Raluca B.

Raluca is an experienced language educator and tutor with more than 20 years of teaching and tutoring experience. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics in 2002, with a major in English and German and a minor in Italian, providing her with a strong academic foundation in language acquisition, communication, and cultural studies. A native Romanian speaker, she is also fluent in English, German, and Italian, bringing both linguistic expertise and cultural insight to her teaching. Raluca specializes in English, Romanian, German, and Italian instruction, helping students of all ages build confidence in communication, reading, writing, grammar, pronunciation, and comprehension. She provides personalized one-on-one lessons tailored to each student’s goals, whether they are preparing for travel, advancing their careers, reconnecting with their heritage, improving academic performance, or developing conversational fluency. Her patient and supportive teaching style creates an engaging learning environment where students feel comfortable taking risks and making meaningful progress. In addition to language instruction, she has extensive experience helping elementary and middle school students strengthen reading comprehension, writing, vocabulary, grammar, and critical thinking skills. Raluca believes that strong relationships, individualized learning plans and consistent encouragement are the keys to student success. Her passion for languages and cultures continues to inspire her work, and she takes great pride in helping students achieve their personal, academic, and professional goals.

Julia R.

Julia spent five years teaching high school English in San Francisco Public Schools. She’s taught grade 9-12 as well as both AP English courses and worked as an AP Exam reader. As someone who loves to learn new things, Julia has earned an MA in German Literature from UC Berkeley, an MA in Teaching Reading from the University of San Francisco, and is currently a master’s student in the English Department at Villanova University. She also spent a year living in Germany on a Fulbright research grant to study political fairy tales.

Julia loves to help students to make connections between their lives and what they are learning in school. She is an experienced writing coach who specializes in supporting students to express their thinking with clarity, complexity, nuance, and style.