Elana

Certified Tutor

I am a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with a focus on Acting. While I teach a range of subjects, my favorites to teach are English, Hebrew, Literature, and Theatre.

I was a full-time teacher for two years in Israel, in which I taught Civics and English in an accredited GED program through the Ministry of Education. While teaching in this GED program, I tutored each of my students in addition to classroom hours. As a tutor-student team, we found creative approaches to the material that would cater to each of their unique needs as a learner. During my travels in Nepal, I worked with the NGO Nyayik Sansar, and taught English classes to a group of Nepali women who were starting their own ginger farming business. I also had the unique privilege of teaching English as a second language in the Skaramagas refugee camp, to children, teens, and adults seeking asylum from Kurdistan, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran.

I also have five years of experience teaching Hebrew as a second language, and have taught all levels of Hebrew in public high schools, two-month-long language immersion programs, as well as synagogues. I've found that when learning a second language, the best way to learn is through Comprehensible Input, which means jumping into speaking the language as much as possible through using high frequency words and phrases. I am also a professional actor in Chicago, and while earning my BFA in Theatre, I studied script analysis, design, performance and theatre history. I absolutely love to teach Shakespeare, and I have years of experience performing and bringing his texts to life in an understandable and entertaining way, so let's dive right in!

In my spare time, I love playing guitar and mandolin, hiking, biking, and baking sourdough bread. To this day, I credit many of my biggest academic achievements to the tutors that have helped me along my journey. I look forward to paying it forward as I am a firm proponent that education is the key to unlocking each and every person's potential.