Consolidating the process

Although the use of Catalan in this business sector had been very low, it has increased in recent years due to the features of the Catalan market (which is demanding commercial communication in its own language), the elaboration of the Language Policy Act, and the conclusion of collaboration agreements between Catalan companies and local government. We must now consolidate and reinforce this process, initiated recently by the standardisation of the use of Catalan in this business sector.

Companies understand the need to use Catalan in order to obtain good business results and they see it as one of the keys to competitiveness with other companies.

The concentration of large groups of insurance companies in the Catalan-speaking territories and the strong competition for leadership of the Catalan insurance market over the coming years are likely to have a positive effect on the Catalan language.

Although the business sector has begun to standardise the use of Catalan, particularly in the initial phases of attracting customers, towards the final stages of securing customer loyalty or in areas of internal company activity, the use of the Catalan language is still low.

It would be worthwhile to take advantage of this opportunity for launching campaigns promoting the standardisation of Catalan in all spheres of activity, whether internal and external. It would also be beneficial to maintain and strengthen contacts between the Department for Culture and UCEAC companies for providing services to the latter.

Finally, the distribution and supply of the Diccionari Multiterm d’Assegurances, created by the Department for Culture and the UCEAC, would extend its current level of use.

The Directorate-General of Language Policy has prepared this list of on-line language resources, which will be useful for those who work in the insurance sector. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the many tools available on the Internet, however, it does offer a good selection.

If you would like to find out more, or are interested in a list of language resources adapted to the needs of your company or organisation, please contact:

General Directorate for Language Policy: tel. (+34) 93 567 10 65 or e-mail: spl.vicepresidencia@gencat.cat

Consortium for Language Standardisation: tel. (+34) 93 272 31 00 or e-mail: cpnl@cpnl.cat

Institut DEP
dep@dep.net

Joan Solé i Camardons
General Directorate for Language Policy
joansole@correu.gencat.cat