Ebru Sarıkaya
About

Teaching is my passion

Turkish and Italian Teacher (L2/LS) · Freelance Literary Translator

My name is Ebru Sarıkaya, a native Turkish speaker and naturalized Italian citizen. For more than 15 years I have taught Turkish and Italian to foreign learners and worked as an editorial translator between Italian and Turkish.

Sharing what I love — my passion for teaching and for the world of literature — has always been the guiding thread of my life.

Ebru Sarıkaya

Two guiding threads

Literature

because good books, without us even realizing it, guide us in our inner world for a long and profound cultural-psychological journey and make us interpret the life from our own (and unique) point of view.

Teaching

because I believe that teaching is not only a profession but a vocation which involves lifelong learning as life itself requires it, and it takes its cue from different humanities such as psychology, anthropology and sociology – in addition to pedagogy.

My Story

A Little More About Me

2006-10

After graduating from high school with a focus on languages, majoring in English, in 2010 I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Italian Language and Literature from the Istanbul University, during which I obtained two scholarships for an Italian language and culture course at the University for Foreigners of Perugia and for the Erasmus program at the University for Foreigners of Siena.

After also earning a Pedagogical Training certificate from Istanbul University, I began teaching Italian at the Kadıköy Municipality in Istanbul.

2011–14

That same year, after graduating, I was hired by a company based in Trieste, the city where I later settled permanently.

After this brief experience, I returned to my main profession, which is also my childhood dream, with even more enthusiasm and I started my freelance career as a teacher of Turkish and Italian for foreigners.

In the meantime I got teaching certificates in teaching Italian and Turkish to foreigners, including “The Masterclass in Italian Didactics for Non-literate Students in L1” at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and “The Certificate Programme of Turkish Language Teaching as Foreign Language” at the Istanbul University.

2015

I obtained the Certificate of Knowledge of the Italian Language Level C2 – CELI 5, issued by the University for Foreigners of Perugia.

2016

I graduated with a master’s degree in Italian Philology and Literature with 110 cum laude from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where I also obtained the Certification in Didactics of Italian to Foreigners (CEDILS).

During my master’s degree my exciting journey into the world of Italian literature was deepened and I began to conduct independent research, especially in the field of Italian literature of the twentieth century.

2018

In conjunction with the teaching activities which ı carry out both online and in presence, driven by a passion for literature, I became interested in editorial translations from Italian to Turkish and vice versa for Turkish and Italian publishers.

Today

I teach Turkish and Italian at training centers, language schools, universities, businesses, and to private students.

I also create and host a podcast for Turkish language learners on Spotify and Apple Podcasts: “Turkish Podcast with Ebru,” and I develop teaching materials.

Research & Publications

Alongside teaching, I carry out independent research on 20th-century Italian literature. Some recent studies include:

An Analytical Study on Elsa Morante’s Concept of Literature
May 2022
Una vita avvolta nelle parole: un breve profilo di Elsa Morante
Feb 2022
L’approccio psicoanalitico alla letteratura in Italia: il contributo di Trieste
Oct 2021
Let's Study Together

Lessons, conversation practice, or language mentoring — drop me a line.

Contact me