"I have extensive experience teaching foreign languages, writing and history.

My specializations are Eastern European languages and history, and I also work with foreign languages every day as a translator.

The nineteen years I spent living in Poland and Slovakia have allowed me to perfect my Polish and Slovak (both at C2 level). I have taught Polish at the University of Washington and the Polish Cultural Center in Seattle, as well as Polish to English translation at the University of Warsaw.

I am also able to tutor German and Russian -- I passed the Mittelstufenprüfung (corresponding to C1 in today's CEFL scheme) after study in West Berlin and Austria, and have taught adult and teenager classes at the Tacoma German Language School. I know Russian very well from years of study at the undergraduate and graduate levels. As a long-time resident of the Russian House at the University of Washington, I had the opportunity to mentor and tutor undergraduates in Russian.

As an historian, I have had a great deal of experience teaching students how to research, write and revise essays. I have been engaged in these kinds of activities for almost thirty years, ever since receiving specialized training in the teaching of writing at Brown University.

Although I believe humor and encouragement are key to motivating and putting students at ease, this does not mean my standards are not the highest possible -- as my students' success demonstrates." less...