Elena graduated from the University of Rome with a MA in Architecture and continued working and studying in related fields such as stage-and costume design as well as earning advanced language degrees in French and German which she also teaches. Culture is important in her instructional method as she considers language learning to be the main tool to understand foreign mentalities and world views. Therefore, her teaching experience completes the technical component of the language with cultural information and projects ranging from art to fashion to music. She has coordinated events that include presentations of the Commedia dell’ Arte and Italian cinema as wells as approach to Italian opera. Elena has taught in various Chicago universities, taught and worked at the Italian Consulate and Language school in the past and she is currently taking a course in Linguistics focusing of teaching foreign languages to students with dyslexia.