Giuseppe Tassone

Giuseppe Tassone has been the director of the Italian Language Program of the Dante Alighieri Society of Washington since 1998. He is a Lecturer in Italian at the University of Washington and at Seattle University. Giuseppe's expertise is language pedagogy and he loves teaching Italian. In the past, he has taught Italian at community colleges and non-profit organizations as part of his commitment to promoting the language and culture of Italy. He has developed several Italian programs for business, study and travel in Italy.  He is the author of Ricordati di me and Buongiorno Notte both published by Edizioni Farinelli, New York as part of the EF Italian Film Study series.  Giuseppe's main interests are: reading, traveling, cinema, politics, music, swimming, gardening and cooking. Email: tassone@danteseattle.org WebSite: http://faculty.washington.edu/gtassone

Alessandro Albi

Alessandro Albi was born in Italy and he lived there until he was twenty-eight. His native region is Calabria, “the toe of the boot”, known for being a lovely summer destination with sandy beaches, pristine water, typical spicy meat, and fish dishes. The region is also famous for its archeological sites, dating back to the Magna Grecia. In order to study agricultural science, Alessandro moved at the age of nineteen to the city of Bologna, in the region of Emilia Romagna. The city of Bologna is the home of the oldest University of Europe . Alessandro is an agronomist, and received his Master of Science degree in 2003. He also studied wine at the Italian Sommelier Guild Association, and became a sommelier in 2004. In order to follow his dream of traveling, Alessandro moved to the United States in September 2004. He began working at the Chateau St. Michelle winery, and later worked at Italian restaurants, managing their wine selection. Since he moved to the U.S.A., he began tutoring in Italian at BCC and offering private Italian lessons. He loves the Italian language and culture. Alessandro's main interests are cooking, wine, swimming, running, watching movies, reading and traveling. alessandro-albi@libero.it

Laura Ciroi

Laura Ciroi was born and raised in Palmanova, in Nothern 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 Ciroi received a Laurea in Linguistics from the Universita’ di Udine where she specialized in Spanish and English literature. Since then she has lived andworked in Holland, Switzerland, Spain, England, America, and Italy. Laura currently translates for the Italian Trade Commission at their local Seattle office and has taught Italian privately for 10 years. Having herself studied English, French, German, and Spanish she is well versed with the advantages of an academic educational environment. This is Laura’s fifth year with the Italian Language Program of the Dante Alighieri Society of Washington and she will be teaching the advanced level. lcbolan@hotmail.com 

Giusy De Luca

Giusy De Luca has a PhD in French Literature from the University of Palermo where she taught French language for three years. While in college she taught Italian in Marseille and in Bordeaux. She obtained a postdoctoral scholarship from the University of Palermo to study literary theory. She has published different articles in various academic journals and she continues her research in French literature. She was born in a small Sicilian village, Altofonte, close to Palermo. She now lives in Washington State with her husband and her daughter where she currently teaches Italian in Tacoma and at Seattle University. ljtvde@tin.it

Antonella Prati

Antonella Prati graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages and Literatures from Milan State University and with a Master in Teaching and Promoting Italian Language and Culture from Venice Ca’ Foscari University. Born in Piacenza, a major crossroads between north-west and north-east Italy at the confluence of the river Trebbia http://www.altavaltrebbia.net/, and the Po, she has lived in Palermo, Viterbo, Naples, Milan, London, Moscow, Palo Alto, Sydney, Munich, Dubai, Singapore, and finally from last September Seattle. Her passion for languages and literatures has led her to work as translator and interpreter and as teacher of Italian and world literaure. Wherever possible she has collaborated with Italian State and Cultural Institutions by organizing Italian language courses, cultural, and trade events. She loves her family and enjoys spending time with them in a various array of activities: cinema, reading, water and mountain sport, tennis and cooking. antonella_prati@hotmail.com or Facebook.

Fabrizio Regoli

Fabrizio Regoli was born and raised in Rome, Italy. After graduating from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in political economics, he taught Italian at Berlitz Language School in New York while pursuing his MBA degree. After September 11, 2001, he decided to leave New York and serve in Romania with the Peace Corps. He currently lives in Seattle where he works in the investment field. He enjoys traveling, reading, and following international affairs. fabrizioregoli@yahoo.com

Michela Tartaglia

Michela Tartaglia was born in Torino, the first capital of Italy where she studied the classics of Latin and Old Greek at the renowned high school Liceo Ginnasio Vittorio Alfieri. After graduation she received her masters degree in Philosophy at Alma Mater Studiorum University in Bologna with a thesis on theological history in 2004. Soon after graduating, Michela took a year to travel. After spending three months in Asia, she volunteered for four months at an orphanage in Guatemala teaching English and agriculture to two hundred children. Because of her strong passion for traveling and discovering different cultures, she moved to the United States to improve her English. Currently, Michela lives in Seattle with her husband and two cats. She teaches private lessons in Latin and Italian and enjoys reading, painting and cooking. michela.tartaglia@libero.it

Oscar Vallazza

Oscar Vallazza was born and raised in Trent (Trento), an ancient celtic-Roman city that for centuries was the seat of a powerful bishopric that controlled main road links between Italy and the Holy Roman Empire. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trento).  It lies at the center of the Trentino-South Tyrolean region (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trentino-South_Tyrol), a real crossroad of language and cultural diversity. It is nowadays a lively center for tourism, research and its university ranks among the best universities in Italy. (http://www.unitn.it) Oscar has lived and worked in many countries, including the U.S., Germany, Holland, the Czech Republic and Australia. He has an American degree in Cross-cultural Communication - International Education Advising, and has worked for many years as an Italian language teacher, ESL teacher, interpreter and translator. He is an honorary member of the Dante Alighieri Society in Seattle and in 1991 was among the first teachers in the Society's language program. He also taught at the Dante Alighieri Society in Sydney, Australia. oscarvallazza@yahoo.com

Daniel Zanchi

This Fall quarter Daniel Zanchi will begin his eight year as an instructor for the Italian Language Program of the Dante Alighieri Society of Washington. He is also a language instructor at Bellarmine Preparatory School. He has taught Italian, French and Spanish at Bellarmine as well as at Tacoma Community College. Daniel loves Italian and Italy where he studied and has led tours throughout the country. DZanchi1@aol.com