Textbooks for learning English abound but not many will teach a student, in the first chapter, to say, "I am picking grapes" or "I am on the bottling line".

 

English for the Wine Industry  a newly published textbook written specifically for the wine industry, is intended for Spanish speakers interested in acquiring a basic knowledge of English and its application to the wine industry.

 

Author Josefina Adriance, a native Spanish speaker who lives in the Napa Valley, has taught Spanish for business classes with a special focus on the wine industry for the past twenty years.  Owner of the Napa-based Spanish for Business, she had already created two highly praised tools for English-speakers, Spanish for the Wine Industry, and Spanish-English Dictionary for the Wine Industry. 

 

When she was approached by a Napa Valley winery that asked to teach a class for Spanish speaking workers, Adriance devised a series of lessons that became the basis of the book.  ESL teacher David Allred used the materials she developed.  "It is an excellent text with many important wine-industry specific vocabulary words and phrases, Allred said.  "It served as an effective structure for our course, and the students were engaged because the material was relevant to their jobs.  Most texts are for learners just desiring to get by in the community, but Josefina's is aimed primarily at winery-based English language fluency.  I would highly recommend it" .

 

Adriance decided to turn her lessons into a book that comes with a CD. With this book any ESL teacher can teach English for the Wine Industry even if he or she is not familiar with this business.

 

The textbook, illustrated with helpful drawings, is written in Spanish and English, and begins by addressing the essential questions, "Where are you" and "What are you doing".

As students progress through the 20 units, they master basic sentence structure while utilizing a wine-based vocabulary as they learn to say " I am in the cellar" or "He unplugs the pump".

Time, dates, measurements, practical working situations in the vineyard and winery and safety topics are covered, and exercises guide students in translating notices and understanding applications as well as talking about wine glasses, pruning shears and lunch breaks.

 

Spanish wine maker Alberto Prieto Garcia, noting that "English is the language that allows us to communicate in this global, unified, growing marker", said the book had far-ranging applications.

"I believe that English for the Wine Industry/Inglés para la Industria Vitivinícola  is useful for all those Spanish-speakers that have some direct or indirect connection with the world of wine, for anyone who likes wines and traveling through the different regions of the world, and of course for all professionals of the field", he said.  "Because of its practical focus, this book will be highly useful not only for anyone that works in the day-to-day operations of a wine business, but also for those that work in communication, marketing, market research and wine tourism," Prieto said.