Giuseppe Tassone
Giuseppe Tassone has
been the director of the Italian Language Program of the Dante
Alighieri Society of Washington since 1998. He is also 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 recent years, he has taught Italian
at several 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. Giuseppe's main interests are: reading, traveling,
cinema, music, swimming, gardening, cooking and spending time
with his family. 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 third 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 where she currently teaches Italian at the Dante Alighieri Society in Seattle. ljtvde@tin.it
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
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. Oscar is currently teaching in our program the Introduction to Italian class oscarvallazza@yahoo.com
Daniel Zanchi

This Fall quarter Daniel Zanchi will begin his sixth 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