Patient, full of ideas and a great leader, Elio founded CIS in 1979 when as a young teacher creating his own materials, he saw an opportunity. CIS quickly became a successful language school and publishing company. The first language course that he co-wrote, Avanti!, changed the way languages are taught and how language textbooks are designed. In 2020 Elio launched Lingopont, a new groundbreaking publishing company with high ambitions. Elio’s passion for languages represents not only communication, but also cultural richness, new friendships, personal development and fun times. These are all things that he instills in our school. His hobbies include traveling, Opera, reading, playing golf, and watching sports . Lucio Battisti is his favourite Italian singer and Il Postino is one of the best Italian movies he recommends.

Reliable, smiling and enthusiastic. She joined the CIS team in 2022 and she’s been always passionate about teaching Italian grammar and culture, fashion and food. She has an obsession with authentic Italian gelato and her hobbies include travelling and going to yoga and pilates classes. Stella loves strolling at the beach or in the parks and she likes watching Italian movies starring Claudio Santamaria. Subsonica is her favourite Italian music band. She believes that “everything happens for a reason”. Born in Milan

Passionate, curious, and with a research background in Australia, Cristiano joined the CIS team in 2022. He believes that learning a language requires cultural immersion, spontaneous connections, and authentic communication. A traveller at heart, Cristiano has used his skills in European languages to connect with people from dozens of countries. Some of his favourite Italian novels include “Timira” by Wu Ming 2 & Antar Mohamed and “La dismissione” by Ermanno Rea, whereas Italian filmmakers he usually recommends are Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Claudio Caligari. He loves indulging his passion for urban photography while listening to old school Italian rap. Born and raised in Napoli. 

Welcoming, patient and witty. Lorenzo joined the CIS team in 2024. He loves to stimulate his creativity and the creativity of students in the classroom, and he believes that learning, to be true, must be an obligatory consequence of free experimentation. When he is not busy teaching, he plays with his folk trio, walks around and, if the weather is good enough, pretends to know how to play soccer. His motto is a Latin phrase from the poet Ovid: "numquam quaerenti defuit orbis," he who seeks the world will always find it. His favourite poets are Giovanni Raboni and Guido Gozzano, and his favourite songwriter is Luigi Tenco. 

Enthusiastic, encouraging and proactive, Giorgia joined the CIS team in 2024. From a young age she has craved being able to communicate with people from diverse cultures, so she learnt three foreign languages and made sure to practice them living in five different countries. She loves when people from all over the world are able to share something with her and believes that all the hard work that goes into learning a new language is worthwhile. She loves any kind of sports, especially running, hiking and pilates, and she’ll never say no to a tennis match. She enjoys reading and writing and the people she looks up to the most are ultra-marathon runners and journalists, particularly admiring the work of Pablo Trincia and his podcasts. Born in Thiene (Veneto)

Available, reliable, tenacious and hard-working, she has always worked in contact with people from all over the world.
She has joined the CIS in 2023 and her passion for teaching Italian has become contagious among aspiring new teachers. Oriana's hobbies include swimming, jogging and baking cakes for her 4 children.
For her, irony and self-irony are forms of intelligence.
The famous quote of the Italian writer Roberto Rigoni: "Kindness is a form of elegance. The best I know" is a source of inspiration for her.  She loves Carlo Verdone's 80s films and Leonardo Pieraccioni's Tuscan comedy.
Fabrizio De Andre' is her favourite Italian singer.
Born in Siracusa (Sicily)

Enthusiastic, passionate and determined. Francesca joined the CIS team in 2024. She has a playful and creative approach to teaching and loves engaging with her students' different characters and life paths to make the learning experience more complete and personal. As a violinist, she believes that communication is the most important part of any language, from the ones we speak on a day-to-day basis to the ones that challenge us to learn a new skill. When she's not teaching or playing violin, she loves hiking, surfing, exploring and spending time with people she loves. Her motto is "l'emozione e il pensiero creano il sentimento, e con il sentimento si muovono le montagne", feelings and thoughts create emotions, and with emotions one can move a mountain. Her favourite Italian songwriter is Fabrizio De André and her favourite Turkish-Italian movie director is Ferzan Özpetek.  

Passionate traveller, theatre lover and always ready for new challenges. Florin joined CIS in 2022. Let's meet him in the intermediate classes where his focus will be on fun communication based on functional language. He loves using the target language in a natural context and getting to know the students. His favorite readings are Luigi Pirandello's plays such as Enrico IV and Così è se vi pare. His favorite movie is Il Postino (the Postaman) and he likes to listen to Renato Zero and Lucio Dalla! Raised in Rome.

Smart, friendly and adventurous, Luca has joined the CIS team in 2023. His passion for cinema and music makes him a creative and lively teacher. Learning a language means much more than being familiar with grammar rules: it also entails learning in depth about the culture it represents, this is why his lessons are filled with many useful activities for learning how to deal with real-life situations. He loves every movie directed by Sergio Leone or Ettore Scola while Elsa Morante and Niccolò Ammanniti are his favourite italian authors. Nature and fitness lover, Luca enjoys doing outdoor activities, from surfing to hiking. Born in Latina (Lazio). 

Active, patient and with a good sense of humour, Antonio has over 40 years of experience in education. He loves to engage in the learning of others and experience their enjoyment through learning a language. To Antonio language is not just words and phrases, it’s a reflection of the people, the history, the culture, the food, the music and traditions. “Take as much out of your day as you can but make sure you give as much in return” was his father’s advice, which has stood by Antonio all his life. His favourite Italian singer is Gianni Morandi and his favourite Italian writer is Carlo Levi.

From Basilicata

Fun with a positive attitude, she put human relationships at the centre of what she does! Anna has joined the CIS team in 2021. She loves human beings and with teaching, she creates empathic relationships. Her lessons are serious and focus on learning with an underlying fun environment. This is the phrase that represents her the most: “Be like the sea: transparent and thoughtless on the surface and deep in the soul”. She loves horse riding and reading. Giorgio Balzano is her favourite writer. She loves being the grandmother of her 3 little babies.

Positive, motivated and creative, Francesca has joined the CIS team in 2021 but she has been working as a teacher since 2011. She loves teaching using different techniques to make her classes always fun and dynamic. The phrase that she always keeps in mind is: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. Carmen Consoli and Brunori Sas are two of her favourite Italian singers while Erri de Luca, Marco Malvaldi and Antonio Tabucchi are her favourite Italian writers. 
She also loves cooking, watching TV series and playing tennis.

From Reggio Calabria

Friendly, patient, a great communicator and listener, Stefano has joined the CIS team in 2022. His goal is to create enjoyable and interesting learning experiences for curious and passionate students who want to discover Italian from “A” to “ZETA”. Stefano’s interests range is very wide and varied. He cooks and bakes a lot of Italian food and has an obsession with everything Disney. He loves singing Italian songs from all Sanremo Music Festival playlists available with friends and finds solace in fantasy sagas on the page and on the screen. He is an avid reader, adores musicals and plays and goes to the gym most mornings. And much more! Stefano was born in Brescia (Lombardia) and moved to Melbourne 10 years ago.