Your door to all things Italian
Our Instructors
Valentina Peppucci
Instructor
I was born in Perugia (Umbria), in the centre of Italy.
I studied first at the University of Perugia where I obtained a Master’s Degree in Art History.
Later I enrolled at the University for Foreigners in Perugia where I graduated in Teaching of Italian as a second/foreign language. I am also an Examiner for
the CELI Certification tests.
I started my career as a teacher to adults in 2010, and in
2012 I moved to Montreal where I continued my
activity working with Picai, the Italian Institute of
Culture and other language schools. In 2018 I became an online instructor for Canadian diplomatic personnel.
I love to share and promote my knowledge
of the Italian language and culture, encouraging learners to become the protagonist
of their own learning journey.
Serena Bonomi
Instructor
I was born and raised in the Italian part of Switzerland (Ticino). I studied interlinguistic and intercultural mediation in Northern Italy (Como) and then I worked almost 6 years as a journalist for the Italian staff of the Swiss news agency.
Born in a multilingual country, I developed a passion for languages. I speak four languages in addition to Italian, my mother tongue. I have the certificate FILIS (Intercultural Trainer of the Italian language for foreign people) and when I moved to Vancouver I started to work as an Italian teacher.
I love to help people to reach their language goals and at the same time to raise awareness of the rich Italian culture. Teaching is a rewarding job and
I am happy to be part of the Italian community
in Vancouver, promoting my language and culture.
Matteo Saletti
Instructor
Matteo grew up in a small town located on the beautiful west shore of the Garda Lake in Lombardia (Italy). After high school, he moved to Trentino Alto-Adige, where he obtained a Bachelor and a Master Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Trento. During his studies, he spent one semester in Finland (in Tampere)
through an Erasmus Programme.
Vancouver has been home for 5 years, where he taught courses at UBC & SFU both in-person and remotely for several years where he discovered that teaching is indeed a great passion of his. When he is not working, you can probably find him exploring new restaurants and bars in this beautiful city or dancing to some good pop music.
Marzio Pelù
Instructor
I was born and raised in Massa, a beautiful little town in Tuscany. Italian is my mother tongue. I have a bachelor's and master's degree in Humanities: I graduated at the University of Pisa, where I studied Ancient Greek and Latin. I'm a professional journalist: I worked for twenty-five years at the newspaper "La Nazione" in Italy and then I moved to Toronto where I currently work at Corriere Canadese, the Italian community daily newspaper, and at the Canadian multilingual news agency CNMNG.
About teaching, as long as I stayed in Italy I taught my native language to foreign inmates in prisons in my province and I also taught journalism in elementary, middle and high schools. I'm an independent musician too: I write songs, I rearrange international pop-rock classics and Italian oldies and sometimes you can find me downtown Toronto playing my music.
Paola Marchegiani
Instructor
I was born in Pescara (Abruzzo), but I spent most of my life in Bologna. I obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biological Science from the University of L’Aquila. I started my career teaching Science, but I changed to work in the IT field. When I moved to Calgary, I got a Teaching Assistant Certificate for Early Childhood in Alberta. So, I rediscovered my passion for teaching and since then I started teaching Italian to students at the Calgary Italian School and to private students, both in person and remotely. I recently joined the Dante Alighieri Society of BC as a teacher. This is another great opportunity to promote the beauty and richness of our language.
Serena Piccoli
Book Club Coordinator and Instructor
Serena Piccoli, poet, playwright, translator, photographer and teacher of English and Italian. Born in Padua in 1974, she has lived in the USA, South Africa and England. She loves traveling around Italy and eating Italian food with family and friends. At the Dante Alighieri Society of British
Columbia she works in administration and coordinates
the Book Club appointments
