“It's hard for me to imagine my days without Parla Presto. Parla Presto has enhanced my life by teaching me the Italian culture through literature, writers, movies, games and interactions with others who share a common passion...”
– CDC, Braintree
Your Teacher and Tour Guide
Isabella Perricone has taught Italian in Boston since 1997; she started at the Boston Language Institute, Newton continuing Education and at the Boston Center for Adult Education. Since 1998 she has enjoyed teaching and lecturing in different settings. She is currently on the faculty of Tufts University teaching both language and Italian Cinema and she is the founder and the director of Parla Presto, an Italian Center of Language and Culture in Boston, MA.
Previously Isabella worked in film and television for more than 12 years in Rome. Her credits include acting in the films “Ginger & Fred” (F. Fellini), “Turnè” (G. Salvatores), “O’Re” (G. Magni) and guest starring in the network TV variety shows “Proffimamente” (E. Trapani) and “Fantastico” (RAI production). She has also written feature-length screenplays and teleplays both in Italy and in the U.S.
“I grew up in a very international family in Sicily. At our dinner parties and gatherings there were always family members or guests from different countries and at least three languages were spoken around the table: I learned since my childhood how very exciting and enriching it was to be able to make so many different friends… if you could speak their language!
My parents raised me to believe that the only way one can truly experience another country’s culture is by speaking – communicating with people in their native language. So, this is the powerful lesson that I pass onto my students: we need to speak in order to communicate with the world and to really learn about it! Conversation is what we need. Not just reading, writing, or filling in the blanks – but speaking.”
Isabella Perricone
