From our Friends at the Dante Society of British Columbia
1. WRITE FOR THE DANTE SOCIETY – Make yourself known in the ItalSphere!
Tell us about your last trip to Italy or anything that is related to Italy’s culture, language, territory and natural beauty. Share with us recipes, books, news, tips with an Italian touch and make yourself known in the ItalSphere! When you send us your posts/articles(300-1000 words) please also add a picture, a short bio (150 words max)& relevant links. Send us your article or blog post to: info
For more information on our blog posts, you can click here
DANTE ITALIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOL – NEW SUMMER COURSES
1) ITALIAN CONVERSATION (levels 1 & 2) – JULY 26 to SEPT 18, 2021
This is your chance to practice your Italian & gain more confidence communicating with you fellow students &, hopefully one day, while traveling around Italy! CONV. 1: Monday mornings (10:00 am to 12:00 pm PDT) OR
Thursday evenings (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm PDT); CONV. 2: Monday evenings (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm PDT) OR
Wednesday mornings (10:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT). The course fee is $170 (tax incl.) for 8-weeks To register & e-transfer: info
2) ITALIAN FOR TRAVELLERS – AUGUST 4 to SEPT 18, 2021
On Wednesday evenings (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm PDT). The course fee is $150 (tax incl.) for 6-weeks Iscrizioni & e-transfer: info
This course is open to all levels and does not assume any prior knowledge of Italian grammar. The lessons will include case studies from daily situations – e.g. restaurant, hotel, street directions, shopping – from which students can gain extensive understanding of Italian culture.
Thank you again and have a lovely day.
Kind regards,
Benedetta Franzini
marketing & Communication
The Dante Alighieri Society of British Columbia
Congratulations to our students for completing their third quarter of Italian and thank you to our instructors for their dedication and success.
We have decided not to offer Summer review sessions this year to give our instructors a much needed break and to regroup for next school year. Therefore, language Classes will resume in Fall Quarter, with classes beginning October 5th and will once again be offered only online.
Registration is now open for students at all levels. Absolute beginners should register for Level A1 in Fall Quarter.
don’t miss the Dante Alighieri Society’s May English Meeting Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Zoom room opens at 7:00 (link below!!) Presentation begins at 7:30
The Markets of Rome I mercati dei Rioni Romani presented by Jonathan Brandt
“La strada per il cuore passa attraverso lo stomaco.” (“The way to the heart is through the stomach.”) -Italian proverb
The markets in the heart of Rome are popular destinations for tourists and locals alike. Even from its inception, the Roman Forum was as much a popular market as well as a sacred pilgrimage. Join me in a virtual walking tour of the rioni of Rome, browsing through some of its neighborhood markets, both past and present. Highlights include the Markets of Trajan, Piazza Navona, and Campo de’ Fiori, among others. As the Romans say, “Annamo va!”
Topic: Dante Society English Meeting May 12 Time: May 12, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Availalable on YouTube: https://youtu.be/T8BMue2Azzw
Jonathan Brandt, AIA, is an architect living in a Seattle bungalow with his wife Renatta and 11 year old son Alexander. He received his Master of Architecture from the University of Washington in 1993, and has taught architectural history, design and drawing at the UW’s Pio Center in Rome, Iowa State and Texas A&M. He currently designs custom homes and draws architectural renderings. To contact Jonathan for a house design or rendering, you can visit his website at: www.jbarch.net His work can also be viewed on Facebook: See JB Architectural Renderings.
What a nice way to end our 2020-2021 Season. Please join us!
Join us for the Dante Alighieri Society’s May English Meeting Wednesday, May 12, 2021 Zoom room opens at 7:00 (link will be sent one day before the event) Presentation begins at 7:30
The Markets of Rome
I mercati dei Rioni Romani presented by Jonathan Brandt “La strada per il cuore passa attraverso lo stomaco.” (“The way to the heart is through the stomach.”)
-Italian proverb
The markets in the heart of Rome are popular destinations for tourists and locals alike. Even from its inception, the Roman Forum was as much a popular market as well as a sacred pilgrimage. Join me in a virtual walking tour of the rioni of Rome, browsing through some of its neighborhood markets, both past and present. Highlights include the Markets of Trajan, Piazza Navona, and Campo de’ Fiori, among others. As the Romans say, “Annamo va!”
Jonathan Brandt, AIA, is an architect living in a Seattle bungalow with his wife Renatta and 11 year old son Alexander. He received his Master of Architecture from the University of Washington in 1993, and has taught architectural history, design and drawing at the UW’s Pio Center in Rome, Iowa State and Texas A&M. He currently designs custom homes and draws architectural renderings. To contact Jonathan for a house design or rendering, you can visit his website at: www.jbarch.net His work can also be viewed on Facebook: See JB Architectural Renderings.
What a nice way to end our 2020-2021 Season.
Please join us!
Giuseppe Tassone moved to Seattle from Italy in 1993. He has been the director of the Italian Language Program of the Dante Alighieri Society of Washington since 1998 and the PLIDA coordinator since 2011. He is a language educator, coordinator, and advocate of Italian language and culture. He has a background in economics and finance (B.A. in Economics), but chooses to specialize in Italian language and culture (M.A. in Italian Studies). He has 20+ years of experience teaching, developing curricula, coordinating, testing, and assessing in public and non-profit organizations (e.g. Seattle University, University of Washington, Shoreline College). Giuseppe reviewed and/or contributed to several Italian language textbooks, such as Da Capo, Oggi in Italia, Avanti, Piazza and Sentieri. He is the author of Ricordati di me, Buongiorno Notte – Italian Films Series by Edizioni Farinelli and Un buonAffare – Italian for Business by Hackett Publishing Company available in print (2016) and e-book (2019). Giuseppe teaches at Seattle University and heads the Italian Section in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. Personal interests are: reading, traveling, cinema, economics, politics, playing and listening to music, swimming, biking, gardening and cooking.
Roberta was born in Salerno a city located in the region of Campania in Southern Italy where in the ninth century flourished the renowned Schola Medica Salernitana; the forerunner of the modern university medical schools. She holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and Management for Arts, Culture, Media and Entertainment from the Luigi Bocconi University, and a Master’s Degree in Piano from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan. Roberta has been working in the field of arts management since 2008. She has served as a project manager, fundraiser and arts administrator in high-profile nonprofit organizations and music festivals in Italy. She has taught music and Italian language in middle schools, and has held lectures in performing arts management as a teaching assistant at the University of Milan and at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala. She has performed many solo and chamber music recitals across Italy. She loves classical music, visual arts, reading, traveling, hiking and of course teaching Italian.
Giorgio is a native Italian who grew up in the outskirts of Milan. He holds various university degrees including a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He works on engineering research and development projects in the fields of aircraft performance and commercial aviation. He became passionate about teaching and sharing his knowledge of Italy in response to the welcoming and inspiring interest in the Italian language and culture he witnessed and experienced while living in the United States. Throughout the years, Giorgio has taught Italian courses as well as privately tutored business professionals and students from various age groups.
In his free time, Giorgio enjoys photography, hiking, history and mathematics, museums and fine arts, theatre performances, and traveling.
Gabriella Vagnoli was born in Pisa, Tuscany, home of the famous Leaning Tower. She grew up in a multicultural family thanks to her Brazilian mom and remembers teaching Italian for the first time as a child to her Brazilian cousins. She obtained a Laurea in English and Spanish Language and Literature at the Università degli Studi di Pisa and during her college years spent a year in the University of Reading, UK, studying mainly the works of Shakespeare. After obtaining a Certificate as a Teacher of Italian (DITALS II) at the Università per Stranieri di Siena, she has taught in a full immersion school in Florence, a children's full immersion program in Chicago and a Community College in Illinois.
Besides teaching Italian, she has obtained a BFA in Illustration at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and is a published children's book illustrator.
Tiziana was born and raised in Sardinia, a beautiful Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. She has always been passionate about foreign languages and cultures, and studied French and German at the Scuola Superiore Interpreti e Traduttori in Milan, where she obtained her first Foreign Languages and Interpreter BA degree. She then pursued her MA in English and German Language and Literature at IULM, one of the most prestigious universities in Milan, Italy for Language and Communication studies.
Tiziana moved to the US in 2000 and started working in the software industry, where she applied her linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to localization and testing projects. She also took on various leadership roles and managed teams of linguists and testers across different countries and time zones. Tiziana is passionate about teaching Italian and sharing her insights into the Italian culture and lifestyle. She has taught from beginner to advanced Italian courses for the most prestigious schools in the Pacific Northwest: The Dante Alighieri Society, Seattle Language Academy and Bellevue College. She also privately tutors American business professionals who want to learn or improve their Italian. She is currently working on her Spanish, as she enjoys learning new languages and cultures.
In her free time, Tiziana likes to read, hike. cook, travel, and spend time with her family and friends.
Laura was born in Palmanova, in Northern Italy, a star shaped fortress built by the Serenissima Republic of Venice to protect the territory from the invasions of the Hapsburg and the Ottoman Empires. She was raised speaking Italian, French and Friulano (her native Northern Italian dialect). Laura received a Laurea in Linguistics from the Università di Udine where she specialized in Spanish and English literature. Since then she has lived and worked in Holland, Switzerland, Spain, England, America, and Italy. In addition to teaching in our program, Laura is authorized to cover the role of intervistatrice in our PLIDA Examination Board.
Francesca is an Italian native, born in Cremona, northern Italy. She holds a laurea in Biology from the University of Padua and Masters of Biology from Eastern Michigan University. She left Italy in 1994 and has lived in New Zealand and the United States. She has a passion for teaching her native language, as a way of maintaining and exploring the Italian language and culture with different eyes. She has taught privately and in many institutions to students of different proficiency levels groups. Francesca is interested in literature, art and design, and in her free time, she likes reading, cooking, and making ceramics.
Damiano is a native of a small countryside town in Northern Italy, about 17 miles away from Padua, a city famous among other things for its university, the fifth-oldest surviving in the world. He received his B.A. and M.A. Cum Laude in Japanese language and culture from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, while specializing in linguistics and translation. He lived in Japan for three and a half years, where he continued his studies and his sociolinguistic research on (im)politeness in language. While in Japan, he also started working as an Italian teacher, discovering his passion for conveying the beauty of the Italian language and culture abroad.
Nicla is a native of Napoli, Italy. She has a Laurea in Materie Letterarie (degree in humanities) and a Laurea in Pedagogia (degree in Education) from the Università degli Studi di Cassino. She earned her M.A in Italian and her PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington. She has published articles and book chapters on gender and theater as well as politics and religion in Counter-Reformation Italy and in the last years, has been teaching Italian literature, language, and culture in different institutions. In addition to teaching in our program, Nicla is authorized to cover the role of esaminatrice and intervistatrice in our PLIDA Examination Board.