"Hi, I'm Marisa! I was born and raised in Japan until the age of 13, after which I moved to Oregon. In Japan, I attended an international school, where I grew up speaking both languages. I spent a total of 19 years of my life in Japan and consider myself bi-cultural. I understand the intricacies of each culture very well, which I think is an integral part of learning a language. Our thoughts determine how we speak.

I graduated from the State University of New York - Binghamton with a degree in Philosophy and Studio Art, after which I attended art school in NYC. I also had the opportunity of living abroad for a year in France and speak conversational French. I am currently learning Spanish!

I believe each and every person has a unique style of learning. Finding out what works for you is my job. I have experience teaching for the Schools Uniting Neighborhoods after-school program and have also worked in educational settings at the Museum of Modern Art and the Asian American Arts Centre in New York.

My hope is to help instill confidence in you that you can learn Japanese and to make it fun!

Lived in Japan 19 years

Graduate of Waseda University Japanese language program

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) level 2 certificate

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested or have any questions. We can discuss what you are looking for and how I can help fulfill that need." less...