ItaLingua - San Francisco school of Italian language and culture.

Twelve years ago, Italingua Institute was founded to give San Francisco’s Italy loving community a school of language and culture. With the great number of Italian scholars and professionals living in the Bay Area, there was a strong pool of teachers, presenters, and seminar leaders that could share their knowledge and passion.

In 1996, current director Francesca Gaspari joined the school as a teacher and quickly became a favorite with students. Her enthusiasm for teaching has carried over to her leadership of the school. Describing her goals, she says, “I want to create a piece of Italy in San Francisco, a cultural center where people can feel the Italian atmosphere…where conversation and learning are combined with the simple cultural pleasures of my country. I   want to build a community that is more than just a school.”

To that end, Italingua now brings Italophiles together with grammar and conversation classes, literature, history, and Italian civilization taught by university educated native speakers who undertake ongoing professional training as well as seminars on Italian opera, Renaissance art, cinema and theater, wine and food, politics, regional traditions and folklore from throughout the country.