Voluntaris per la Llengua

"Voluntaris per la Llengua" is a Catalan language learning programme.

The programme is important to the integration of foreign people in Catalonia. It transmits the initiatives of the cultural organisations and the volunteers with the creation of "parelles lingüístiques" (linguistic parallels) where the volunteers have several hours of conversation (a minimum of 1 hour per week for 10 weeks) in Catalan with another person who wants to learn and practise Catalan.

On the 26 September 2005, to coincide with the European Day of Languages, the European Commission published information about the experiences of language learning in the European Union. This publication listed 50 ways to motivate people who study a language. The "Voluntaris per la Llengua" programme was included in the list.

Presentation

The Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística is a public body with its own legal status, formed by the Generalitat de Catalunya and by the town councils and local entities which freely make it up. The interest and the common objective of all its members is the normalisation of the Catalan language, that is to manage to generalise the knowledge and use of Catalan in all sectors and activities of society. Its area of action is Catalonia.

The "Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística" is the fruit of the common desire of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the town councils of the main towns of the country to promote the process of the recovery of Catalan in a coordinated manner.

Origin and aim

The Consorci was created in October 1988 by the Executive Board of the Generalitat de Catalunya, as a body with its own legal status founded by the Generalitat, 19 town councils and the Diputació de Girona, with the aim of encouraging the use of Catalan in all sectors of society in their usual activities. Once fully established, the Consorci began its activities on 1 September 1989, culminating a period of institutional collaboration which until then, and starting from the time of the recovery of the democratic town councils, had been expressed in Catalan courses for adults –which began in 1980– and the Catalan municipal services –created in 1983–.

The common desire of the institutions of Catalonia is to promote the process of recovery of Catalan in society in a coordinated manner. The interest and the common objective of all the members of the Consorci is, therefore, the promotion of the social use of the language of Catalonia in all spheres, especially at the heart of the organisations and entities of the various sectors which organize the socio-economic and cultural activity. Its objective is also the diffusion of knowledge of the Catalan language among the adult population.

The members of the Consorci

Apart from the Generalitat de Catalonia, the Consorci is currently made up by 80 town councils, 37 district councils and the Diputació de Girona (the provincial councils of Lleida and Tarragona are represented in the Plenum of the Consorci and subsidize the regional Catalan services in their territorial areas).

Governing bodies

The governing bodies of the Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística are independent of the institutions which make it up.

The Plenum. This is the highest governing body. It is made up by representatives of the collaborating local bodies and representatives of the Generalitat, which has a majority. Its main functions are: to approve the projects for the modification of the statutes of the Consorci; to ratify the incorporation of new members; to approve the budgets and the annual program of activities; to establish, expand or suppress initiatives of general interest; to approve or ratify the introduction of services, and to open and close language normalisation centres.

The Board of Directors. The Board of Directors of the Consorci is the body entrusted with implementing the agreements of the Plenum. It is made up by the chairman, two deputy chairmen and the members. The chairman is the director general of Language Policy of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The two deputy chairmen are appointed by the chairman: one, by direct designation, and the other at the suggestion of the town councils and of the other collaborating bodies. The manager of the Consorci - appointed by the agreement of the Plenum, at the suggestion of the chairman - and the secretary - appointed by the Board of Directors - attend the meetings of the Board, with speaking but not voting rights. The functions of the Board of Directors include: elaborating the action plans and the annual programs of activities, taking into account the proposals of the normalization centres; elaborating the draft budget of the Consorci; approving the workforce and the salaries of the staff, and approving the hiring and the expenses.

The centre councils.. Without prejudice to the functions which correspond to the Plenum and to the Board of Directors, the centre councils are the management bodies on a territorial level for each Language Normalisation Centre. They are made up by representatives of the local corporations, of the Generalitat de Catalunya and of the social, cultural and socio-economic organisations which belong to the Consorci. Their aim is to promote, manage and assess the language normalisation activities and initiatives within their territorial area. They also approve and monitor the budget proposed by the management of the centre.

Territorial network

The structure of the Consorci, unitary and decentralised at the same time, is formed by a territorial network of 22 language normalisation centres. Some centres have a solely municipal scope and others are organized into regional Catalan services, local Catalan services and, in small municipalities, into Catalan offices. In total there are 37 regional Catalan services, 33 local Catalan services and 45 Catalan offices.

Operation

The central services of the Consorci carry out the common management of the human and economic resources, the planning, the monitoring and the assessment of the annual programs of activities, the territorial coordination of the language normalization centres and the institutional relations of the Consorci. They are organised into the management, the Human Resources and Communication Management and the Technical Management.

The management. Its main functions are the economic and administrative management, the execution of the agreements of the Plenum and of the Board of Directors, the management of personnel and the control of the management of the programs of activities approved by the Plenum.

The Human Resources and Communication Management. The functions of this management are divided into two areas:

• The personnel unit which manages the human resources (personnel, payrolls, hiring, organizes the training of the personnel, manages the economic resources (accounting, invoicing and the computer resources.

• The image and communication unit which manages the corporate image, the publications, the Language Telephone, the internal communications of the personnel, outside relations and relations with the press (Press Office).

The Technical Management. The functions of this management are the planning, the execution and the monitoring of the language normalisation services that the Consorci offers through the services and offices. It is organized into the following three areas of services:

• Teaching. Coordinating the organisation of Catalan courses for adults, distance learning, self-learning centres for Catalan and tutorage and self-learning services.

• Language Consultancy. Coordinating the actions of the service for the correction and translation of short texts, attending to queries, advice on language rights and on language resources.

• Language Invigoration. Coordinating the sectorial programs and campaigns for the promotion of the social use of Catalan.

Personnel

The Consorci has a fixed workforce of 409 employees, distributed between 368 language normalisation specialists and 41 administrative workers. It moreover has a temporary workforce of 250 specialists hired between the months of October and June, who attend to the demand for Catalan courses for adults during these periods.

The activities of the staff are divided between management functions (5%, technical functions (88% and administrative functions (7%. By work area 47% are devoted to the teaching of Catalan for adults, 27% to language consultancy and 26% to language invigoration.

Language normalisation services

The common objective of the services that the Consorci provides for the population and for organisations is to increase the public presence of the Catalan language. In this respect, all of the services and the actions are designed as instruments to help those they are aimed at to obtain linguistic autonomy and to allow them to work normally in Catalan.

Teaching of Catalan

• Catalan courses for adults

Beginners’ level (A1, A2, A3, L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6 and Conversation intended for non-Catalan speakers and aimed at developing comprehension and speaking skills.

Intermediate level (B, C, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 and S6 intended for people with a good command of the oral language and aimed at developing comprehension, speaking and writing skills in any communicative situation.

Advanced level (D aimed at preparing the student to achieve an advanced proficiency level in the language.

Specific training courses aimed at groups with specific language needs (serving the public, shopkeepers, traders and shop assistants, sports monitors, local police, driving school teachers, etc.

Specialised language courses aimed at professional groups with their own specialised language (commercial language, administrative language and legal language.

• Distance learning.This method is based on specific materials for self-learning and on a tutor who guides and assesses the student. Courses are offered at all intermediate levels.

• Self-learning of Catalan.The Consorci has 10 Catalan self-learning centres in Barcelona (2 centres, Terrassa, l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Vicenç dels Horts, Gavà, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Mataró, Girona and Tarragona. These centres have a tutor who guides the students in their learning process. The towns which do not have these specialised centres offer personalised tutorage and self-learning services.

• Media-based courses.- The "Digui, digui" course is offered for non-Catalan speakers on local radio and television stations.- "Català en curs" is offered for Catalan speakers in the local and regional press.

Language consultancy

With the aim of facilitating the generalised and correct use of Catalan, the Consorci offers language consultancy to public institutions, private organisations and professionals and individuals in general. In particular, this service offers:

* Revision of oral and written texts.
* Attention to linguistic inquiries: in person, by phone or by fax.
* Attention to Enquirer on specific terminology.
* Translation of brief texts or those with a wide circulation, from Castilian to Catalan.
* Information from the automated inquiry service.
* Information on bibliographic resources: dictionaries, vocabularies, manuals, etc.
* Information on computerized language tools: checkers, spell-checks, etc.
* Information and consultancy on language rights and proceedings.

Language invigoration

Language invigoration is a set of measures and actions whose objective is to generate and promote changes in the language uses of the organisations, entities and associations which make up the social fabric, with the aim of increasing the social use of the Catalan language. These actions are organised into sectorial programmes which the Consorci approves annually and which specify the technical support work directly related to language consultancy and the teaching of the language. These programmes are:

* Local administration
* Professional associations from the world of law
* Education and youth
* The media
* Advertising
* Graphic arts
* Companies Driving schools
* Commerce and municipal markets
* Tourism, hotel and catering trade
* Health centres
* Sports bodies
* Social associations and groups