About me · From Ukraine
Alina Zelinska — Ukrainian tutor, translator and poet
I'm a native Ukrainian tutor from Ukraine. Since April 2022 I've taught 3,500+ one-to-one lessons to 500+ students from 30+ countries.
Say hello
A two-minute hello
My story
Why I teach
Language has been my world for as long as I can remember. Ukrainian and Russian are my native languages, I speak English fluently, and I'm learning Spanish and German — so I know what it feels like to be the student.
My lessons are conversations, not lectures. I bring culture, stories, humour and real-life context into every session and build each lesson around you: your pace, your interests, your goals. On italki I've kept a perfect 5.0 rating with 100% attendance.
Outside lessons I write poetry in Ukrainian, Russian and English, translate poems between languages — trying to carry the feeling, not just the meaning — and write songs.
Before teaching, I co-founded an eco-friendly haircare brand, Eco.April.Shampoo, and a craft games platform, CraftGames.ua.
Languages
Languages I speak
- UkrainianNative
- RussianNative
- EnglishFluent
- SpanishLearning
- GermanLearning
Work with me
How I can help
- 01Ukrainian lessonsOne-to-one, from your first words to exam level.
- 02Ukrainian for Russian speakersSwitch from Russian to Ukrainian with a clear plan.
- 03Russian lessonsPractical, conversational Russian with a native speaker.
- 04Translation & writingPoetry and literary translation, song lyrics, bilingual writing.
Student reviews
What students say
I've been taking weekly Ukrainian conversation practice lessons with Alina for several months now and have seen a real improvement in my conversation skills. She clearly takes an interest in her students and is excellent at guiding a conversation to help a student produce output and be creative with the language. Highly recommend!
Alina is very patient and encouraging, and quite flexible in adapting material to the lessons as we go along, and in sensing what would be good exercises for the next lesson. (We are focusing on the cases, several lessons for each case.)
Alina is incredibly patient with newbies (such as myself) and provides a highly welcoming and calm approach to learning Russian. I learn new things every single lesson and I feel very confident in her teachings. She is a highly gifted instructor and I would recommend her to anyone wanting to learn the Russian language.
До зустрічі на уроці.
Let's talk
It starts with a message: tell me about your goals on Instagram, and we'll agree on a time for a trial lesson together.