âJodinaâs strength as a teacher stems from a powerful combination of her unique methodology and vibrant personality â she simply makes learning a new language fun. Whether in a private or group class setting, practicing newly acquired vocabulary through interactive play, learning grammar with witty, easy-to-remember references, or chiseling my pronunciation with straightforward exercises â I thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to Italian, and feel motivated and empowered to keep on going.â â Dina D.
âBeing pushed to speak Italian from day 1 was great. Â It got me over my foolish fears and we all had fun struggling together as new language students. Â Jodinaâs class was like adding cream to my coffee after studying alone online with Duolingo for a few months!Â
Jodinaâs gracious personality creates a safe, fun environment, and sheâs an excellent teacher. Her  grammar explanation sheets (what she callsâcheat sheetsâ) alone are worth the price of class! And she has unending patience, always giving whatever time anyone needs in order to fully understand the lesson. Do I sound impressed? I am, and I will continue studying with her.â  â Teren Ellison
I finally decided to learn a second language, Italian! It was a big step, with a focus on âpracticalâ Italian for future travel. My girlfriend (already fluent in French and German) joined me for the journey.
No question, Jodina has been la perfetta maestra for both of us. Weâve already absorbed so much after just the first 10 lessons. Jodinaâs lesson planning rolls out in a very digestible way, allowing us to quickly begin speaking common words and sentences.
Adding to the experience is the relaxed private class setting we enjoy every Thursday evening, with plenty of laughs and fun Italy-related stories woven in. And, I must add, we meet with Jodina via Zoom from the comfort of our living rooms.
Zero commute means we get to our lessons stress-free, plus we use down time after the lessons to record our new notes (and maybe finish that glass of vino rosso). Grazie, Jodina, weâre super excited to continue learning with you! â Mark Lewis
âI didnât expect to be using the language so quickly, so that was a HUGE bonus. The format & structure provided is a great road map for learning. Each class builds perfectly on the previous class. We are traveling to Italy in 2016 and want to be able to take âthe road less traveledâ and interact with natives and immerse in culture. It also feels great to get in touch with my heritage. I especially liked group assignments and interaction! We were able to use the language right away! Conversations were extremely helpful in terms of learning the sound and flow of the Italian language. I canât emphasize enough how great it is to start using the language right away â it really helps to build enthusiasm for the next class and next lesson. Canât wait to start again in the fall!â â Char & Freddy Salazar
[Focus on Fluency Class] âThank you for a great class! I really think we have a fun group that works well together and supports each other. I enjoyed the articles and the new vocabulary they contained. I also thought that your accompanying questions really encouraged us to work on our fluency by expressing our ideas and opinions. Answering an icebreaker question using the wows [Words of the Week] is great too as is reading the article aloud.â  â Chris Miller
âThe course surpassed my expectations. I learned some fundamental things in a fun environment. Molto bene! Great atmosphere, conducive to learning yet fun and challenging. I will recommend enthusiastically and often.â  â R.R.
âI learned a great deal. Your style was fun and entertaining. You emphasized the important aspects of the grammar, verbs, etc., and it all seemed very useful (a key factor). You gave us the essentials and kept the âworkâ part interesting. I would take another Jodina class & recommend it to friends. Grazie!â  Â
âI love your approach and how we got right into conversation. Keep going the way you areâ Love your sense of humor.â  âA.M.B.
âThe class was great. It solidified what I learned in winter. It was fun and informative. We covered a lot in 6 weeks. I liked the review of verbs, new verbs, improved worksheets. You had a great system, fun activities. Great class, fun time!â   â E.C.
âI always enjoy coming and learn new things each session Iâve attended. I especially liked the conversations and learning the vocabulary and pronunciation. I liked it all, and the recordings online. I loved the way you incorporated the dialogues with verbs, vocalulary, etc. Definitely will take more classes. Thank you.â   â L.C.
âIf you are interested in taking Italian and live in the San Diego area, I canât recommend enough this class!!!!! I have been taking Italian from Jodina for a little under a year and her approach is very much modern and innovative. You begin speaking Italian the very first class using your skills that you already have. Using stories using simple language, you develop a sense of the language and an understanding of the very musical Italian language!!!â âJudy Maddox
âI have learned more Italian in Jodinaâs classes than any other classes I have taken!â âLinda Hall
âCara Jodinaâ You are truly one of a kind. The level of passion and enthusiasm you bring to class is not only impressive, but also contagious. You are very effective as a teacher and have managed in a few short weeks to make me feel comfortable and capable enough to continue the journey towards being able to learn Italian, and best of all enjoy the process at the same time.  Grazie mille, Jodinaâ â Barbara Reilly (Embarking on my âsecond adulthoodâ and an adventure to Italy)
âPoppy and Skip Thornburg, aka Papavera & Schipio
âIâve taken language classes before, and never have I had as much fun as I did with Jodina! Unlike more traditional courses, Jodina teaches âpracticalâ Italian, imparting cultural tidbits from her years living abroad. Her use of the text and less conventional tools like YouTube videos, daily proverbs, and links to Italian news articles are fun and help to expand your vocabulary in such an entertaining way that you quickly pick up new words!  And I love that Jodina offers so many opportunities to learn â in addition to her weekly classes and website, she offers a Saturday morning study group and organizes âfield tripsâ tied to Italian culture. I would recommend Jodinaâs class to anyone who is interested in learning the language or the culture.â  âElizabeth Liemandt, aka Elisabetta
âNancy Simioni, aka Nunziata
âThe Lupinacci Family:Â Steve, Adam, Julia
âAll of my experiences with âItaliano with Jodinaâ have been wonderful!  I have enjoyed the Italian classes with Jodina immensely. She is an excellent teacher, and as a teacher myself, I can appreciate the enormous amount of time and energy she invests in preparing  and teaching her classes. She is animated, laughs a lot and genuinely enjoys her students.  She has very good rapport with her students. Regardless of the level of  their  experience with the language, she skillfully manages to keep all the students interacting very well together. Â
She explains well, asks for questions and writes words and phrases on the board for further explanation. She refers to a text and offers any explanations students ask for, but isnât tied to the text. Her lessons are pertinent and practical; for example: learning and using vocabulary about clothing, going shopping, traveling. Students even prepared a short autobiography based on an example from the text and shared it with other students, all in Italian! Â These kinds of interactive practices seem like just âfunâ, but are really a great way to learn language. Â She ends her class with a âsayingâ or proverb, which uses some new vocabulary, but interests the students very much and also teaches some Italian culture. Then she asks students to memorize them for the next class. What a painless way to learn a language!
Jodina does even more language teaching on Saturdays at Meet-Up sessions. The group is often a mixture of old and new students and she skillfully engages all the students at their levels. They find themselves talking, even arguing or discussing things, ALL  in Italian ! She dictates recipes which teaches not only language and writing, but also Italian culture through learning about cooking. She explains anything that is not completely understood. The session is not only fun but a real challenge and the time passes quickly! I feel as if I have really  begun to understand and love the âItalian language and culture with Jodinaâ. The classes are a wonderful preparation for future travel in Italy.â âJoanna Bravender
âA great source of learning, information and fun on Tuesdays.â   âJoe Pandolfo, Jr.
âIâm feeling more comfortable about my trip to Italy.â   âJohn Resnick
âExcellent way to brush up my Italian and learn more!â   âIzabelle Doucet
â⊠Way too much fun for a Wednesday!â  âSteve Storc
