| Paola Rufini |
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I was born and grew up in Rome. I am a language teacher and photographer. Already at high school and also during university I was teaching to fellow students and foreigners, in both Italian and English and French. I enjoyed doing that a lot. After my graduation, Foreign Languages at "La Sapienta" in Rome, I followed several post-graduation courses and I got a PhD degree in teaching different languages to deaf people speaking the Sign Language. My interest in teaching languages to people from different countries comes from my curiosity in meeting other cultures, mentalities and approaches to life. My most joyful experience was teaching Italian to people coming from African countries and wanting to study at university. This 3-year experience and teaching Italian and English to deaf people for 8 years were big fun for me and they allowed me to encounter different and rich cultures. They made me grow very much.Outside the field of languages, I studied Psychology at the University of Rome. I chose a course to support adults to work together at their best in different organizations. I found it really useful for my job as a language teacher. In the 3 years before coming to Holland, I worked in 2 different schools preparing managers from various international organisations to work together, to understand how to use leadership and to organise projects getting the best from every person and making everybody satisfied with his/her own job. At the same time, the managers had to improve their skills in speaking Italian, English or German. So I could combine my 2 great interests: developng skills in the field of group-dynamics and teaching foreign languages. I also have another passion that I've been developing till now: taking pictures. In combination with being a language trainer, it allows me to enjoy 2 different ways to communicate and meet various and rich worlds around me. I arrived in Holland 2 years ago, studied Dutch up to level 4, I had my second child and I'm enjoying discovering this new culture and different world. I miss Rome a lot but I find changes really important for my growth! |
