Chi siamo
percorsoItaliano is run by Italian natives, living in Seattle, who are passionate and eager to share their native language and culture. This unique language school was founded in 2011 by Roberta Tauriello Torgerson, from Piemonte, in collaboration with Elisabetta Valentini from Umbria.
Roberta has taught Italian for more than 20 years, and met Elisabetta while teaching at the Seattle Language Academy, where they became good friends. The two joined forces to create an interactive method of learning Italian, that is both effective and fun. The emphasis of percorsoItaliano is on everyday conversation.
ABOUT ROBERTA TAURIELLO TORGERSON
Roberta Tauriello Torgerson was born in Torino, Italy, and has been teaching Italian in the United States since 1992. She started at the Italian Cultural and Community Center in Houston, where she served as a director and an instructor, teaching all levels of Italian, both privately and in small classes. She was also a Berlitz instructor in Houston and Los Angeles.
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During Roberta’s six years in LA, she taught children and adults at the Italian Cultural Center (ICC). The ICC, which attracted famous actors, directors, writers, and visual artists, became Roberta’s introduction to the entertainment industry. She tutored Matt Damon in preparation for his eight-month stay in Rome to film “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” She worked with Natalie Cole on the recording of one of her father’s songs, “Unforgettable,” sung in Italian. She also taught Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Beals and Mariska Hargitay in preparation for their trips to Italy. However, the students who meant the most to Roberta during her time in LA were those who studied with her for years before she moved to Seattle in 2000.
In Seattle, Roberta taught Italian to adults at the Dante Alighieri Society and children at Cinquegranelli Montessori School. She also taught children at the Laurelhurst Elementary School in Seattle through “Laser Leaps,” an after-school program for World Languages. Roberta was hired at the Seattle Language Academy (SLA), where she taught for ten years until its closure in December 2010. She enjoyed working for SLA, and many of her students from those days still study with her today.
Her passion for teaching Italian language and culture inspired Roberta to continue her journey with percorsoItaliano, which she founded in 2011 with Elisabetta Valentini. Roberta is also a member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). She has attended conferences yearly, at which experts in foreign language instruction come together to share ideas and advances in teaching technology and social media.
Roberta travels to Italy once or twice a year to visit her family and friends. On her trips, she periodically visits other Italian language schools and assists in the classroom to gain exposure to different teaching methods, thereby enriching her professional experience.
Roberta’s other interests are traveling, cooking, exercising and knitting. But her true passion is spending time with family and friends while sharing food and wine.
ABOUT ELISABETTA VALENTINI
Elisabetta Valentini was born in Perugia, Italy. Since her move to Seattle in 1999, she has spent many years traveling between Seattle and Perugia, serving as an important cultural link between her two favorite cities. Elisabetta has been part of the Perugia-Seattle Sister City Association since its beginning more than 25 years ago, first as a founding member and then in 2008 as President of the Perugia Committee. Over the years, Elisabetta has played a key role in many exchange activities, relishing the opportunity to meet and work with many wonderful people as she helps nurture the growing friendship between the two cities.
In December 2018 Elisabetta was appointed as the new Honorary Consul of Italy in Seattle for the State of Washington and is now serving the Italian and the American Community.
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Elisabetta’s teaching career began in Perugia, where she taught Italian language and literature in the local high schools. She also taught Italian to foreigners at the Comitato Linguistico school. Since 1992, she has been working as a coordinator for the University of Perugia in its International Relations and European & World Exchange programs.
When Elisabetta came to live in the United States for the first time in 1998, she lived in Los Angeles, where she volunteered as a librarian and helped reorganize the Italian Library at the Italian Cultural Center (ICC). She then moved to Seattle and taught Italian for four years at Seattle Language Academy, the Dante Alighieri Society, Cinquegranelli Montessori School, and Maria Montessori Language and Cultural Center, an after-school program. She enjoyed teaching her native language to both children and adults at different levels and with different expectations. Elisabetta moved back to Italy in 2002 before returning to Seattle in 2011 where she reconnected with her good friend, Roberta Torgerson, with whom she now enjoys teaching a variety of Italian classes at percorsoItaliano. Elisabetta is enthusiastic about their interactive teaching method, which blends a wide range of entertaining material with the art of everyday conversation.
Elisabetta, the mother of three children, loves being with her family and friends, reading fiction, watching Italian movies—and, of course, sharing good Italian food!
ABOUT donatella Meraviglia
Donatella Meraviglia was born and raised in Torino, Italy. She studied Architecture at Politecnico di Torino, specializing in historical buildings and their conservation. She worked in London for an architectural practice and she also taught Italian in England before moving to Seattle. Donatella loves to share her passion for the Italian language and culture and of course for all the history that the Italian architecture has to offer.