Open Group Italian Courses

Raffaella is a true global citizen and polyglot. After completing High School with a specialization in linguistics in her home country of Italy, she worked in Iceland and Spain, and attended the Erasmus Program at the University of Vienna, Austria. She returned to Italy to study her Bachelor’s Degree in Languages & International Relations in Milan, before completing a Master’s in Communication for Development from Malmö, Sweden. She even spent a year in Fortaleza, Brazil, teaching English to disadvantaged children. So, in addition to her native Italian language, Raffaella speaks English, Spanish, and German to a high level, is proficient in Portuguese, and even speaks some Arabic and French.

Since starting as a professional Italian trainer in 2015, Raffaella has taught non-native language learners of all abilities, with a specialty for tutoring Beginner to Intermediate levels. Her multilingual skills and her love for travel and teaching international groups mean she is extraordinarily effective at motivating her students to communicate with one another during online lessons, encouraging learning via cross-cultural exchange. She has taught individuals and groups of all ages, from 3 years old to adults, and completed digital courses that make her particularly accomplished at conducting Internet-based Italian courses.

Raffaella’s worldwide teaching experience, coupled with her non-profit work with UNICEF and the Red Cross, has equipped her with a remarkable talent for organization, patience, and communication. When she isn’t traveling and acquiring new languages, she enjoys reading, meditation and yoga, and—above all—meeting new people!

Valentina is a highly qualified, creative, and committed native Italian language trainer, who has been teaching adults and children in one-to-one and group lessons since 2006. She has a Bachelor of Italian Modern Literature, as well as a Master of Linguistics, both from the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Valentina also studied law at the above-mentioned university, and she is fluent in English.

She has worked as a freelance trainer in Italy and taught Italian, History, Geography, English, Art, and Math to children aged 6-13, as well as adults of different professions. In 2015, Valentina moved to the UK and started to teach face-to-face and online Italian language lessons to our students. Valentina quickly proved to be an excellent trainer, and we received nothing but great praise from her students:

“I love Valentina. She was wonderful and I am looking forward to my next lesson this evening. She is very knowledgeable and I feel she is very much tailoring the course to suit me and my level. I am very, very, very happy so far.”

“My lessons are going really well, thank you. I have no complaints whatsoever. Valentina is a great teacher.”

Valentina is a caring and compassionate individual who has volunteered her teaching and translation services to various institutions, including the “Monteverde Anti-razzista” and “Ranieri de’ Calzabigi” cultural associations, where she organized events, translated stories, and assisted teaching a group of students.