Japanese teacher Karuna

Karuna

Community Tutor
Teaches
Japanese
Native
Speaks
English
Native
Croatian
Serbian
Gaelic (Irish)
Your cross-cultural specialist 🌊
From United StatesLiving in Los Angeles, United States (18:17 UTC-07:00)
About Me
italki teacher since Jul 24, 2024
InterestsFoodFilms & TV SeriesTravelHistoryArt
Hi! I'm Karuna, a Tokyo-born and U.S.-raised Japanese speaker. Once upon a time, I received my B.A. from Cornell University and my Master's from Tokyo University of the Arts, where I also worked as a TA/Research Assistant.📍 NB: my availability will be limited from June through at least September 2026! ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ 🍥 MORE ABOUT ME 🍥 I enjoy architecture, design, cooking, long train trips, armchair linguistics, social history, and slow/intentional travel. As for my own language pursuits, I've been learning Serbo-Croatian since 2024 and slowly dipping my toes into Ulster Irish. The truth is: you don't always need a tutor. Most basic Japanese is self-teachable. (Really!) But I'm here for the extra curious and hardworking learners, and for anyone who really wants to put their active conversation skills to the test. For students who have the strength of will to take responsibility for their own progress, I will gladly be your humble shepherd. Above all, our lessons together will be compassionate to both the cultural and linguistic standpoints of a non-native learner. My lessons are best for adult students ranging from total beginners to intermediate learners. I'll default to Genki I and Genki II for a general trajectory/roadmap — but by no means exclusively, especially at intermediate levels. Please note I do not teach children under 18! Some of my resources for students include: 🕯 Self-study tools, quizzes, and strategies, so that our one-on-one time can focus on the things...
My teaching material
  • Text Documents
  • Homework Assignments
  • Image files
5.0
Rating
121
Students
1176
Lessons
100%
Attendance rate
100%
Response rate

Japanese Lessons

Trial Lesson
95 lessons completed
USD 14.00+
Japanese for N5, N4, N3 Learners 🕯️ 40 min or 55 min
A1 -  B2

Language Essentials

852 lessons completed
USD 45.00+
Package with 4% off
Japanese Conversation Session 🎋🏮 40 min or 55 min
A2 -  C2

Conversation

229 lessons completed
USD 45.00+
Package with 4% off

Availability

My creations
Quiz (5)

26 Reviews

Brett
42 Japanese lessons
Teacher’s pick
she rocks
Oct 24, 2024
T.L. Langford
2 Japanese lessons
Karuna gave a great presentation in the first lesson of how she teaches, what texts she uses, and she answered all my questions. Very prepared. Looking forward to working with her.
Dec 2, 2025
Eugene
16 Japanese lessons
Karuna is an excellent teacher with seeming endless amounts of patience. She is a pleasure to learn with. I highly recommend giving her lessons a shot.
Sep 2, 2025
Cathy
10 Japanese lessons
It was really great because I could create my own sentences and I always have opportunities to speak.
Feb 26, 2026
Student Benjamin
Benjamin
17 Japanese lessons
Karuna is fantastic! Very encouraging, she is always looking for fun ways to personalize her lessons to keep learning atmosphere entertaining and engaging.
Oct 31, 2025
Student Cameron Donner
Cameron Donner
13 Japanese lessons
I've now taken classes with Karuna for a couple of months, and I would recommend her to everyone who wants to learn Japanese. Each week I feel my language skills and confidence grow; she's an expert at navigating what I need in my lessons, and she always tries her best to draw language out of me, even when I'm not sure of it myself. On top of that, she always assigns excellent homework material and includes extra resources to ensure that what's talked about during lesson time sticks. However, the best part of learning from Karuna is that I feel I've gained more than just a language instructor. The environment she provides makes it feel like I just get to sit down to chat with a friend who's cheering on my journey each week. It's easy stay positive and focused when you have her in your corner!
Jul 30, 2025