ItalianPod101.com Blog

ItalianPod101.com is proud to announce a great enhancement to the vocabulary flashcards. The enhancement includes greater flexibility with language choice options, as well as a redesign of the premium Learning Center vocabulary flashcard interface.

Enhancement of Learning Center flashcards more intuitive and easier to use.

With a new design in hand, our flashcards have been rebuilt from the ground up to make them easier to use. Users are now given the option to dynamically change their test format without interrupting their current test. Also, once a vocabulary flashcard test is complete, users can reset the test to better help them learn Italian.

Flashcards allow for greater flexibility while learning Italian.

Our vocabulary flashcards are now able to display question cards in many different formats. On ItalianPod101.com, for example, users can choose to have their question cards read in Italian, English or even Audio! The answer cards show all the language options, except the one chosen for the question card.

Conclusion

With another great enhancement to our Learning Center, we feel we are able to help our users learn Italian even quicker. Stay tuned as we continue to roll out new features and enhancements, while we strive to be the fastest way to learn Italian online.

In order to pay my rent while I stayed in Lecce, I began working for a restaurant close to Porta San Biagio called Sapori di Grecia, which sold Greek food, obviously. This meant Gyros, Moussakas and Baklavas. During the summer there was a modest cobblestone outdoor dining area which I, along with the other female workers, (as only women worked there as servers), set up and took down each night. With a beautiful flowering vine inching along wires strung over the eating area, it was a lovely spot to have a quick bite and escape from the overwhelming heat.
Since my Italian was still a bit shaky, I was asked to run food out to the tables, and prepare the salads and appetizers for the restaurant. Having worked in a kitchen before, I found this job most enjoyable and took pride in my sampler platters with involtini, feta and olives.
At times I was sent out to assist an English-speaking table because the other waitresses were unable to communicate with them. I would chat with them about the nearby beaches, and pointed them in the direction of the best spots to get cioccolato caldo (hot chocolate) and nutella filled cornetti, the Italian version of a croissant, for their breakfasts in the morning.

As it was a restaurant in Europe, we did not expect any tips, and when we did divide up the euro or two left on the tables at the end of the night, it added up to four or five Euros each, tops. I didn’t care, I wasn’t there for the money, but rather to immerse myself that much further into the culture, and also, of course, for the free food.
Odissea, the cook, was Greek himself and could put together the most delicious Gyros in under two minutes flat. There was tiny window attached to the kitchen where people could order `food to go`, and when the restaurant was full, Odissea was slammed with orders from all sides, his tiny bald head producing fat beads of sweat which he wiped off constantly with a huge roll of paper towels. He was forever yelling out table numbers in Italian, and I would drop whatever I was doing to take as many plates as I could to the hungry diners seated outside.
I became more comfortable with the Italian and eventually was able to take tables on my own, answering questions about my origins after the locals saw that I was not a native speaker. “Sono della California”, I would say and suddenly we were best friends and joked about our lagging economy.
Overall, it was one of the more challenging experiences, but with many rewards. I learned how hard Italians work, and how little they are paid for it, and also that they are always happy to accommodate you, no matter what time you come in to eat, whether it be five in the afternoon or midnight. It is just the Italian way.

Katie, Marco and I were stuffed into his tiny green Fiat, blasting Jamiriquoi as we sped along the dark roads towards the sea, to a club called Buenaventura. This club was where all of the local kids from Lecce would end up every Saturday night, dancing and drinking until the sun came up. Situated on the beach, Buenaventura greeted its guests with a long wooden plank leading to the main dance area and the two bars where you could get the Italian versions of your favorite American cocktails. `Sex on the Beach` was our personal favorite, and as we sipped from the tiny plastic cups we grooved to a blend of classic rock, soul, alternative and punk, thanks to Tobia, the resident DJ.

When you wanted a break from dancing there were dozens of beach chairs set up along the sand where couples could catch a few private moments under the canopies, or those who had drunk too much could sleep it off before returning to the party. If I needed a break from the often-packed club, I would wander alone to one of these lounging chairs and stare up at the stars, they seemed closer and much brighter here on the Mediterranean coast.

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