The tennis player Paula Badosa, current world number 4is just a few hours away from playing the first round of the san jose tournament (California), his first big appearance after the bitter elimination he suffered at Wimbledon at the hands of the Romanian Simona Halep.
While preparing for this great event, the Catalan has granted a relaxed interview to british tennis federation in which she has reviewed some of the highlights of her career, such as which is her favorite player or which match she considers to be the best of her entire career.
Reaching the end of the conversation, the tennis player is asked about the languages she knows how to speak. A common issue in this type of relaxed dialogue that, however, ends up leading to a highly criticized response: “Spanish… let’s see, Catalan is not a languagebut I tell it the same, and English”.
Mr & Mrs Smith… @Serena Williams… & Madrid ?
Finish the sentence with @paulabadosa#PlayYourWay pic.twitter.com/fNAF0UASyb
— LTA (@the_LTA) July 30, 2022
Answers on social networks
Although the interview was published at the end of last week, It has been in the last few hours when multiple Catalan users of social networks have sharply criticized the tennis player’s consideration of Catalan. Some, in fact, debate among themselves whether it is a small lapse resulting from the context or a contempt for the language.
“It seems that having talent in sports does not imply having skills in general knowledge, even more so when you refer to a language you speak (that of your parents) like an almost language. He invented a new category. How sad. What a level”, comments the tweeter Josep Canals (@pepbogota).
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Another of the outstanding reactions has been that of Platform for the Language, an organization that promotes the use of Catalan, which has responded to the tweet encouraging the tennis player to “exercise linguistic referent all over the world”, since “surely many of the millions of Catalan speakers are your followers”.
It seems that having talent in sports doesn’t imply having skills in general knowledge even more when you refer to a language you speak (your parents’ one) as an almost language. She invented a new category. How sad. Who level?
— Josep Canals Molina (@Pepbogota) August 3, 2022
? I so much that Catalan is a language, @paulabadosa: pots be fully proud!
? T’animem to exercise as a linguistic referent arreu del món: sure that molts dels deu milions de parlants del català are followers of you! #Notexcusis ? https://t.co/tgGCL1EMPu
— Platform for the Language (@llenguacat) August 3, 2022
In statements to Catalunya Ràdio, the tennis player has apologized and explained that the error stems from a misunderstanding with the interviewer. “She told me that it didn’t count as a language and so I had to express it that way,” she has defended.