Laura

Laura holds an MA in Applied Linguistics from UMass Boston and a BA in English and Spanish Literature from Emmanuel College. She’s supported international student populations throughout her career, and has worked a Writing Specialist at her alma matter, as both a student services advisor and a co-op advisor here at Northeastern’s College of Engineering, and has taught career management and US workplace cultural competence to international graduate students. She currently works with PhD students at Khoury College of Computer Sciences as an Assistant Director on their Graduate Student Services team. Laura grew up just north of Boston in Lynn, and still lives there now. She is a native English speaker, and speaks Spanish as well. She loves musical artist Bad Bunny, and enjoys training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at every opportunity she finds.


Ethan

Ethan is the English Language Specialist for GSS and holds a PhD in English from Northeastern. He conducts research, manages the day-to-day operations of the ITC, tutors students, and promotes the services of GSS. Ethan loves working with international students on all aspects of English communication; he has taught multiple writing courses like American Literature, First-Year Writing for Multilingual Learners, Interdisciplinary Advanced Writing, Advanced Writing in the Technical Professions/ in the Health Professions/ In Business Administration/ in the Sciences. Ethan grew up in New Hampshire and currently lives in Lowell. In his spare time he loves watching stand-up comedy, both in-person and on television.


Jeff

Jeff earned his Master of Education, Higher Education – student affairs at Merrimack College. He is a project manager at a local city government. Jeff is also a NU alumnus and served in a professional role supporting domestic and international students on both onboard and transition for over a decade. In addition, Jeff has a great deal of experience helping international students to overcome their social awkwardness and to boost their confidence in speaking. He is excited to meet and help with international students at the ITC.


Jessica

Jessica received her MA in Linguistics and a certificate in TESOL from the University of South Carolina. Jessica has lived in multiple U.S. states and studied in South Korea. She is a native English speaker who also speaks French, and is learning Korean. She has taught ESL in both intensive English and university pathway programs and has experience with TOEFL preparation. She has taught communication courses at NU’s College of Professional Studies, and Advanced Listening, Speaking, and Reading for Grad School in the Global Pathways program. Before that, she tutored at the writing center at the University of South Carolina and worked in the Undergraduate Admissions Office at the University of North Carolina. In her spare time, Jessica enjoys reading science fiction and fantasy, watching Netflix, and playing turn-based combat or puzzle-based computer games.


Jimmy

Jimmy graduated from Boston University with a BA in East Asian Studies and recently earned a MA in Political Science concentrating in international relations from Northeastern University. He has taught and tutored in various local and international schools and institutions. His research interests are issues in human security, international development, and infrastructure resilience in developing countries. Jimmy is bilingual, he is a native speaker of both English and Cantonese. Jimmy currently lives in Boston, and he has worked in China. In his spare time, Jimmy loves watching TV shows, playing games with friends, and ice skating.


Kurt

Kurt has over twenty-five years of experience working in academia in the United States, United Kingdom, Latin America and Asia. He is a native speaker in both Spanish and English. He holds a BA in Communication and Journalism and a MFA in Film and Television. In addition, he has professional certifications in Translation (English/Spanish) from the UMass Boston and TEFL (Teaching of English as a Foreign Language) from the United Kingdom Office of Qualifications and Examinations in London. Kurt has taught courses like Culture and Communication – Global Corporate and Social Responsibility; Introduction to Communication Studies; Media, Culture, and Communication Studies, and Television Studies. He likes to talk about Philosophy, Psychology, Politics and Religion.

Blanca

Blanca received her Masters in TESOL from West Virginia University and has a Bachelors in English Philology from the University of Valladolid in Spain. She worked as an EFL teacher at the Language Center of the University of Valladolid for 15 years. While as an EFL teacher, Blanca coordinated an academic English program which integrated computer-assisted learning and personalized instruction with tutorial lessons and successfully prepared students for the TOEFL, TOEIC, and Cambridge English Exams. She was also involved in organizing conversational activities to foster language interaction between Spanish and international students on campus.

Since moving to Boston in 2012, she has continued teaching as a freelance tutor specializing in TOEFL preparation and teaching multilingual speakers who need reinforcement in English for professional, academic, or personal reasons. Her experience in teaching groups and individuals with diverse educational and cultural backgrounds has enabled her to develop effective teaching techniques that instill confidence and create a positive learning environment for the students. She loves history and exploring nature and combines them with her passion for travel.

Paul

Paul earned his PhD in English from Northeastern University. His dissertation, “The Drama of Cartography: Plotting Global, National, and Urban Map Spaces in Early Modern History, Tragedy, and Comedy,” explores the spatial poetics of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century cartography and representations of space in early modern drama. He holds a BA in English from Wheaton College and an MA in English from Clark University. He has also taught First-Year Writing, Advanced Writing, literature and composition courses at Northeastern, Clark, and Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Paul loves baseball, reading books, and watching movies directed by Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick.

Robert

Robert has been teaching ESL for over ten years. He was the former director of a highly regarded TEFL Certificate Program in Boston. In addition to the TEFL Certificate Program, he was the lead instructor for an English for Foreign-Born Professionals Program and co-lead instructor of an MBA Preparation Program for International Students, a prerequisite at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He also provides private instruction and curriculum development to companies, business executives, doctors, university professors, and graduate students. Prior to teaching English, he owned a photography business, which served an international clientele in the profit and nonprofit sectors. He is also an avid traveler, tasty but healthy food enthusiast, and frequent exerciser.

Sue

Sue has an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and a BA in English from Mount Holyoke College. She has worked at the International Tutoring Center since September 2012. She has also had a number of short plays produced throughout the country, and she still writes short plays. She regularly ushers for local and regional theater companies, and then she gets to see the play for free. Sue currently lives in Boston. She has lived for one year in Florida, has traveled to Paris, London, Scotland, and Wales. In her spare time, she reads a lot of magazines like The New Yorker, listens to music, especially jazz and country, and watches Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, and other cable channels. She also loves to take long walks outside; she usually walks at least 5 miles every day.

Tyler

Tyler has a degree in English literature from Bridgewater State University as well as a TEFL certificate.

He has been teaching ESL since 2009 in various capacities: one on one, in small groups, in person and remotely. Tyler taught ESL in South Korea as well as in Massachusetts. His favorite subjects to teach are pronunciation, writing and grammar. Tyler loves to include fiction and poetry in his lessons as a way to help students learn about various cultures and contexts which they may not see in a traditional classroom.

Tyler is a native of Massachusetts and currently lives in Jamaica Plain. When not instructing his students, you might find Tyler riding his bicycle around the Greater Boston area, playing the guitar or spending time with his pet rabbit, Paco!