Teacher: Valentina

Italian teacher

Languages have always been one of my greatest passions. I believe learning foreign languages and cultures opens your mind and is a fulfilling and challenging experience. For this reason, I graduated in Intercultural and Linguistic Mediation, which pays particular attention on the cultural aspects of the language and of the countries where this language is spoken. After learning 6 languages and teaching English to primary school children, I decided to start teaching Italian and I absolutely love it. Seeing the passion that the students have for my own language and culture is extremely rewarding and motivating.

Brief CV

Valentina has worked as an Italian and English tutor since 2009, both privately and in schools. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Intercultural and Linguistic Mediation from University of Rome “La Sapienza”, where she specialized in Dutch Language, Literature and Culture, Russian Language, Literature and Culture, Italian Literature and General Linguistics. She also studied Nederlandse Taalanalyse and Italiaanse Cultuurkunde at Leiden University. During her Master Degree in Gender Studies at Utrecht University, her research was on homophobic bullying in educational environments. Valentina has been an activity planner and coach for the Global Alliance for LGBT Education, where she gave trainings to both teachers and students. She has been teaching at Kookoovaja since 2017.

Reviews

Fun, stress-free and engaging class.

Research shows that having a fun, stress-free and engaging class leads to improved learning. This has been our experience learning Italian with Valentina! Her enthusiasm is contagious, and she truly makes learning fun. Her extensive knowledge of the language and culture shines through in every lesson. I highly recommend her if you want to learn Italian in an engaging and effective way! – Eltiena

Great teacher, various and useful activities!

Valentina is great! She explains very well, the classes cover a variety of topics (grammar, vocabulary, speaking, listening, etc.) and activities and they are also very fun! 😀 – Julieta

The teacher’s passion is both informative and useful

Learning a new language can be difficult but doesn’t have to be a “chore” – far from it, Valentina makes it fun and engaging. Her passion for language learning I s both informative and really useful. Our class feels incredibly fortunate to have access to such a treasure of a teacher! – Bill

Prachtige taal en fijne lerares!

Kom Italiaans leren bij Valentina, een prachtige taal om te spreken en een fijne lerares om van te leren! – Nienke

Geduldige en vriendelijke lerares

De Italiaanse les wordt gegeven door een geduldige, vriendelijke lerares die goed weet hoe ze iets moet overbrengen en zelf veel kennis van zaken heeft waardoor ze goed uitleg kan geven. – Nienke

Great teacher!

If you do Italian with Kookoovaja, do yourself a favour and go for Valentina as teacher. She makes the class fun and keeps energy in! – Tom

Echt een aanrader!

De perfecte manier om een nieuwe taal te leren. En ook al kan het ivm Corona niet fysiek, het les hebben via video gaat prima, en scheelt ook weer reistijd. Valentina is een goede en leuke docent. Ze weet ook veel van de cultuur en geschiedenis. Echt een aanrader! Natascha

Creative methods and focus on grammar

I really liked the teacher, the focus on grammar which allowed me to really progress to a higher level of linguistic understanding, the conversation in the class in Italian, the creative teaching methods e.g. incorporating music. Elizabeth

Really enjoy it

I learn italian from Valentina and I really enjoy it. It’s not only about the language but i’ve the opportunity to learn about the italian culture as well. Grazie 🙂

moldovayanna – Google review

Very good teacher

Valentina is a very good teacher. Since she studied languages her whole life, she knows what it means to be a student and she is always willing to give you tricks and tips when you are learning a foreign language. She is passionate, patient, competent, and she always knows how to make the classes fun. Laura