galician in Galacia.
Catalán in Barcelona.
Basque in the Basque country (Northern Spain.)
English is not commonly spoken in Spain. Some vacation spots in Spain, such as Torremolinos/Costa del Sol, have some English, German, French, Portuguese (etc.) speaking people because tourists from all over Europe vacation there.
You may expect Madrid and Barcelona have some English-speaking people, but that is not true.
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wet26
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Castellano is the main language. Then they have the other languages as mentioned in your question, but they are not important and you don't need to learn them if you intend to live in Spain. The regional languages are spoken to be kept alive by the people. They don't speak Catalan in Valencia, they speak Valenciana. |
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Carousel
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To those that say Spanish, they should be saying "Español" |
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jackie m
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Most pensioners spoke Castillian spanish and now speak both catalan/castillian, but most of spain speak catalan, the islands are more castillian. |
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garrisonbight
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Castelliano is the TOP form of Spanish because it's spoken in Madrid... there are other dialects, Andalusian and Catalan and others, but THEY ARE ALL SPANISH.
It's like what asking what the main language spoken in the U.S. is... AmeriKan or Boston or Atlanta or New Orleans of St. Louis or Albuquerque... They ALL talk Amerikan... but someone in Boston or New York MAY NOT be able to understand someone from Atlanta or Albuquerque |
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