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Tag Archives: Barcelona

Barca. Barça. Barna. BCN. Barcelona

Leave a comment Posted by on 26 July 2011

To clear up some confusion: Until recently, I too believed that Barcelona was fondly named “Barca”. This would be a natural formulation for we native speakers of English: pronouncing Barcelona with an /s/ sound, we would also pronounce “Barca” with same. Perhaps further confusion comes from our knowledge of the football team’s nickname, “Barça”, said the same way we would say “Barca” in english.

In Spanish, “Barca“(without the ç with the little tail) , is said with a /k/ sound and means bark (boat). (Own very own HMS Endeavour was indeed a Bark);

“Barça” refers only to the local football club;

“Barna” is the nickname the spaniards give the city; and

“BCN” is just an airport code.

I’ve also heard variations such as Barthelona, Barchelona or a favourite, Bartzelona.

Many people here insist on writing my hometown as “Sídney”. As Spanish speakers pronounce every letter that appears in a word, a group of consonants together as in “Sydney” is potentially difficult. I say call Barcelona what you like.

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Back in Barna

1 Comment Posted by on 22 May 2011

Time flies when you’re having fun… I’ve settled back into Barcelona, and have completed 3 weeks of Spanish school and am making irregular progress. It seems the more grammar I learn, the harder I find it to actually speak cos I don’t like to get it wrong. In the long run, such reluctance may prove fatal to my ambitions of bilingual bliss.

I have classes from 14:30 – 18:30 Monday to Friday. At first I had such lofty goals as going to the gym of a morning, a quick lay in the sun at the beach, a bit of study, etc… before heading off to school do some serious learning. Unfortunately, Spanish time doesn’t function this way, and when you’re having dinner at 10:00pm, bedtime is pushed back, and so is everything else. It’s not uncommon to be asked “what are you doing this afternoon?” at 9pm. What? It’s well and truly night! So I’m often waking up between 10am and midday. I’ve asked to change my classes to the morning to better use my day. The response was negative, but came with a smile: “sorry there’s no room in the morning class, it’s very difficult this week.” “Ok, how about next week?” smile and nod “no.” I got the impression that my teacher thought the matter finalised. Wrong. I’ll be asking daily until I can change… Squeaky wheel.

In class

Semi related photo of me in class... Looking somewhat cheesy.

I’ve been augmenting my Spanish classes by meeting friends via the Conversation Exchange website. I’ve met some amazing people through this site, and also had some interesting experience. On one meeting, a fairly legitimate student of English/teacher of Spanish met me in the centre of town “do you want me to show you the beach?” “Sure, why not!?” We get there and he says to me “clothing is optional here.” I look at him. “You can get naked if you want.” I thought we were here to share our respective languages, not to risk uncomfortably located cancer… (I didn’t have sunscreen). “Everyone is the same down under.” Not the point! He didn’t understand the Australian reference, either. Others, have been equally as uncomfortable, but in a more usual way. Tip to anyone reading this who might soon find themselves sitting face to face with a fellow conversation exchanger: have some chewing gum with you, or avoid garlic the night before… Or get your halitosis treated.

It’s 6:00pm and I think it’s beach time… Ahhh Spain! More to come, more frequently.
Adios!

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Acclimatising

Leave a comment Posted by on 12 April 2011

Life in Spain is moving along in Spanish time. I’ve paid my first rent, so now I really live here… The main difficulty has been getting my iPhone to work here. It seems that in Spain, you really need to be Spanish to do… almost anything. I was haemorrhaging money using pre-paid internet so enquired about a contract0. Need an NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero). I don’t think I qualify for one of these yet. And a bank account. For which you need an NIE. So I essentially have a useless iPhone in Spain. It makes calls, but being a telephone is the iPhone’s worst feature.

Bicing is a great way to get around the relatively flat Barcelona. One pays €24 for yearly access to conveniently located racks of bikes around town. To gain access to this service, you require an NIE. Same with a monthly ticket for public transport. And gym membership, though you can get around this by paying everything up front. I’ve only been passively investigating, though. And things may become easier with a bit more Spanish at my disposal.

I definitely feel at home in my new apartment, some cool things from which are pictured below. It’s in a fairly old building and has it’s quirks. It has high ceilings and can be quite cold – this will hopefully become more of a positive as the days get hotter here…

Granted, this post is a bit mundane. But I have had some interesting meetings… And the Metro seems to host some interesting characters for future posts. Strap yourselves in!!

 

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