Learning Galician

Galician is a Romance language, and if you already know some other Romance language (especially Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, etc., you have come a long way: if you prick up your ears you will soon begin understanding Galician on a basic level.  If you have doubts,  don't be afraid to ask the person talking to you, who will be more than glad to lend a hand, or in this case a word.  Many other exchange students have passed through the halls of this university without having problems.

Galician language can be the key to open the door to any of the other Romance languages. Galicia offers you the opportunity to learn both Spanish and Galician at the same time, and Galician can serve as an introduction to Portuguese as they are sister languages which come from the same origins: up until the late Middle Ages it was impossible to tell them apart. And of course Portuguese is spoken in Brazil, Angola, and the Cape Verde Islands as well as in Portugal.  It's the eighth most spoken language in the world.  So you can see that through Galician language you can get into contact with countries and people you never imagined to be possible.

You can start getting used to Galician language in your own country before you come:

• Listen to Radio Galega on the Internet
• Watch Galician  T.V. on the Internet or via satellite   
• Read Internet Newspapers in Galician, such as Vieiros  
• Learn about Galician lessons in your own country
• Take a virtual course on the Internet 
• Read universal literature in Galician Language in Bivir
• Find out about Galician literature through the  Galician VirtualLibrary
• Learn about the linguistic characteristics  of the Galician language 
• Learn more about Galician and consult  a Galician-English-Spanish dictionary

Once here, the USC offers:

• For those arriving before the beginning of the academic year, Courses on Galician language and culture  organised through the summer by the Galician Language Institute of the USC.

• At the beginning of each term, Galician courses for non-Galician speakers are organised by the Linguistic Normalisation Service of the University.

If you need further information you can check out the Linguistic Normalisation Service of the University.