Tag Archives: School

Benedetta Rossi and the final presentation in a beginner class

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My name is Benedetta Rossi and I grew up in Bologna, a little city in the Northeast of Italy. I moved to Boston in 2009 to follow my husband, who is a researcher in immunology at MGH.
This is my third year at Dante Alighieri Society as a teacher, and I like this experience. I feel like at home.

EDUCATION:
I received degrees in classical studies in Bologna.
Also, I attended the “ Alma Mater Studiorum” of the University of Bologna with a focus in Italian, Latin and Greek grammar and literature.

CLASSES TAUGHT:
In Italy, I started teaching at High School, Gymnasium and Lyceum, in 2002. I taught Italian, Latin and Greek grammar and literature. Also, I taught Philosophy and History. In Boston I am currently engaged as a Language Instructor at Dante Alighieri Society and, also, I am Teacher of Italian at Nempac Institute in the North End. I also taught at Cambridge Adult of Education, along in an elementary school and a community center in Boston.

In the 2013 I started doing the speaker at the radio show “News in slow Italian” (www.newsinslowitalian.com) along with actor and speaker Emanuele Capoano.This programme is directed to students desiring to improve comprehension of Italian through radio listening.

People say that I have an excellent ability to interact with colleagues and to act as a team player, developed during my experience as a school teacher, and an outstanding ability to interact with students, who regularly express appreciation for my patience and courtesy.

The Dante Alighieri Society is a great place to be and to learn and breathe the Italian language, culture and atmosphere. I love to teach here, love the PLIDA philosophy of teaching, and love love love to learn with my students. To learn a new language and culture is amazing!

In fact, here below I will attach a final presentation’s link of a student in the BEGINNER CLASS. I’m so proud of all of them.

Click here to see: Italiano 101 – Angela Livino.pptx

CONTACT INFORMATION:
My e-mail address is: benedetta.rossi.PLIDA@gmail.com

Language Coordinator’s Bio

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It’s time to talk about our teachers. Today, we start with our Language Coordinator.

Maria Cristiano – Formazione Ditals – Università di Siena – Italy

Before coming to the United States, Maria worked seven years at General Norwegian Consulate in Milan, Italy.  After that, Maria has been teaching Italian in several schools in the Boston area including Nempac in the North End, Berlitz in Boston and the Dante Alighieri Society in Cambridge, along with the British School.  At the Dante Alighieri Society, she has thought both kindergarten level as well as beginner to advanced adult level classes. Teaching Italian has been a wonderful fulfilling experience for Maria.

She teaches with a smile and she wants her students to have fun and enjoy their classes. She strongly believes that the learning process is facilitated and fostered by it.  Enjoyment promotes increased participation and faster learning results.  Moreover, creating a friendship within the class is essential to succeed.  She believes that the purpose of a language is to communicate with and enjoy other people and this is exactly what she tries to build in her classes.

She is extremely motivated, dedicated and enthusiastic Italian educator with extensive experience who wants all her students, from children to adults, to be successful learners. She has flexible aptitude to teaching techniques to ensure that every student’s learning style and abilities are accounted for. The goal as educator is to inspire students to reach their highest potentials and learning efficiency.

Maria uses a communicative approach allowing students to extrapolate the grammar through the learning process.  She helps her students to feel comfortable in speaking Italian and to have fun while doing so.  She uses a wide variety of current and tangible material like films, songs and articles from newspapers and magazines.  Maria likes reading, baking and spending time with her children.  She used to volunteering at Children’s Hospital in Boston and she is planning on doing so again soon.

Come and enjoy the class: “Insieme galopperemo verso orizzonti linguistici inimmaginabili!”

The PLIDA Exams: Our students’ Certification Ceremony

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Left, Prof.Maria Cristiano - Language Coordinator; in the middle Prof.Cecilia Mattii - Education Committee; on the right Prof. Carmen Merolla Language Examinator and Former Plida Language Coord.; behind, Laura Clerici

CIAO!

Here are the pictures of the PLIDA certification ceremony for the students that passed the May 2012 session.

M.Cristiano and Rose M.Adamo who passed the Level A1 Plida

M.Cristiano and Peter Czarnecki who passed the Levels A1 in November 2011 and Level A2 in May 2012

M.Cristiano and Caterina Rao who passed the Level A2

Prof. Spencer DiScala, President, and Megan Cuocco Hempstead who passed the level A1

M.Cristiano and Henry DeBenedetto who passed the Level A1

M.Cristiano and John Cannon who passed the Level A1

President Prof. DiScala, M.Cristiano and Thomas Barbar who passed the Level A1

Congratulations also to Brigitte Anelli who wasn’t present at the party, but she passed the Level A1 in May 2012, too. Last but not least, we don’t forget the “brava” Allison Longley who passed the level A2 and now she won a scholarship to study in Italy.

Thank you also to Comm. Lino Rullo, President of Education Committee for his efforts.

President Prof. DiScala, Prof. Maria Cristiano and Prof. Carmen Merolla

Thank you also to our President Comm. Spencer Di Scala, PhD, and Prof. Cecilia Mattii for going ahead with PLIDA certification project

In addition, we asked our students why you should learn Italian. We chose the following response as the best one. It is explains why studying Italian can make all the difference.

I grew up listening to the sounds of the Italian language spoken by my grandparents and my mother, but I never learned to speak Italian.  As teenagers, all four of my grandparents emigrated from Sicily to Boston.  As first generation Americans, my parents were determined to raise me as an “American”.   Assimilation, not multiculturalism, was the driving force of the day.  Therefore, although the Italian ladies of the neighborhood would visit and speak Italian with my mother, only English was spoken to me.  It is my dream to learn Italian, perhaps live for a period of time In Italy, and finally understand those beautiful sounds from my childhood.  (R.M.Adamo)