Naoko Matsuo

Naoko Matsuo started her career as a language teacher in Japan. She is passionate about sharing the joy of encountering a new world and communicating in a language other than their own with her students, which led her to pursue master’s degree in Teaching English To Speakers of Other Languages in the US. After obtaining the degree, she started to teach her native language, Japanese, in the US. She has taught at the Middlebury Institute, the Institute’s Summer Intensive Language Program, University of California Santa Cruz, Monterey Peninsula College, and Robert Louis Stevenson School. Her teaching experiences include instructing university undergraduate and graduate students, community college students, high school students, corporate clients, ranging all levels from elementary to superior, and from young age to adults. 

“Learning a language and communicating in the target language develops cultural humility,” says Matsuo. “as you learn to face unknowns with non-judgmental attitude, cultivate openness and push your boundaries to go beyond your comfort zone, and in the process, truly find who you are. I am very fortunate to be able to meet and learn from many who choose to come to MIIS that shares the same passion and belief that communicating in a language other than your own opens up your world and makes your lives so much richer.”