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Our Teachers | Our Teachers of Studio Italiano School |
Who we are: the Villa Dante family....Francesco Compagnino - The Director of the School is a born and bred Tropean who wears his love of this town on his sleeve. He is always around to help in whatever way he can. He offers the transfer service himself, so he will likely be the first person you meet when you arrive in Italy! You will have his cellphone number for emergencies or for whatever you may need. It's great to have a Tropean friend off the bat, and students of Villa Dante get discounts at restaurants, bars, service, and stores around town. Francesco loves keeping in touch with old students, traveling when he can, dancing, and grappa. You’ll see him riding around town on his scooter and hanging out with his family at La Munizione. Claudia - Claudia is another award-winning teacher at Villa Dante. She is an exceptionally sweet person and she knows a lot about Sicilian history and food! Claudia is a fabulous cook and her Pasta alle erbette is a masterpiece!! Her students say that she is patient, kind, and skilled at engaging her students in conversation. Claudia writes-- Teaching foreigners is a special kind of experience; it is not simply the transmission of knowledge or information, but rather a sharing of language, culture, traditions, experience and style of our Italy as it is experienced by others. Interacting with them is always a wonderfully gratifying dialogue – both linguistically and culturally. Teaching requires real passion – the same passion that created this school. Villa Dante brings together excellent students and teachers, offering hospitality, assistance, and availability as well as a smile to every type of person who comes to learn our beautiful language. The small size of the school ensures regular interaction with the director, all of the teachers, and the other students I have really felt apart of an extended family here where it is possible to learn Italian in all its aspects while respecting the Official European Framework for Language Fluency. It is certainly gratifying to receive thanks, smiles, and sincere handshakes at the end of each course from students who return home "with their luggage full of new words" and who, in time, demonstrate their respect and love for Villa Dante with correspondence and often by returning for another course - inspired by the desire to learn more and to make new memories in this small, happy village along the Calabrian coast. Antonella writes --- I've been with Villa Dante for the last two years. It is great working in such a positive, successful, and friendly environment. I started teaching Italian shortly after finishing a 5 year degree at the University of Messina . Soon I discovered how fascinating, engaging, and intense this work can be. I had not realized how strong the attraction to our language was to foreigners, and what a responsibility it is to teach Italian correctly. Obviously this career has allowed me to meet people from all over the world, but the truly incredible thing is that your teaching stays with your students and the shared experience here is one they keep with them forever. I enjoy thinking that my students may someday benefit themselves and others with the Italian they have learned at Villa Dante. I would also like to say, after having worked at other language schools in Italy, that I have found Villa Dante to have the most positive, friendly, and non-institutional environment of all. This is great for teachers and even better for the students who are able to relax and be open about their needs and any difficulties they may have. Their demonstrations of friendship and gratitude, maintained from far away and for many years, confirms all of this and leaves us teachers satisfied in the work we are so fortunate to do here. Antonella likes politics, the subjunctive, and friendly debates in the classroom. She is eager to learn about where her students come from, and is always willing to offer extra help to students struggling with their writing. Her students say she is particularly good at explaining prepositions&.... Francesca - came to Villa Dante this summer with experience teaching both Italian and English. She has taught in England and throughout Italy . She has degrees in Modern Languages and Literature, her SSIS (special diploma in teaching languages in secondary schools), a Masters in Teaching English from the University Ter Vergata of Rome, and a separate specialization in teaching students with difficulties & different learning styles. Francesca writes-- I like Villa Dante because it gives me the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and to learn about their cultures, how they live & interact. I have had many different experiences teaching – this one is especially gratifying from the teacher's perspective because the students who come here are motivated to learn and fun. As the newest teacher here, I've found the atmosphere to be so welcoming and exactly because it is a small school, there is a great deal of teamwork and collaboration among. Most of all, I like the youthful, happy, fun atmosphere of this language school. I work for and laugh with my students as I give them a taste of Italia as well as our language. Francesca likes contemporary literature (particularly English, American, and Italian), Intense films, and travelling. Her students know that she loves the Ortolana pizza at Pinturrichio's and afternoons on the Beach. She also likes going to the open air cinema during the summer with any students who are interesting. Alessia - Alessia was born in Tropea and has always loved languages. She was one of the first teachers at Villa Dante and still teaches in the summer, though she runs an Italian Language Program in Dubai during the Academic Year. Alessia likes reading, cappucino, and teaching Italian above all else! She has a masters from the University for Foreigners at Perugia and would love to study more if it didn't take time away from teaching! She finds Arabic to be very difficult, but is studying it in her free time.
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