Our Teachers

Francesca Gaspari
Executive Director
Francesca was born and raised in Bergamo. She pursued acting for four years and later graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Bergamo. In 1986, she found herself in San Francisco, having followed her heart. She has been teaching Italian since 1990 – joining ItaLingua in 1996 where she continues to teach. In 2001, she became the director and actively infuses the school with her lively and informative teaching style.
She is passionate about music, dancing and hiking in the mountains. One of her most loved destinations is the scenic Pacific Crest trail, where she hikes twice a year. She loves sharing her knowledge of Italian language and culture with the students.

Nicoletta Gherardi
Italian Teacher
Nicoletta was born and raised in Rome, where she graduated with certificates of proficiency in German and English. She worked for nearly 15 years in the Public Relations division of an American company in Rome, while tutoring High School students in both German and English language and literature. In 2001, she moved to San Francisco and has been teaching Italian language and culture ever since.

Emanuela Quaglia
Italian Teacher

Erika Pistoni
Italian Teacher
Erika was born and raised in Rome, where she studied Civil Engineering and Architecture at the University of Rome La Sapienza. She moved to San Francisco in 2014 and joined Italingua straightaway. She loves to teach Italian both to children and adults, always looking for different ways to intrigue students of all ages. In the past two years, she taught language, Italian art and history classes, combining her various passions in the teaching experience. She lives in the East Bay and in her free time enjoys cooking, growing her own vegetables, watching horror and sci-fi movies, and exploring California with her husband.

Vania Ferraro
Italian Teacher

Mattia Milone
Italian Teacher
Mattia Milone was born in Puglia and raised in Milan, where he studied Italian Literature and achieved his certificate in Teaching Italian as a Foreign language (DITALS). Before moving to the Bay Area, Mattia worked for the classical music publisher Sonzogno while also teaching Italian Literature to high school students. In 2015, he started to teach Italian language to refugees and immigrants with a program funded by the European Union. In 2018, he moved to Oakland, where he lives with his wife. He has a life-long interest in films, books and music. In his spare time, he likes to “passeggiare” with his wife, trying different recipes, swimming, going to movie theaters and record stores.

Alessia Chinnici
Italian Teacher

Eleonora Pellegrini
Italian Teacher
Eleonora Pellegrini was born in Florence (Italy). She’s a professional harpist and music teacher. In 2018, she moved to Berkeley, California where she has been performing as a freelance harpist, teaching harp and music to young children. Since she left Italy, she also teachs Italian to children and adults. She currently teaches Italian for the Montclair Language League at Montclair Elementary School and here at ItaLingua School of Italian Language and Culture. She also teaches group music classes in Italian for families with young children.

Laura Genta
Italian Teacher
Laura was born and grew up in Genova, Liguria where she studied law at the Università degli Studi di Genova. After graduating, she passed the bar exam and worked within the legal affairs department of the Italian Institute of Technology.
Always interested in languages and cultures, she spent a year in France during her studies. She took any occasion to travel through Europe, and of course through Italy, where she used to travel the Ligurian seaside with her scooter, and go hiking in Valle d’Aosta. She moved to the Bay Area in 2019 and is currently teaching in a preschool in Berkeley, where she lives with her husband Angelo.
She loves to teach Italian and share her passion for Italian culture both with children and adults. She enjoys reading her favourite authors, practicing pilates and exploring the USA!

Claudia Corcione
Italian Teacher
Born and raised in Rome, Claudia earned a master’s degree in Philosophy of Language at the University La Sapienza in Rome, and achieved her CEDILS certification at the University Ca’ Foscari in Venice in order to teach Italian as a foreign language.
Claudia joined ItaLingua in 2019, and before moving to the Bay Area with her husband, she worked as a private tutor for students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Previously, she had been working for nine years in Italy as a project manager in the field of language technologies related to artificial intelligence systems.
Claudia has an infinite passion for philosophy, literature, music and art. In her spare time, she likes practicing sports, going to concerts, exploring new places and cooking traditional Italian recipes.

Anna Baldi
Italian Teacher

Monica Montana
Italian Teacher
Passionate about art and Italian culture, Monica went to NY to study Italian-American culture at CUNY College. She started teaching Italian at the College when she was a student. After two years, she decided to move to California in 2017, where started studying UX/UI Design and Web Design. This allowed Monica to have her first experience in the Tech world and put together her passion for creativity, art, and technology. Monica is now working as UX Designer, and in her free time, she loves teaching Italian at Italingua. She thinks there are no limits to learning more and more.
During the weekends, she enjoys doing outdoor activities, reading some philosophy books, going to Museums and concerts. She loves animals and nature.

Clara Benali
Italian Teacher
Clara was born and raised in Verona, Italy, where she started her teaching career as a teacher of Humanities in secondary school.
When she moved to California she obtained her Single Subject teaching credential for teaching Italian as a foreign language and for the past 15+ years she has been teaching Italian at different grade levels, from Mommy&Me classes, to kids, all the way up to college, to adults.
In her free time she enjoys cooking, reading, painting and playing the ukulele.

Employment
All of our courses are taught by native-speaking Italian teachers.
We do sometimes seek part-time native Italian instructors with the start of each new term to teach Italian or Italian cultural classes in art, music, opera, poetry, cooking, and more.
If you are interested and in the San Francisco Bay area with a valid work permit, please feel free to contact us with your CV or resume.
You must have a valid work permit. As much of the work is part-time, we can not sponsor teachers to get work permits.
ItaLingua Institute
870 Market Street, Suite 701
San Francisco, CA 94102
p: (415) 362-6025
email: italian@italingua.org