The time has come again for another travel chapter to close. After spending 10 weeks in Barcelona, I figured it was time for me to catch up on what exactly I've been doing here and what I think of the city.
First of all, my time in Barcelona was to fulfill the internship component of my master's program. 10 weeks, full time linguistics fun. Contrary to what some of you may be thinking, my motivation to come here wasn't just to be in a different city, or to escape a bit of the Dutch winter; it was because I found a professor who was working on a project that was right in-line with my academic interests (all the other stuff was just a happy bonus!).
The project I've been working on is investigating how babies are able to recognize different languages. We're talking like 4 month-olds here, and you'd think they wouldn't know too much, but babies are language machines. Even after just a couple months, babies can tell the difference between languages based on the rhythm of each language. Some pairs are easier to separate, like English and Japanese, and some are harder, like Dutch and German. If one of the languages in the pair being tested is the baby's native language, they're crazy good, and can even separate accents, like telling apart British and American English. The question we are looking into is if the different vowels in a language is a part of this ability. Being in Catalonia, we're using Spanish, and 2 dialects of Catalan. Testing hasn't started yet, but both monolingual- and bilingual-to-be babies will be tested to see if there's any difference between the two.
Sounds interesting, no? Okay, maybe not for you, but I think so! Anyways, I came into the internship thinking I'd be working a full work week, learning a lot, and working through the whole process of running an experiment. As it turns out, that wasn't exactly the case. Research is a machine with lots of slow-moving cogs. I did learn about programming experiments, but because the lab was relocated with only three weeks left of my internship, I didn't have the opportunity to run any participants or see any results. In the end, and in complete honesty, the whole internship experience was a bit underwhelming and disappointing...
But now on to something a bit more lively - exploring the city!!
I got into the city on a Thursday evening in November. I figured I'd give myself the weekend to play tourist before I started my internship. I was also lucky enough to have my family come to visit for Thanksgiving week, where I got to be even more of a tourist, because my parents paid for me to go into things I'd never pay for myself! All in all, I think I saw most of the big things in the city - Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Las Ramblas, the beach.
When I've gone out, I've enjoyed the city. I find that once you get into the older part of the city, it's pretty charming. Sometimes it was hard to force myself to get there though, since it'd be an uncomfortably long walk from my apartment, and I couldn't always convince myself to pay for public transportation. Ah, well. Time for pictures!
The Barcelona beach!! This was taken at a point about 25 minutes walking from my apartment. Not too shabby.
So the Catalans have this crazy tradition of building human towers. There's a huge festival every year (I think), and people from all walks of life are involved. Little ones, probably around 4-5, climb to the very top. These were pretty small, but check out this video for more info!
Mont Serrat. A monastery on top of a mountain, because why not.
Andorrrrrra! You may know my affinity for visiting small countries most people don't realize exist. I had a day off from my internship, so I made the impromptu decision to sit in a car for 3 hours each way to visit this lil nugget of a country. Most people go for skiing or shopping. I went just to walk around and take pictures. Unfortunately, all of my pictures disappeared when my phone was stolen, so this will have to suffice, but take my word that it was a cute place!
Hover over the ones below for a description!
Let's not forget that I was able to take a quick trip down to Valencia to see my Spaniards, as I like to call them. This is the family that has so kindly opened up their house to me half a dozen times, whether it was a summer exchange in high school, or quick visits during my excursions. They've always made me feel welcome - this time by making my Spanish favorites: paella and tortilla.
And that pretty much bring us all up to date. Barcelona, it's been swell, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the land of bicycles and stroopwafels!
First of all, my time in Barcelona was to fulfill the internship component of my master's program. 10 weeks, full time linguistics fun. Contrary to what some of you may be thinking, my motivation to come here wasn't just to be in a different city, or to escape a bit of the Dutch winter; it was because I found a professor who was working on a project that was right in-line with my academic interests (all the other stuff was just a happy bonus!).
The project I've been working on is investigating how babies are able to recognize different languages. We're talking like 4 month-olds here, and you'd think they wouldn't know too much, but babies are language machines. Even after just a couple months, babies can tell the difference between languages based on the rhythm of each language. Some pairs are easier to separate, like English and Japanese, and some are harder, like Dutch and German. If one of the languages in the pair being tested is the baby's native language, they're crazy good, and can even separate accents, like telling apart British and American English. The question we are looking into is if the different vowels in a language is a part of this ability. Being in Catalonia, we're using Spanish, and 2 dialects of Catalan. Testing hasn't started yet, but both monolingual- and bilingual-to-be babies will be tested to see if there's any difference between the two.
Sounds interesting, no? Okay, maybe not for you, but I think so! Anyways, I came into the internship thinking I'd be working a full work week, learning a lot, and working through the whole process of running an experiment. As it turns out, that wasn't exactly the case. Research is a machine with lots of slow-moving cogs. I did learn about programming experiments, but because the lab was relocated with only three weeks left of my internship, I didn't have the opportunity to run any participants or see any results. In the end, and in complete honesty, the whole internship experience was a bit underwhelming and disappointing...
But now on to something a bit more lively - exploring the city!!
I got into the city on a Thursday evening in November. I figured I'd give myself the weekend to play tourist before I started my internship. I was also lucky enough to have my family come to visit for Thanksgiving week, where I got to be even more of a tourist, because my parents paid for me to go into things I'd never pay for myself! All in all, I think I saw most of the big things in the city - Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Las Ramblas, the beach.
When I've gone out, I've enjoyed the city. I find that once you get into the older part of the city, it's pretty charming. Sometimes it was hard to force myself to get there though, since it'd be an uncomfortably long walk from my apartment, and I couldn't always convince myself to pay for public transportation. Ah, well. Time for pictures!
The Barcelona beach!! This was taken at a point about 25 minutes walking from my apartment. Not too shabby.
So the Catalans have this crazy tradition of building human towers. There's a huge festival every year (I think), and people from all walks of life are involved. Little ones, probably around 4-5, climb to the very top. These were pretty small, but check out this video for more info!
Mont Serrat. A monastery on top of a mountain, because why not.
Andorrrrrra! You may know my affinity for visiting small countries most people don't realize exist. I had a day off from my internship, so I made the impromptu decision to sit in a car for 3 hours each way to visit this lil nugget of a country. Most people go for skiing or shopping. I went just to walk around and take pictures. Unfortunately, all of my pictures disappeared when my phone was stolen, so this will have to suffice, but take my word that it was a cute place!
Hover over the ones below for a description!
Let's not forget that I was able to take a quick trip down to Valencia to see my Spaniards, as I like to call them. This is the family that has so kindly opened up their house to me half a dozen times, whether it was a summer exchange in high school, or quick visits during my excursions. They've always made me feel welcome - this time by making my Spanish favorites: paella and tortilla.
And that pretty much bring us all up to date. Barcelona, it's been swell, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the land of bicycles and stroopwafels!
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