Mark Pentleton

Catalan challenge: day 2

Abans de tot, ja cal donar les gràcies a Ana per la seva ajuda amb el meu post d'ahir. Gràcies també per la gravació qu'em vas enviar per a ajudar-me amb la meva pronunciació.

Avui només he fet una mica de català: no he tingut molt temp perquè ahir celebràvem l'aniversari del meu fill i avui hem fet una festa per a ell i els seus amics. El meu fill es diu Matthew i ara té set anys. El temp passa molt de pressa!

Aquest vespre he anat al gimnàs i he nedat durant una hora. No hi havia molta gent: m'agrada quan no hi ha molta gent perquè és molt més relaxant.

Ara ja és tard i estic molt cansat aixi que és hora d'anar al llit. Fins demà.

[Translation after the jump]

My first post in Catalan

Em dic Mark. Visc en Escòcia i sóc director d'una companyia que ofereix materials per a la gent que vol aprendre altres idiomes. Sóc antic professor d'idiomes i parlo castellà, francès, italià, i una mica d'alemany, i de noruec. M'agrada aprendre altres idiomes perquè m'agrada comunicar amb altra gent. Per això, vull aprendre el català: vaig a passar algunes dies en Barcelona i hauré de parlar amb la gent en català. Vaig a intentar de millorar el meu català abans de viatjar allà.

És molt probable que, al veure aquest blog, vas pensar que ja parlo català. Però cal dir que vaig escriure aquest missatge amb diccionari, i llibre de verbs i gramàtica. Espero que esdevé (esdevindrà? esdevingui?) a poc a poc màs fàcil durant les properas setmanas.

Estic molt agraït a tots els que em poden (puguin?) ajudar amb el meu desafiament. Si em equivoco, si us plau, corregiu-me!

(Read more, including translation after the jump)

Challenge: Learn Catalan in 4 weeks

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!

More feedback from NME

I must get back to this soon - I've got lots more to report back on, but it will have to be put on hold for the time being. Since I got back from the Expo things have been extremely busy catching up with everything. I'll report back as soon as I can!

NME: Keynote - Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk started off the convention with Thursday's keynote. Gary runs the very successful WineLibrary.tv and is something of an internet celebrity to say the least. These are some of the key points I've taken from his presentation.

If it's not in your DNA then you're not going to be able to do it
As a podcaster I should be creating podcasts which include 'parts of me'. If I'm into Sci-Fi, or travel, or Eurovision (!) then I should include these idiosynchrasies in what I do. This makes the podcast more 'me', and theoretically that's what attracts listeners and fans. The key word is authenticity: don't try to be something you're not.

I guess this in many ways puts into words exactly what I've been doing for two years (and indeed throughout my teaching career): the lessons I teach - and the content I produce - have always included a bit of 'me', especially in terms of my music, and indeed the cheesiness of the podcasts sometimes!

Content may well be king, but marketing is queen - and the queen runs the household!
Marketing your brand is the key to success and recognition. Marketing can be both traditional marketing with advertising etc., but it can also mean simply 'becoming part of the conversation' by joining discussions, posting on forums and blogs, and becoming a recognised source of opinion or information.

We have done very little 'marketing' as such with Coffee Break Spanish, and our other podcasts. Indeed, we haven't really 'needed' to so far in that iTunes drives so much of our traffic and our prominent place on iTunes helps to maintain this. Of course, relying on iTunes or any other one source of traffic can be dangerous. What happens if iTunes stops pushing podcasts? We need to look seriously at the bigger plan for marketing, but that's not really for this public blog at the moment.

Editing? Screw editing!
Gary doesn't believe in editing - it slows up the creative process and holds back publishing. Indeed in a recent episode he needed to verify the cost of a bottle of wine he was discussing so he left his place in front of the camera and went to check the price online, leaving the camera running. Apparently his viewers enjoy this because it's real.

I think there's definitely a place for this kind of production. However, I'm not 100% sure if it fits into what we're doing. On the one hand, we can easily produce that kind of 'live', raw content, and I'm sure that it would be successful, assuming we had the correct host and the correct location, be it studio or otherwise. However, I think the wider non-tech appeal of language-learning content may mean that our production needs to be higher standard. This needn't necessarily mean that we go back to the type of Buongiorno Italia production, but perhaps the best solution would be a show which "feels" live, but which is actually produced deliberately to achieve that effect. Perhaps something along the lines of Walk, Talk and Learn!

There were undoubtedly other pieces of wisdom covered by Gary during his presentation, but these were just a few of my thoughts. I'll add to these once I've heard the podcast version of the keynote.

Some thoughts on Canada

After leaving Iceland - travelling in the lap of luxury with Icelandair first class! - I arrived in Toronto, Canada, where I was met by relatives. We spent a couple of days in Toronto, saw Niagara Falls in the pouring rain, and then made our way to Windsor in south-west Ontario. I very much enjoyed spending time with my family in Canada, and it was particularly nice to meet a new generation of relatives. Thanks to everyone for their hospitality! Favourite moments included bacon butties at the St Lawrence Market in Toronto, dinner at Frank and Johanna's favourite restaurant, Jacques' Bistrot, getting soaked on the Maid of the Mist at Niagara, and of course the BBQ at Maureen and Marcel's.

I took the opportunity to record a French Canadian version of One Minute Languages with family-member Gisēle, so we'll launch this at some point in the next few months, probably along with Japanese and Mandarin which are both currently in preparation.

Detroit: baptism of fire

My first night on US soil was spent at a baseball game between the Toronto Blue-Jays and the Detroit Tigers. I had been warned about what to expect, and I wasn't disappointed!

It seems to be about much more than the game. I don't think I quite managed to understand the rules until the seventh inning, but this didn't stop me from enjoying the experience.

We had managed to get three tickets, but two were in the outfield, and one was much nearer the action. Johanna took this seat and then I swapped with her when I felt comfortable with Frank's explanations of the gameplay. The seat was four rows from the front, just to the left of the base. Having taken my seat, and prepared my EOS 450d with the zoom lens (which handily fits neatly in cup-holders!) for some close-up shots of the action, I got talking to a man sitting next to me who had the same camera. This talk of cameras seemed to arouse the interest of the people sitting behind me and so began an unforgettable conversation. Names have been invented as I didn't feel brave enough to ask them!

American lady: "My that's a big one."
Husband: "Watch it, Darleen!"
Darleen: "Shut your mouth, Dwayne!"
Dwayne (to me): "Sorry. Just ignore her!"
Me: "No worries"
Darleen: "So where are you from?" Me: "I'm from Scotland." Darleen: "Scaaaaatland?! Oh my Gaaad, did you hear what he said?! He's from Scaaaaaatland!"
Dwayne: "Z'this your first game?"
Me: "Yes. It's actually my first night on American soil!"
Darleen: "You're kidding me! Oh my Gaaaad! Listen up everybody. It's his first night on US soil! Well I'm gonna buy you a beer. What kind of beer are you wanting? (to the person selling beer) We're getting him a beer cos it's his first night in the US!" Me: "That's very kind of you. Anything at all." Dwayne: "What's the beer like in Ireland?" Me: "I'm actually from Scotland." Dwayne: "Oh same difference. Bet you the beer is better over there than this s***!"

I thank Darleen for the beer and start to drink it, trying to focus my attention once more on the game.

Darleen (to couple next to her, minding their own business): "You gonna buy him a drink? It's his first night in the US and he's come all the way from Scaaaaatland!"

Couple smile and try to avoid entering the conversation.

Darleen: "Hey c'mon, tight ass! Buy him a beer. We need to show him we're a welcoming nation!" Me: "I'm fine, honestly. Thanks. Darleen: "So, c'mon. What do you like about the States?" Me: [think for a minute about my vast experience of this country, having arrived approximately 2 hours previously] "The beer?" Darleen: "All right! Doin' good!" Dwayne: "So which part of Ireland do you live in?" Me: "Um... I live in Scotland... I live in the south-west - south of Glasgow." Dwayne: "Z'that anywhere near St Andrews? We're going to St Andrew's to play golf. Will you pick us up and drive us to St Andrew's?" Me: "St Andrew's is about two and a half hours from where I live." Dwayne: "That's nothin'! And we bought you a beer!"

And so it continued.

In the end the Jays won after some fairly disastrous play by the Tigers. We ended up leaving after the seventh innings in an attempt to beat the traffic given my early start the following morning. A memorable first night in the US!

Icelandic adventures

I started my 'big trip' a week past on Thursday when I flew from Glasgow to Keflavík in Iceland. Arriving late at night it was great to be picked up by a member of staff from the Northern Lights Inn at the airport. Joining me in the minibus were two elderly gentlemen who were planning a week of fishing in Iceland, recreating a trip of 50 years ago. I chose to decline their kind offer of a vodka nightcap, but wished them well on their holiday.

The Northern Lights Inn was a great discovery. I'd read a few reviews on Trip Advisor and it sounded my kind of place, near enough to Keflavík, and just next to the famous Bláa Lónið (Blue Lagoon) which Ewan had recommended. The staff couldn't have been more helpful and ran a great taxi service back and forward to the airport and to the Blue Lagoon.

I spent the morning at the Blue Lagoon which was quite a unique experience. I was told that I'd chosen the best time to go because the lagoon becomes very busy late morning and in the afternoon because some of the buses which travel to the airport from Reykjavík stop off at the Blue Lagoon to allow people to visit on the way to the airport for a later flight. Soaking in the mineral-rich waters under a clear blue sky was heavenly!

I spent a few hours in Reykjavík before returning to the airport. I always enjoy a Scandinavian capital, and Reykjavík proved to be a very walkable city. Although I didn't see a huge amount of Reykjavík in the short time I was there, I enjoyed walking along Laugavegur (as the photo shows, the "main shopping street", just in case there is any doubt) and soon headed back to the bus station and headed towards the airport.

My favourite thing about Iceland? Without a doubt the language! No surprises there... I've always liked the sound of Icelandic and I admire the fact that it protects the integrity of the language by avoiding anglicisms and neologisms. There's more information on Wikipedia, but as an example, the word for "telephone" is sími, which actually means "wire", but is now used as the standard Icelandic word for telephone - including the wireless variety! I wonder if you buy a "sim" for your "sími", or is there another word for sim?!

I'd love to go back to Iceland. I may try to follow up the link with the hotel with a view to doing One Minute Icelandic at some point. It would be great if I could combine that with seeing the Northern Lights, but that's perhaps not the most financially sound reasoning!

New Media Expo: Initial Impressions

I'm currently flying at 37,000 ft above Nebraksa on my journey home to Scotland after spending five days in Vegas for New Media Expo. This has been my first visit to Vegas, and indeed to the US, and it's been quite an experience.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from New Media Expo. I'd obviously followed previous Expos in Ontario from the various blogs I read, and this year I decided to see what it was all about and experience the Expo for myself. I have to say that overall I'm a bit disappointed in my experience. Perhaps it's because of where I'm currently at in podcasting and in particular where I'm at in terms of monetisation of my brands. I felt that the content was perhaps aimed more at those who haven't got as much experience in making their podcasts and brands pay for themselves. While Paul Colligan, Jason Van Orden, Leesa Barnes and co. provided great ideas for podcasters who hope to take their podcasts beyond the hobbyist level, I felt that there wasn't enough content on how to take that next step.

I spoke to Don McAllister about this and I think that Don's probably in a similar position: we've both achieved success with our respective podcasts, we've both efficiently monetised our brands and indeed we've both reached a stage where podcasting (and the ancillary activities) is our 'day job'. And yet the big 'profitable podcasting' sessions at the Expo were still saying similar things to what they've been saying in the past, addressing that prospective profitable podcaster, rather than providing any advice as to the next steps for those of us who are already successfully monetising our podcasts.

Of course, as Tim Bourquin (and many others) said at the opening of the conference, it's more about the conversations you have with people in the corridors, in the coffee queues and in the bar which are as important, if not more important, than the sessions, and I've had many of these. It has been great getting to know Don (and his family) and putting faces to the many names I've been reading and listening to over the past few years. Special mention goes to Jason Van Orden whose presentation was both enjoyable and useful, and who, as I've suspected for a long time, is a really nice guy. It was great to meet Jason, his Internet Business Mastery partner Sterling, and indeed Melanie, his wife.

i plan to blog about the sessions I've attended, sharing the most important messages, and I'll probably do this over the next few days. This post is more a "first impressions" of the Expo, rather than anything with too much detail. There are a few things I also have to mention about Las Vegas itself! Quite a city, quite an experience. But more of that in coming blog posts.

Was New Media Expo for me? Was it worthwhile travelling 4000 miles via Iceland, Toronto, Windsor and Detroit to Sin City in order to attend the convention? I think I'll probably hold off before answering that question, primarily because I still need a few days to think through everything. I've enjoyed my trip, but any final decision or comment is coloured at the moment by the fact that I really feel it's time to get home. I've been away for eleven days and that's more than enough for me. It's time to go home.

Getting back to blogging...

I'm about to head off on an extended trip to Iceland, Canada and the US, ultimately heading to New Media Expo in Las Vegas. I've decided to use this as the opportunity to get back to blogging! Hopefully I'll be able to share some of my thoughts and ideas both on what I'm thinking about podcasting in education and in the world of languages in general. To anyone reading, I hope this is of some use!