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Diyarbakir

 
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Adela



Joined: 30 Jul 2006
Posts: 40

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:57 pm    Post subject: Diyarbakir Reply with quote

Can anyone comment on good schools in Diyarbakir? I thought I saw an ad in which the school offered accommodation and complete help with the visa process.
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delal



Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Posts: 251
Location: N Turkey

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:44 pm    Post subject: previous post Reply with quote

There have been posts on this forum about a school in Diyarbakir-you may have to go back a few pages. Might be the same one. There have also been posts about Diyarbakir and that area in general
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jamessmart50



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 91
Location: Istanbul, Turkey

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If this is the Akademi school of English in Diyarbakir you're referring to, do not, under any circumstances, work there. Pm me if you want any details.

This is the only school that takes foreign teachers, at least it was when I was there a few years ago.
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Adela



Joined: 30 Jul 2006
Posts: 40

PostPosted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:02 pm    Post subject: akademi in Diyabakir Reply with quote

Thanks for your reply. Yes, if you could send me your comments about your experiences with this school in Diyabakir, I would appreciate it.
The post I saw disappeared, I had it bookmarked but it was gone when I went back.
thanks again.
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adventuramust



Joined: 14 Apr 2005
Posts: 126

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:03 am    Post subject: Academy of School English, Diyarbair Reply with quote

Is there any current information on this location and/or school. I don't like, but have dealt with plenty of staring so that wouldn't be an issue. With airfare and accommodations included, what are the negatives?

It is also the only place that seem to be able to offer something concrete instead of wanting me to come to Turkey first.
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sixthchild



Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 298
Location: East of Eden

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are not aware, then you should at least consider the fact that you are very much in the heart of Kurdish speaking Turks or "turds". They are a friendly bunch as long as you don't try to teach them or their kids something that smacks of 21st century dogma like a foreign language. Certain armed groups whose name I do not need to mention on a family forum have been known to have captured teachers.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The only place in Turkey which I detested. A sad, dirty place, palpable tension on the streets, replete with stone-throwing urchins. Reminiscent of Belfast in the 1970s, Grozni not so long ago, and Slough today, though without the charm!

That was for a holiday, though. But I'd imagine living and working there would be even more unpleasant.
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Qaaolchoura



Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 539
Location: 21 miles from the Syrian border

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I sense some serious anti-Kurdish sentiment, sixthchild. Of course I've been worrying about picking up the anti-Arabism so common in my part of Turkey, it's easy to believe things if you hear them often enough.

I haven't been to Diyarbakir yet, but Turks will tell you either that it's very beautiful, or monstrously ugly. Beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that. Keep in mind though that Diyarbakir is a very poor city. Together with Urfa (another Kurdish city), it's the only mid-sized city that has been largely left out of the economic boom that Anatolia has been seeing under Erdoğan.

I will say that I'm in a part of Turkey with a lot of Kurds, and perhaps because they speak two languages already, they seem to be, on average better students than monolingual Turks. They're also enthusiastic and motivated, though they don't really like to talk about the fact that they're Kurdish, given the *ahem* strong anti-Kurdish bias in most of Turkey. And Kurds are certainly not opposed to English. Like the Catalans, many better educated Kurds prefer it to the language of the "oppressor" (Turkish in Turkey, Arabic in Iraq).

As for the PKK, yes, they're horrible people who've set back Kurdish rights decades and a terrorist group filled with murdering thugs to boot, but I wouldn't be worried about them. As a rule, the PKK only targets the Turkish military and police (which in a country with conscription is basically the same as targeting only male civilians, but still doesn't affect you). What you'll find in the Southeast is that, as in the United States with the TSA, it's the security forces trying to stop the bad guys, rather than the PKK themselves, which make life difficult. In particular, travel times between cities in the Kurdish area can be significantly extended by checkpoints.

I'm going to guess that James complaints had to do specifically with the school. If he merely objected to Diyarbakir, he would have said so on the board, but his request that you PM him indicates that he fears the school reads the board, and would identify him from the details. So I'd suggest that you PM him, if you want to know what he objects to about the school.

~Q
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delal



Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Posts: 251
Location: N Turkey

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have to agree with Sashadroogie
The Belfast comparıson ıs more than faır. My mum's Northern Irısh and I spend all my chıldhood school holıdays ın NI (bombıngs,heavy mılıtary presence tensıon and all)
I've travelled around the east of Turkey a fair amount (and have never had a problem, quıte the opposıte), but I certaınly wouldn't recommend Dıyarbakır as a place to start out ın. Added to the whole polıtıcal scene and socıal structure/problems, there's just too much tensıon, vergıng on outrıght aggressıon, on the streets.
As for the Akademı school, I actually had an ıntervıew there and had a very bad feelıng about the place. Of course the owner may have changed-can't remember hıs name-but I certaınly dıdn't trust hım.
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cartago



Joined: 19 Oct 2005
Posts: 283
Location: Iraq

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've travelled to Diyarbakir a few times but never stayed for any length of time. I didn't think it was all that bad. Perhaps the biggest city walls I've ever seen.

Teachers and schools have been targeted by terrorists but I think it's only state schools, definitely not a language school or foreign teachers.
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sixthchild



Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 298
Location: East of Eden

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 9:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you for your perspective Q, very refreshing and as you are very much on the doorstep so to speak, probably a lot more accurate. My own insight comes from those that I have met who were from that region, never having actually set foot in that area, not sure if it would be a good idea to do that. I have no doubt in my mind that it would be an interesting place to visit, but then so is Istanbul and I can only take 3-4 days of that. Perhaps I am spoilt in Izmir, the city of the elite and so anti AK party and the PKK, my judgement is clouded by what you see and hear on the streets daily. Maybe one day, when I am mad or brave enough I may visit there, but to live and work, well thats a different proposition altogether.
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cartago



Joined: 19 Oct 2005
Posts: 283
Location: Iraq

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The East is a great place to visit and really not so dangerous. Very different from the West, it's the Middle East, not Europe. The only place I think would be best to avoid is Hakkari. Maybe Cizre and Şırnak. I've travelled through those places but never really stayed there, anyway I don't think there's much at all to see there. You certainly hear a lot of bad things in the news but tourists/expats are not targeted and are rarely in a place you would be likely to go. I've mostly lived in the East in Turkey and the main sign of conflict I saw were a greater military and police presence with tanks and armored vehicles.

Mardin is a fascinating place to visit, there isn't lots to see in Hasankeyf but it's very atmospheric. The area around Lake Van is really beautiful and has some really interesting sites. Really great places to visit in the East.
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jamessmart50



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 91
Location: Istanbul, Turkey

PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice to see the Diyarbakır thread reemerge. Actually I worked at Akademi school about six or seven years ago. The city was fine, to be honest, friendly people and a cultural experience, some amazing history, although there wasn't much to do in terms of entertainment. It might be different now, from what I hear the city is a sort of eastern trading centre and there are some big fancy hotels and suchlike. I found it to be extremely safe, please don't listen to all the Kurd-bashing. Diyarbakir is definitely worth visiting anyway, I had some really interesting times there, but I'd say for most people a year would be much too long.

The school on the other hand is pretty much a two-man show, that's the director, and the foreign teacher. It was a dystopian sort of place, I had to work 6 or 7 days a week making spectacularly detailed lesson plans, tests, worksheets, I had to mark all the students' workbooks, long one-to-one meetings and a very negative working environment. The director had a very flexible attitude towards telling the truth, I never got the hours I expected, and to this day he still has my celta and university original certificates. Actually, there is so much more I could tell you about this director, honestly one day I will write a book about it that nobody will believe because seriously, the guy is just ridiculous.

Good luck!
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sixthchild



Joined: 18 Apr 2012
Posts: 298
Location: East of Eden

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 8:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm pretty sure most of us have a book inside us just bursting to be revealed to the world, suddenly there will be a deluge of Brit and American wanna be authors putting out their memoirs as a efl teacher in some god forsaken place such as Turkey. Is the world ready for it, what will it do for the image of this place overseas? Could the title "I was an efl teacher in Turkey" be the new "Midnight Express"?
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