TEAM

Alberta

“I graduated in Literature at the University Federico II of Naples and moved to Lugano to do a PhD in Italian language and literature at the University of Italian Switzerland.
I started teaching the occasional academic class, but it was in the Italian language courses for foreigners at the ILI that I found my ideal dimension, the right balance between my love for my culture, the urge to circulate it and my unstoppable curiosity. Over the years, human material, stories and traditions from different countries have all enriched my life: the continuous exchange behind each lesson I believe is the true richness of this extraordinary work.

Lucia

Growing up on Lake Como, I am a child of the 1990s (but at the end, when the number nine is a twin). I fell in love with geography and made it my first subject of study; to the question “physics or politics?”, I always answer human geography.

Then, at university, I obviously specialised in Italian language! I had always wanted to qualify as a teacher, followed by the decision to teach adults: teaching Italian to foreigners was therefore my second passion and what I specialised in. When I am not doing this, I feed on sunshine, good music, warm human encounters and, above all, words that I pick up as a passionate reader, sketching in notebooks, and finally as I travel about on my bike along the shores of my Lake.

Stefano

I am from Milan, a graduate in Foreign Languages and Literature, and I am also a multifaceted person interested in beauty and the quality of things. After living in Spain and Australia, I specialised in teaching Italian as a foreign language. Finally, I joined ILI in 2010. I love travel and I am curious about world cultures, I am very sociable and chatty with everyone; I practice various sports, and music always accompanies me, in fact I play, dance and sing – even in the school corridors! In my free time I love being in nature and finding restaurants where you can eat and drink well.

Paola P.

A graduate in Modern Foreign Languages and Literature from Milan, I gained my teaching experience first in London, then in Zurich where I worked with numerous companies, schools and cultural institutions. Whenever I can, I love to travel, even if, for years I have been coming back to Lugano, a place where the green of nature blends with the colour of the lake and the sky. Meeting others enriches me. Teaching has allowed me to discover that the greatness of each person lies in the little details and that we all smile in the same language.

Ornella

A graduate in Italian Language and Literature, who has studied at the universities of Zurich and Rome. She is a trainer of adults with a federal professional certificate. At the ILI School, she teaches on the intensive Italian courses, is responsible for organising FIDE tests and is also an examiner.

Her motto: “Making people feel at home speaking Italian’.

Piero

My hometown is Rome, but in 2009 I travelled up the Tiber to the first Apennine peaks (Perugia, Università per Stranieri), and then moved on to higher mountains and then to the northern lakes that I can look out on today. Humanistic education directed my gaze, modern cinema defined the boundaries; encounters decided everything else. When I am not teaching Italian, I look for enlightening wines and watch the same films again and again.

Elisa

My name is Elisa and I have been working at the Ili School since 2009. I was born in Bologna but now live in a small town near Milan. I initially studied Classical Literature and graduated in Sanskrit in 2007, later completing my education with a degree in Modern Literature (Glottology) in 2016. I also have a Master’s degree in Teaching Italian Language and Culture to Foreigners obtained while working in Italy as a teacher of Italian, Latin and Greek, and a language facilitator. I love travelling and coming into contact with different languages and cultures: the international environment of the school is a window on the world that lets me discover something new every day! And then dance, modern and contemporary, and more than any other, the Argentine tango, which has kept me up late at night a thousand times. I forgot, I am Italian and, of course, I love cooking and good wine!

Paola S.

Born in Turin, Ticino by adoption, and a graduate in Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature.
More than 20 years’ experience in teaching Italian L2 to adults, migrants and disadvantaged people.
Certified FIDE and CELI examiner.

Barbara

Epistemologist and a scholar of human intelligence, sensitive to the gender gap and with an ecological view of relationships. For as long as I can remember I have been interested in groups, how they collaborate and deal with situations. I value silence as a learning space and non-finalistic languages as experiential and creative research in education.

Patrizia

A social researcher, designer and trainer of adults, I am interested in social innovation and the processes of generation and regeneration as creative moments for people and organisations and able to transform the world.

I work with words to always build new relationships between ideas, contexts, individuals, and organisations. Between what is already there and what is still to come.

I like to look at life with the curious eyes of the humanities, a perspective that has taught me to recognise and value the invisible connections between the self, the we and the whole.

Administration

Kety

I was born in Locarno to immigrant parents from a seaport in northern Spain. I grew up in a neighbourhood with people from different countries, with different languages and religions from my own, and this influenced me a lot. I studied communication, marketing and languages. My work experience is mainly divided between tourism and further education. I love to say that I liked school so much that to this day I still haven’t left it! I love travel, both solo and in company, getting to know new cultures, discovering new foods, learning new languages, and capturing moments.

Greta

I live in a small town near the border, where the lake and the mountains have always been a point of reference for me.

After graduating in tourism from the State Institute of Higher Education, I started my work experience as an intern at the ILI School, where I realised that helping people is one of the things that gives me the most satisfaction. My greatest passions are travelling and reading, because if I said only cats I would sound younger than I already am.

Annalisa

Philosophy and more. I love travelling through time and exploring space, tracing and following the paths I cross. My latest passion, neuroscience, in lifelong learning, opening worlds, the commitment and privilege of my profession.

Pavia, Athens, Lugano: at ILI since 2002. Director of the language, culture and education department.