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Experienced, Creative, and Friendly Cosmopolitan Languages Teacher
Ilana W.

5.0 (16 ratings)

36 hours tutoring

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Hourly Rate: $100
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Response time: 1 hour

About Ilana

Bio

In my early childhood, I inherited from my grandparents a photo-album of Beijing in the late nineteenth century. This album was my first exposure to Chinese culture. Those large sepia photos on thick glossy paper with their bewitching images of people and scenes beyond the realm of my daily experience and imagination, sparked an eager curiosity that years later led me to spend two and a half years exploring Chinese language and culture as an exchange student at Beijing University, and to...

In my early childhood, I inherited from my grandparents a photo-album of Beijing in the late nineteenth century. This album was my first exposure to Chinese culture. Those large sepia photos on thick glossy paper with their bewitching images of people and scenes beyond the realm of my daily experience and imagination, sparked an eager curiosity that years later led me to spend two and a half years exploring Chinese language and culture as an exchange student at Beijing University, and to return there a few years later as a teacher. Later still, I pursued my graduate studies of Chinese literature at Yale University. Over the years, teaching Chinese language and culture has become a true passion.

I believe that studying Chinese is valuable for everyone, and not only for pragmatic reasons. As educated people in a shrinking world, we need knowledge and understanding of China’s long history and its magnificent culture to teach tolerance and build relationships. Moreover, the singular grammar, tones, writing system, and inner logic of Chinese access areas of the brain devoted to non-verbal expression such as that of music, mathematics, and art. Studying Chinese is a unique and highly intellectual pursuit that empowers students to think in new ways.

Confucius said, “A craftsman who wishes to do good work must first sharpen his tools.” Mastery of grammar is the essential tool for understanding Chinese and is, therefore, the core value of my teaching. My foremost concern, at every level of study, is with correct, exacting, and accurate expression. Every text is taught through the perspective of grammar, and every grammatical rule or pattern is expressed in an equation form that is easy to memorize and to apply. I consider errors evidence of engagement with the material, and use them as accessories to enhance the learning process. Discussing errors helps students build critical analysis and effective reasoning skills. Ultimately, my goal is to cultivate students’ rigorous thinking and autonomy in studying, so that they

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Education

Tel Aviv University
French literature
Yale University
Masters
INALCO
Masters

Policies

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Approved Subjects

Chinese

Chinese

Obtained M.Phil degree in Classical Chinese Literature from Yale University. Obtained M.A degree in Classical Chinese Literature from INALCO in Paris, France. Studied Chinese for two years at Beijing University. Taught Chinese for the past six years in an independent school in CT.
French

French

I grew up in a francophone household. I studied French literature and language at Tel Aviv University, and later went to Paris to pursue graduate studies in Chinese. My years in Paris not only perfected my language skills, but also offered a rare and exciting exposure to french life and culture. Besides teaching French privately, I was recently a French teacher at an independent school.
Hebrew

Hebrew

Hebrew is my mother tongue. I have a rich experience teaching Hebrew in various locations: I taught beginner, intermediate, advanced, and media Hebrew at Yale University; I taught beginner and intermediate Hebrew classes at Wesleyan University, CT; I taught advanced modern Hebrew at Beijing University; and I designed and taught Hebrew classes for children aged 5-13 at a Sunday school.
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Ratings and Reviews

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5.0 (16 ratings)
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Reviews

Knowledgable tutor

I was very impressed with my first session with Ilana and her knowledge of the Chinese language, pronunciation and characters. What I was most impressed with was her rigorous approach to teaching language, which isn't always possible from every tutor. It is clear that she has a lot of experience teaching languages.

Christopher, 2 lessons with Ilana

Talented and experienced educator

Ilana was extremely responsive and informative in initial communications. She then came to the first lesson prepared and with a plan. She demonstrated both advanced skills in Mandarin language as well as Chinese culture. Even more important to us was her ability to both express these ideas as well as understand the challenges of learning these concepts. Ilana is obviously a talented and experienced educator with the ability to fit in with whatever talent level her students come to her with. We were extremely happy and impressed with her both personally and academically.

Daniel, 1 lesson with Ilana

Professional and experienced language educator

We chose Ilana based on her education and experience as a teacher. What we got was much more. She clearly cares about her students and their success. Ilana prepares carefully for lessons, is prompt and flexible. She adjusted the pace of her teaching to our son's needs (very fast, in our case) and, most importantly, they get along well and are highly productive together. She is engaging and is able to keep our son's attention for the entire 1.5 hour session. Ilana is fantastic and we recommend her without reservation.

Zorba, 3 lessons with Ilana

Excellent tutor, works well with kids

Ilana is very reliable and flexible in scheduling sessions, and works extremely well with our middle-school-age son. He respects her and likes her and she has helped him make great strides with his language study, even in a short time. We are very pleased with her!

Susan, 4 lessons with Ilana

review of Ilana W Hebrew and Jewish Culture Lesson

Ilana was very responsive to our our child's particular interests and needs. She was very professional, friendly, warm, and extremely well-prepared. The lesson was superbly organized and executed.

Jonathan, 3 lessons with Ilana

Delightful and productive tutor!

My two girls 10 and 12 LOVED working with Illana to learn Hebrew. We look forward to her lessons on a weekly basis now!

Mary, 5 lessons with Ilana
Hourly Rate: $100
Response time: 1 hour
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