Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa sparked discussion when she stated that Catalan is not a language during an interview with American player Elizabeth Mandlik ahead of her San José debut this morning.
In a session with the Lawn Tennis Association, Badosa touched on several topics, including languages she speaks. The athlete, who was born in the United States and has lived in Spain since childhood, said, cSpanish, Catalan, not a language but I still count and English.e
The remarks drew swift questions from the Catalan group Plataforma per la Llengua, which defended Catalan as a language on social media. The organization commented that Catalan is indeed a language and urged Badosa to be proud of her linguistic roots. The exchange took place after the interview was published, prompting a public response from the association on its Twitter account.
Mr and Mrs Smith… @Serena Williams… & Madrid
End sentence with @paulabadosa#PlayYourWay pic.twitter.com/fNAF0UASyb
— LTA (@the_LTA) 30 July 2022
Another note from the conversation urged Badosa to consider her reach as a potential global linguistic reference. The platform pointed out that many Catalan speakers are followers and that the comment could influence perceptions about the language on a worldwide stage.