Here's a pretty cool event to pencil in this summer if you're anywhere in or around Sonoma this July. Gloria Ferrer Winery will celebrate 20 years of making world-class sparkling and still wines during their Catalan Festival. Featuring food, wine, entertainment, music, and dancing with a whole lot of Catalan flavor visitors can get small taste of Spanish culture during the two day bash. Specific details for the July 22-23, 2006 event are still in planning stages, but if last year's festival sounds mouth-watering enough go ahead and get your tickets now. It'll be a great place to practice your Catalan to be used later on in the big trip to Spain.

Today's word is a Catalan word used in Spain:

Em dic... - My name is...

You would think this would be pretty similar to the "mi llamo..." used in Spanish to provide another with your name, but it's quite different. So now you know. Practice, practice at the wine festival or anywhere for that matter, then take it to the Spanish streets on a summer night for the full effect. Just remember not to spill your wine.

Resources on the web are many for Catalan. Check out Ominglot first for history and a fantastic list of links to keep you chugging along in your studies. Some of the best in my own opinion include this Intercat site which has a University conversation guide with audio, a section titled " 30 Tips Catalan in Catalonia," and other additional tools. BBC has a short summary about Catalan and a few helpful phrases.

Past Catalan words: sisplau

Filed under: Learning, Europe, Spain