Leora Turko
About
Dedicated and charismatic ESL teacher looking to guide each student through their personal language acquisition journey and help them navigate the intricacies of American culture and education.
Learning a second language is hard, but it can also be lots of fun!
I graduated from from UC Berkeley with a BA in English in 2003 and in 2004 taught English at the Berlitz Institute in Ra'anana, Israel. After returning to California in the fall of 2008, I started teaching ESL at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. There I taught ESL and tutored students one-on-one. After teaching at the Academy of Art University for 8 years, I recently moved to Sonoma County, California and have been teaching English and Hebrew privately online and in-person ever since. I believe that culture is a critical component of language and I work to provide social and historical context to my lessons, whenever applicable.
My mission is to support students as they fully engage with their target language and the material they wish to master. I believe in teaching language in context and making lessons engaging and as relevant to real life situations as possible. I use a student centered teaching style and ask leading questions to encourage student participation. Every student absorbs and engages with a second language in their own way and at their own pace. My job is to guide and facilitate the language learning process and to make it as fun and rewarding as possible.
Education:
Bachelor of Arts: English Literature, 20th Century Literature
University of California, Berkeley May 2003
Experience
ESL Instructor and Tutor
Academy of Art University, San Francisco
Academic Years 2008-2017
• Tutored one-on-one in the Writing Lab to improve reading, composition, grammar and presentation skills in students of all backgrounds.
• Taught courses and developed curriculum in the ESL and EAP (English for Art Purposes) department.
• Provided in-class language support, campus and citywide, in the following departments: Communications, Advertising, Photography, Visual Merchandising, Illustration, Architecture, Computer Animation, Graphic Design, Fashion and Motion Pictures and Television.
• Held weekly study groups for above classes and developed custom study materials.
English Instructor/ Computer Lab Manager
Berlitz, Tel Aviv, Israel
2004 -2008
• Tutored one-on-one and instructed ESL courses at all levels and for all age ranges, from 4 to 80.
• Delivered curriculum for corporate clients in groups and in private sessions.
• Managed educational group activities, including art gallery trips, theater performances and quiz shows.