Teacher: Bita Bazooyar
My name is Bita and I am the teacher for Level 2. I’ve been teaching German to all
age groups in Iran, Germany and the US for almost 15 years (both online and in
person classes).
Currently I work on my dissertation in linguistics and work part-time as a teacher
and certified examiner at Goethe Institut and as a teacher at German School of
San Francisco. I really enjoy working with children. They make the world a happy
place and I love to see how they make progress. I also learn a lot from them.
In my free time I do oil painting, yoga or play piano and tennis. I enjoy reading
and being in nature.
TA: Marta
Having been born to Polish parents in Germany, I developed a desire to learn German at an early age. My brother and I were both born in Germany after my parents immigrated from Poland. At home, we spoke Polish and I was just beginning to pick up some German at the age of 3 when we moved to the U.S. To this day, I so vividly recall starting first grade and not speaking a word of English. It was challenging but as a child, one absorbs a language much quicker and within literally months, I was fluent in English.
At the age of 14, the opportunity to take German finally arose when I entered high school. I took German all throughout high school and travelled to Germany on a few exchanges. To this day, one of the highlights of my life was the 1-month long trip to Germany that I won after successfully taking the AATG test and conversing with an AATG representative over the phone. As I proceeded to the University of Puget Sound in Washington, I selected an interdisciplinary major (Foreign Language International Affairs) of which German was a great part. Every week, I would attend the German Conversation Hours that the language program organized. In my junior year, I spent a year in Passau, Germany immersing myself in the language and culture. I embarked on this journey somewhat apprehensive but truly, this was one of the most phenomenal experiences of my life and I would greatly encourage anybody and everybody to undertake it if possible.
My passion for all things German led me to consequently pursue a Master’s in International Policy Studies where the vast majority of my research revolved around Germany. After completing my degree, getting married, and moving to the East Bay so that my husband could pursue his PhD in Nuclear Engineering, I was ecstatic to discover the German School where I have been teaching since the Fall of 2007.