Andrea Moradei

Photos

Founder of Koinè Center and Centro Italiano, Italian language schools for foreigners, creator of the Pane, Vino e Lingua cooking and language program and of the Enoteca de' Giraldi in Florence, founder of Vinarium Travel Agency.

After a Masters in Philosophy, he began to work to promote the Italian language and culture in 1980, offering also a cultural approach to Tuscan wine and food.

What is your favorite travel memory?

It may be because I had an approach with the United States, as a child has with a splendid toy, for cinematographic and literary conditioning, but driving a car with the music of the Rolling Stones on the Golden Gate Bridge in Los Angeles was a concentrate of happiness. Equally strong, but decidedly different, was seeing the desert dunes from the Sahara.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I founded the Italian Center in 2010, after having run the previous school for 30 years. The meeting with hundreds of students from different countries has helped to increase my curiosity for different languages and cultures. The closeness to generations much younger than mine has helped to keep my mind young and weld my patience.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

Years ago, we had an Australian student, who took an Italian language course twice in a row, at a distance of a few months. He had returned in such a short time because he repeatedly dreamed of traveling to different countries, where, however, everyone spoke Italian. The places were like a wonderland, with beautiful people and delicious things to eat, but everyone always spoke only Italian. He couldn't get to know nice people and enjoy good things, because his knowledge was insufficient. For this he had returned, to enjoy the wonderlands.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

I would certainly recommend the Traveling between Florence and Naples program. The model is that of training trips for young intellectuals, writers and artists of the 1800s.

A week at our school in Florence, to study Italian and the Renaissance.

A weekend in Rome, for a taste of the Roman Empire and neoclassicism

A week in our associated school in Naples, to learn Italian and for a stroke of contemporaneity.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

I believe our main gift is the attention we dedicate to all our guests, first of all as people and then as students.

We are a small school with small teaching groups, we offer an informal and communicative atmosphere and a high professional level. We guarantee that our students will find everything we promised them during the presentation, and maybe something more.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

We consider that Italian is a language of culture, an instrument to learn about our history and our reality. A tool to satisfy the curiosity that many foreign adults have for our country. For this reason, we have always linked to language teaching, culture and art programs of our present and our past. Those who are highly motivated have much shorter learning times.