Biography

Born and raised in the province of Rome, Valentina Cioccari spent her twenties studying languages and traveling in Northern and Southern Europe, engaging in many and varied cultural experiences. Studying Languages, Literature and Culture at university in Rome, she discovered her passion for the many ways cultural norms, expectations and context affect the way we use a language. She continued exploring the relationship between foreign language proficiency and the use of audiovisual media during her studies in London, where she earned a Master of Arts in Audiovisual Translation. In London, she worked as a translator and subtitle editor from English into Italian, observing the cultural differences between the American, English and Italian languages. Having to navigate her way around cultural differences in order to render meaning into conversations enriched Valentina as a foreign language learner and as a perspective teacher. With a desire for continued exploration, she pursued her love for language and film to Toronto in 2008. There, she continued her career in translating Oscar-winning films and television series into Italian, while pursuing her interest in teaching Italian. In the past 11 years, she has taught and developed curricula for private language schools and schools of continuing education as well as for multinational companies. Bolstered by her studies in Adult Learning and Curriculum Development she founded ScuolaScuola, a ‘blended learning’ school that offers its students a personalized learning experience combining face-to-face instruction with online study, respecting individual learning styles and personal pace.