About

Ciao, io sono Selene

and I love foreign languages. In my opinion, learning a language means understanding the people that speak it and their culture. It’s not a sterile process of acquiring and mastering rules but it’s a cultural journey.

I have always loved studying languages but realizing that I could teach my own was a long process. I graduated in Foreign Languages in Pisa, Italy where I studied English, French and Romanian. A large part of the course was on linguistics and how languages develop and expand through time.

My passion for tourism and travel brought me to London, UK where I studied Tourism Management. I improved my English and fell in love with the city. I worked in many fields, including corporate but it didn’t give me the right motivation.

Gradually, I saw that I was a natural mentor and I combined that with my love for languages. After careful thought, I started a professional course to teach Italian to adults (CLTA) at International House, London. I learned how to teach a language using an immersive method. The biggest benefits is the immediate contact with Italian language in use. The aim is to experience the language rather than study it.

I like to adapt my lessons to the needs and interest areas of my students. This includes lessons using recipes or national events. I encourage my students to speak and just try but it’s not always for everyone. If and when needed, I step back and take a more traditional approach. This helps building accuracy and it breaks down the fear of speaking

My friendly and informal approach prevents my students from feeling bad about making mistakes. I strongly believe that we cannot learn anything without making mistakes. As a language learner, I said or wrote so many times the wrong thing. I felt frustrated when the right words were not coming into my mind but it’s just part of language learning. I successfully help people to find the confidence in speaking another language as I am a language learner myself and always happy to share my experience.