Language Program Director Giuseppe Tassone
Jeffrey Freiberg is one of the students in our Italian Language Program. He joined the Italian Language program in the fall of 2020 with the beginning level A1 and successfully completed his first year of Italian. Last November, Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association awarded Jeff with a scholarship to study for a month in Perugia. His trip was postponed until next summer but he found in our program a place to fulfill his passion for Italy and the Italian language. Here is Jeff’’s experience in his own words.
Jeff Freiberg on the right with director Giuseppe Tassone and instructor Roberta Punzi at the end of fall quarter 2020 celebration.
Italy in Seattle with the Dante Alighieri Society – Italian Language Program
By Jeffrey Freiberg
Ciao a tutti, my name is Jeffrey Freiberg and I am thrilled to be heading to Perugia, Umbria next summer to continue my Italian journey. I’ve always been intrigued by Italian culture, due to having a grandmother whose family is from Palermo, Italy, to growing up in a city with a large Italian population – Philadelphia, to falling in love with calcio during the summer World Cup of 2006. It led to me selecting an Italian class with my two free elective classes while studying at Temple University ten years ago, and it culminated in my first trip to Italy last April. My wife and I got married at a villa in the small town of Poppi with our closest friends and family present, and then we spent the next 10 days touring 12 cities/towns mostly in central Italy. We fell in love with the playful spirit of the Italian people, the melodic language, the beautiful scenery and architecture, and of course, the heavenly food and drinks.
We immediately looked for ways to recapture that feeling we had in Italy once we got back to Seattle. Thankfully, we found the Dante Alighieri Society of Washington and the Seattle Perugia Sister Cities Association. Dante Alighieri offered two A1 classes this past year with two wonderful professors. Damiano Pinton and Laura Ciori are extremely skilled in helping all their students find an entry point into the language, no matter what their starting point is. They make class fun and social, and modify the textbook and curriculum to make it relevant to modern day Italy. I recently had the pleasure of meeting students from the advanced classes at an end-of-quarter social gathering in December and now I’m even more eager to continue through the classes at Dante Alighieri! Whether you just want to learn some basic phrases or become conversationally fluent, Dante Alighieri can get you there with their amazing professors.
DAS were quick to react to the COVID situation this winter and spring, leading to classes being held on Zoom. As a teacher myself, I know there’s no substitute to learning in person, but I’m amazed at how seamlessly and effectively our classes transitioned to Zoom. Luckily for me, DAS is offering a special summer session of classes where we will review the skills we’ve learned this year before we advance to the A2 classes starting this fall.
The application process for this scholarship was pretty straightforward. After filling out your scholarship application, Seattle Perugia Sister Cities Association (SPSCA) does a round of interviews before recommending their selections to their board. The interview was very informal and felt more like a fun casual conversation with others who share your passion for everything Italy related. SPSCA is a very welcoming community who shares Dante Alighieri’s mission of bringing people together to celebrate and explore Italian culture. Similar to Dante Alighieri, SPSCA also holds special gatherings and events throughout the year that are a great way to meet new people and enjoy various elements of Italy.
I am currently a classroom teacher at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School in the Central District. While I love my job and cherish every day with my students, it’s hard for me to deny that I’m in full countdown mode for next summer!
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.
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.
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.
Born in the fabulous 80’s, Isabella was raised in Rome where she got her Degree in Teaching and Translation in foreign languages at the University ‘La Sapienza’.
Eric was born and raised in Como by an American mother and an Italian father. He holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from Bocconi University in Milan and a Master’s in Corporate and International Finance from Durham University in the UK. His international background led him to pursue a business career in the United States, ultimately settling in Seattle, where his wife grew up.