From United StatesLiving in Los Angeles, United States (04:24 UTC-07:00)
About Me
italki teacher since Jul 24, 2024
InterestsTravelHistoryWritingArtFilms & TV Series
Hi! I'm Karuna, a Tokyo-born and U.S.-raised educator. 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.📍 Currently I split my time between California, Japan, and various other destinations.
🍥 MORE ABOUT ME 🍥
I enjoy architecture, design, cooking, long train trips, armchair linguistics, social history, and slow/intentional travel. When I'm not teaching Japanese, I myself am learning Serbo-Croatian and slowly dipping my toes into Ulster Irish!
My creations
Me as a Teacher
Inconvenient truth: you don't always need a tutor. Much of Japanese is self-teachable. But I'm here for the curious, the ambitious, and the hardworking: for anyone who REALLY wants to put their active conversation skills to the test.
Above all, our lessons together will be compassionate to both the cultural and linguistic standpoints of a non-native learner.
I focus on facilitating your voice, and my goal with every student is enabling authentic self-expression. To that end, you can expect structured speaking challenges as well as more free-form conversations for upper-beginner+ students who so desire.
My lessons & teaching style
My lessons are best for adult students ranging from total beginners to intermediate learners (Levels N5, N4, N3). 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:
🕯 Effective self-study tools, quizzes, and strategies, so that our one-on-one time can focus on the things you *can't* so easily teach yourself
🕯 Small, manageable semi-improvisational speaking challenges to get talking as early as possible in a comfortable setting
🕯 Journaling & writing prompts
My teaching material
PDF file
Text Documents
Image files
Video files
Flashcards
Quizzes
Test templates and examples
Homework Assignments
Education
2012 - 2016
Bachelor’s - Government, FilmCornell University
2018 - 2020
Master's - Arts Studies & Curatorial PracticesTokyo University of the Arts (東京芸術大学)
Work Experience
2016 - Current
Freelance Travel & Culture Writer--
2018 - 2019
Gallery AssociateClear Gallery Tokyo
5.0
Rating
120
Students
1,098
Lessons
100%
Attendance rate
100%
Response rate
5.0
Rating
120
Students
1098
Lessons
100%
Attendance rate
100%
Response rate
Japanese Lessons
Trial Lesson
94 lessons completed
USD 14.00+
Japanese for N5, N4, N3 Learners 🕯️ 40 min or 55 min
A1 - B2Language Essentials796 lessons completed
USD 45.00+
Package with 4% off
Japanese Conversation Session 🎋🏮 40 min or 55 min
A2 - C2Conversation208 lessons completed
USD 45.00+
Package with 4% off
Availability
Based on your timezone (UTC+00:00)
My creations
Quiz (5)
26 Reviews
Jeremy
11 Japanese lessons
Teacher’s pick
Lessons with Karuna are always a pleasure. She is calm, patient, and looks for ways to draw out your strengths so you pay less attention to your flaws. She has a wealth of resources to help you study and assigns homework that gets you thinking outside of the regular book work.
Karuna engages with you in a very casual conversational manner that helps you relax and she actively listens to try to understand what you are saying. I never feel like she is distracted or inattentive during my lessons with her. Since I am very nervous when it comes to speaking, there are often awkward pauses that Karuna adeptly fills in with questions or her own insights to keep the conversation going.
I highly recommend Karuna if you are beginning Japanese or if you just need somebody to help you with speaking practice. She gives good travel suggestions too!
Oct 24, 2024
Cathy
5 Japanese lessons
It was really great because I could create my own sentences and I always have opportunities to speak.
Feb 26, 2026
Benjamin
15 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
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.