Mark Pentleton

So, it’s time to announce my little personal challenge for the next four weeks! On Friday 26 September I’ll be doing a presentation at Podcamp Barcelona … in Catalan. I’ll be announcing exactly what I’m going to be presenting about soon, but I’ve decided to use this as an opportunity to challenge myself to see how much Catalan I can learn in 28 days. Starting tomorrow (demà) I’ll be working on some Catalan each day and hopefully reporting back here. If you’re a Catalan speaker, please feel free to comment on anything I write, and all help will be gratefully appreciated! I’ve always had an interest in Catalan: I did a couple of weeks of a Catalan course while at university, and my visits through work to Tarragona, Barcelona and Mallorca between 2001-2007 helped to develop that interest. However, until now my limit is em dic Mark (my name is Mark) and només parlo una mica de catalá (I only speak a little Catalan), so I’ve got plenty to learn. As you can see from the pile of books in the photo, I’ve already got a few resources to help me, and I’m going to try make careful use of my dictionary and verb tables to write a daily post in Catalan. Of course I’ve got a “fairly good” command of Spanish and French which will no doubt help!

In terms of what I’m hoping to achieve, I don’t simply want to learn a speech off by heart – that’s not the way I learn languages! I want to be able to communicate with people in Barcelona, and perhaps even understand and answer any questions which may be asked following my presentation.

So, now that I’ve admitted it to the world, I’m going to have to do it! And I’m hoping to use social networking to help me reach my goal. So, if you’re a native Catalan speaker and you think you can help, follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/markpentleton) – perhaps by eavesdropping on your conversations I’ll understand a bit more!

Va a ser un viatge molt interessant! Necessito l’ajuda de tots vosaltres!