Ciao! I'm a qualified teacher of Italian as a foreign language. I'm a native speaker and sports science graduate with a passion for music and cinema. Fluent in Spanish and English

Find out more about Giulia

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  I am an Italian native speaker, I was born and raised in Italy. I am a Spanish tutor too, and this is due to my family origins, but also to the amazing teachers that I had during my school years. My first Spanish teacher was a pleasure to listen to, and she used to organize many games with little lovely prizes.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  For the Italian culture, I think I would choose Samantha Cristoforetti, the famous astronaut that makes every Italian proud. She is humble, and strong has an incredible background of studies and experiences and is an example of high-standard professionalism.
  
  Talking about Latin American culture, I could name Pepe Mujica, the ex-president of Uruguay, the poorest president ever, a promoter of happiness and a consumerism fighter.

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  I have a passion for Italian culture in general, cinema, music, and literature. I love that we use to communicate with gestures, and I find very interesting the fact that we have 2 or more ways to say I love you, depending on the person we are talking to and the stage of the relationship we are at with them. For Spanish, I have a passion for Latin America, especially Mexico. In these years I learned some words typical of Mexican Spanish that I find really fascinating, and that I find hard to translate both in Italian or English, for example... well they are not always NICE and ELEGANT words!

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  Italian keeps me connected to my family, my friends and my origins. I lived in Italy for 31 years, so I can say that I often miss my country.
  Spanish brings me back to when I was a child, and I used to watch cartoons in Spanish, gifts that my cousin did me from Argentina and Uruguay. The songs are still there, deep in my heart, and the sound of the language always makes me dream of these amazing lands and their outstanding traditions.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  Fort both Italian and Spanish, for an English Speaker learner, there are some difficulties due to the use of verbs, as the variety of them is quite wide, and the verb always changes according to the subjects. But in order to have a conversation with a sympathetic native listener, we don't have to learn EVERYTHING. Don't we?

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  I still remember the day that we listened to the song "La Flaca" by Jarabe de Palo. Me acuerdo en mis 12 años traduciendo cada palabra con pas... Sorry! I still remember myself at 12 years of age, translating the song, and finally finding out what the singer was saying. It was like a revelation!

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  I have been 3 times in Latin America, twice to Argentina and Uruguay and once to Mexico. In addition, I have to say that my partner is Mexican, and for this reason, I am in a very close relationship with the culture. Yes, he makes Mexican dinner for me!!

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I have so much delivering my lessons, I purely enjoy them, and nothing motivates me more than having a laugh with my students. I am also currently studying to obtain Italian and Spanish as second language teaching qualifications, so I am up to date with all the new methods, techniques and news.