Meet our tutors - Marianna Zavagno

Marianna Zavagno is a valued Kent Adult Education tutor, teaching many of our Italian courses. Marianna has always been interested in new languages and different cultures and consequently started travelling and working abroad as a teenager. She pursued her passion further by studying English and French at the University of Trieste in Italy and subsequently a PhD in English from the University of Birmingham. Following this, she taught in further education and has given seminars at universities in Italy, UK and Turkey. Marianna also pursued a career in the corporate world which enabled her to practice her language skills in a business setting. Eventually, her passion for academia brought her back to education and she now teaches Italian language and culture for Kent Adult Education, where she has the privilege to share her love for her country with many brilliant learners.

Marianna thrives by helping students cultivate their passion and develop new skills and use her knowledge to serve other people. She finds it extremely rewarding to see and hear how they learn and improve week by week. Her classes are all person centric. Marianna says: "As much as possible my classes evolve around my learners' personal interests in order to allow them to feel more confident and stimulated, as well as around cultural and historical aspects which can increase not only their knowledge but also their enjoyment in learning about Italy, its language and traditions".