Now here is a language learning concept I never considered. It had me chuckling to myself the whole time.
I am currently down in Albany to attend class today. Yesterday I had come down to get set up in the place I am staying (the sp academy this semester). As I have yet to bring my tiny fridge down with me, I had to dine out last night.
My new favorite place to eat down here is The Macaroni Grill. They serve, you guessed it, Italian fare. I entered the restaurant but before having the hostess seat me, I had to use the restroom. While I am in the process of doing what comes naturally (LOL), I realized that the overhead speakers are playing a language learning program. One voice says something in English and another one says the same thing in Italian. I thought to myself "I never thought of it, but its an interesting way to pick up a bit of the language" I mean, what else are you but a captive audience while doing your business in the bathroom. I just had to chuckle at the interesting way in human ideas are put to work. Really, what is the difference between reading a book or listening to language learning audio in the bathroom. So, thumbs up to the MG once again for a pleasant experience.
And if you are wondering how the food is there. I highly recommend it. I have been there several times and last night was the first time I had a dish I wasn't completely pleased with. I had ordered Chicken Florentine. As you may know, most anything florentine has spinach in it. Well, this time the spinach was VERY salty. It was the first time I had ever ordered that particular dish and when the manager (who goes around to all the tables to ask how the meal is) came to my table I told him of the saltiness and he could see I hadn't eaten much of it. I did give it a good shot. I even went so far as to isolate several tastes of all the individual ingredients mixed in the dish and found out the culprit was definitely the spinach. He offered to get me another dish, but I declined and just ordered a light desert (ahhh, italian sorbetto...a cool and soothing taste of heaven) which easily made up for the salty spinach dish. But to my joyful surprise, they deducted the price of the chicken florentine from my bill. I wasn't expecting that. I know in pricey restaurants they do that. But this is a chain restaurant, so I had no expectation they would do that. And it wouldn't have bothered me to pay for the dish. Like I said, I had never ordered it before and may that was the way it was supposed to be served. I wasn't sure.
All in all, I have yet to have a truly bad experience there. Try the MG sometime if you ever are near one.
