Merhaba & Introductions

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Olivia Baker on March 17, 2011 at 9:47pm

Merhaba!

 

I'm Olivia (I believe we're friends on facebook) and I'm from Texas. I hope to spend the 2011 summer in Turkey *fingers crossed!* I spent last summer in Japan with AFS.

 

I know someone who went to Turkey last summer on exchange and loved it. I have a friend who is from Syria and I've always loved the warm Mediterranean culture - the food, the people, everything. I find Turkey's history so rich from the great empire it once was to the progressive nation it is now. I also love the language - the way it sounds, the linguistics of it.

 

Everything about Turkey is just perfect and I hope I am given the opportunity to go.

Permalink Reply by Azeezat Adeleke on March 19, 2011 at 11:56am

Selam, Olivia!

I'm with you on Mediterranean culture - it's so different from what I was used to in the U.S., but I totally fell in love with it. The history is also amazing - Turkish civilization goes back SO far. In Ankara, there's an Anatolian Civilization Museum that documents the artifacts and culture for hundreds of years. It's totally fascinating

And hopefully I'll see you in Turkey this summer!

Permalink Reply by Olivia Baker on March 22, 2011 at 11:11am

Definitely! *crosses fingers!*

Permalink Reply by Buket Ertenu on April 6, 2011 at 4:20pm

Dear Olivia,

I'm so glad to read all your posts about my country:)Thanks a lot ,ıf you have another opportunity please come to Izmir for another great experience.We are looking forward to great collaborations and wonderful friends around the world.I'm looking forward to all our team members' and friends' visit to TURKEY:))

Kind regards,

Buket.

Permalink Reply by Eileen McGivney on March 18, 2011 at 9:50am

Merhaba!

I'm Eileen, from Cambridge, MA. My connection to Turkey is that I am moving there in August and will be there for two years. I can't wait! For a while my boyfriend and I (Patrick Morse, who is on here too) have talked about moving abroad for a while, but we were mostly looking at Europe. Just when we had given up on the dream because of the job search, Pat was offered a job teaching at the TEVITOL school in Gebze. So there we go! I'm applying to Masters programs at universities, and we will both be living on the campus.

I am so excited for this adventure, and I would love to hear all your stories about Turkey, especially your favorite things to do and places to go!

Permalink Reply by Azeezat Adeleke on March 19, 2011 at 4:38pm

Hi Eileen!

It's harika (great) that you're moving to Turkey! I can definitely say that you'll have the time of your life. What do you plan on studying while you're there? Do you have any experience with the language?

 

The number one piece of advice I would give is EXPLORE. Some of the coolest places I went to last summer were found by my friends and I when we allowed ourselves just to get lost in the city. Go down unfamiliar streets, check out out of the way shops and cafes. You won't regret it. The thread for NSLI-Y Turkey Summer has a lot of info and photos from previous returnees. It's directed more toward exchange students, but you might find many of the responses interesting.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away!

Permalink Reply by Eileen McGivney on March 19, 2011 at 5:12pm

Hi Azeezat!

 

Unfortunately I have almost no experience with Turkish... But we are getting Rosetta Stone, I think, so hopefully we can learn a little more between now and August. I do know a little about pronunciation, and it is so great that it's totally phonetic. As for school, I'm applying to Masters programs for Political Science, which I think will be fascinating to learn about in Turkey, a totally unique political perspective. I'm so excited that there are a lot of English language programs so I can study there.

 

How about yourself? What did you study when you were in Turkey? How did you like the courses? Do you have any advice about applying to schools?

So good to connect with you!

Permalink Reply by Azeezat Adeleke on March 19, 2011 at 8:27pm

That's the great thing about Turkish - once you know how the individual letters are pronounced, it's very easy to read aloud. And Turkish people are almost always eager to help foreigners who are trying to speak Turkish with them. I went to language school at TOMER in Ankara, so I just learned the language. If you want lessons to supplement Rosetta Stone, I'd definitely recommend TOMER, mostly because the teacher I had there was absolutely amazing. I'm sorry that I don't have any advice on applying to Turkish universities - I don't know very much about them. If you have specific questions, I can get in touch with my former host sister to see if she has any suggestions.

Permalink Reply by Saad memon on March 22, 2011 at 6:00pm

I purchased the Turkish Rosetta Stone program, and I think it's great. As soon as you start the program, you become insanely addicted to it. There are certain parts that I get stuck on because of the pronunciation, but that only helps me get better. You'll really enjoy the program. The greatest thing about it is that its incredibly easy and fun, even for a beginner like me.

Permalink Reply by Azeezat Adeleke on March 22, 2011 at 10:36pm

It's great that you're already using Rosetta Stone. You're definitely in better shape than I was at this time last year, haha. One of the girls who went least year used RS before the trip and her language skills were way ahead of everyone else's. I used livemocha.com to prep last year and it was relatively helpful.

Permalink Reply by Buket Ertenu on April 6, 2011 at 3:56pm

Hi Eileen,

Congratulations:)I think Turkey will be a great experience for you.I live in Izmir and I am a teacher at a very popular high school in Izmir.If you plan to come to Izmir,which is a must I think,you will surely welcome here.My friends ,my students,my family and I will be honoured to welcome you and Patrick here.I have been doing iEARN projects in my school and in January we hosted our Taiwanese friends in our houses :)Please contact with us ıf you need any kind of help:)In my school we have been doing YIEP project with the support of the US Embassy for three years.

Kind regards,

Buket.

Permalink Reply by Eileen McGivney on April 16, 2011 at 12:56pm

Merhaba Buket!

 

Thank you!! We will definitely take you up on your offer. I don't know anything about Izmir yet, but from photos it looks beautiful. I'm so excited to explore all of Turkey's coasts! Pat will be teaching, and we will be living, at TEVITOL school. Since you're a high school teacher, you're probably familiar with it. We're absolutely pumped about it and can't wait to get over there!! We're trying to decide what to do for our first vacation- possibly Italy and Croatia, but maybe just traveling along the Aegean or Mediterranean coast in Turkey instead. If you have suggestions I would love to hear them.

Looking forward to meeting you in the not-so-distant future!

Eileen

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