The Minister of Culture of the Generalitat, Natàlia Garriga, has announced that the Government is recovering and updating the character of the queta –a jumping mouth that in 2005 was promoted in the campaign ‘Dona corda al català’–, in an initiative for promote the social use of Catalan and which includes the “many accents” that exists in Catalonia today. It is done to kick off the campaign ‘Let’s try it in Catalan. Much to talk, much to live‘.
Garriga has pointed out that at the time this character was “a single voice, one way and represented only one way of looking,” and that this updated Queta will visualize the diversity actual.
Unlike the one in 2005, in this new Queta “no need to string it anymorebecause it comes with a button”; it has legs and arms, so it’s customizable, and it represents multiple characters from the daily life of Catalonia.
Garriga added that the purpose is to appeal to society to initiate them conversations in Catalan and not change to Spanish in day-to-day life: “The first was a Queta probably with a single accent or with fewer accents; now we have a society with many accents and what we want is for her to feel represented.”
The Councilor of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, has called to speak in Catalan in the different day-to-day situations, she has asked that “everyone gets involved” in this objective and has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the hundred transversal measures approved to promote the use of Catalan.
Interaction with people
The Government’s Linguistic Policy Secretary, Francesc Xavier Vila, has regretted that the Catalans have “gone internalizing that in unforeseen situations in front of strangers who are suspected of not knowing how to speak Catalan” they switch to speaking in Spanish, and asks to reverse this behavior because to learn a language the most important thing is the interaction with people, according to him.
This Tuesday they were presented first five characters de la Queta in a video, which refer to different areas of current Catalan society: leisure and young people (Queta dancing at the disco); the sport (Queta footballer); the catering (Queta food seller); l‘company (Queta making a technological presentation) and the public services (Queta driving a bus).
In addition, the campaign features a song sung by Oriol de Ramon and Xavier Coca (The Tyets), Kelly Isaiah (del group Course), i Sandra Monfort, Clara Fiol and Selma Bruna (Marala Trio).
He also has a website with language resources, which can be consulted from this Tuesday; and, according to Garriga, the campaign plans to tour different parts of Catalonia, from October it will be promoted in Catalan schools and next year it will enter all Government departments.
The campaign is expected to last at least two yearsduring which new personalized Quests will be presented — such as the Healthcare Quest, the who plays video games or the student–.