Job Discussion Forums

[ella]

hello out there. my school just secured an apartment for me, and gave me the address, marked as "beikta." is this the same as besiktas?

if so, how is this area? is it quiet? is it fun? is it close enough to ATA Koleji to walk?


i have been told that besiktas has a great football team. my fiance, who is coming with me, plays division 1 football in morocco. anyone know any contacts for the teams in istanbul? he would love to try to play there.

one last question...i am looking for reasonable turkish classes. any suggestions for places? Thanks to all in advance for any help...

i have really enjoyed reading the responses to my tea and heat post...there is no logic to the 'running air' fear. what were we all doing all of our lives with the fans on full blast on summer nights?? surely we will all perish! smile...

[Mike_2003]

Hi,

It's almost certainly Beşiktaş (Besiktas). Your computer probably doesn't recognise the Turkish characters.

Besiktas is quite a nice area. A lot of students live there, it's not too far from Taksim (the social centre of Istanbul), it has a sea port so you can easily cross to the Asian side, and it does indeed have a large football stadium and team!

Regards,
Mike

[ella]

thanks for the response. that's what i thought. it's great that it is an area full of students...i am very happy about that. and i am sure that my fiance will be excited about living so close to the team that he loves.

thanks again.

[Mike_2003]

Do you know exactly where it is? There is an online street map of Istanbul somewhere. I can dig up the URL if you want to get a better idea of it's location.

[Gomez]

Hi Ella. Besiktas is great fun. It's a bustling part of the city, but in a small way (if that makes sense). Istanbul often seems like several little cities in one. Besiktas is located well, as Mike pointed out. You can get to the Asian side easily and to Taksim and up to the northern areas. It's nice for shopping on the weekends. Clothes are cheap there. But there are no cinemas and only one bar, but you're so close to Taksim that's where you'd go anyway.

Besiktas is Big Time football. You can find them online and find out about contacts.

ATA Koleji is in Besiktas too, so you're close. I hope you enjoy your time in Istanbul.

[dmb]

[Gomez]

Really? I know about the one near the dolmus stop. It's near the Buyuk Carsi mall place. Oh, there's My Rose too, but...enh, never been there. Ok, yeah, there's Tas Bar too. And that place about the Ipek Sucukci. So, that's 4 I guess. Do you know of other ones? And there is a porno cinema, I forgot about that. Good popcorn. Just kidding. I've never had the popcorn. Or have I? Hey, Istanbul can be a lonely city. Ok, that's enough of that. What other bars are there in Besiktas?

[ella]

thank you for all of the responses. here is another question. do any of you know of schools in istanbul which hire non native speakers of english to teach primary school English...or perhaps even better, French at any level? he who will accompany me to turkey will look for work, and it will be wonderful for him to find a teaching job if possible. any ideas?? thanks. if anyone needs anything from morocco...send your requests our way. we are leaving here on august 10. thanks all.

[dmb]

If you turn left at the bottom of Barbaros there is a bar about 100 meters on your left, it used to be really cool but I've heard that it has been refurbished and has lost its charm. So I guess that makes 5 bars. any more?

[patchwork]

hi Ella,

I don't mean to be a downer, but Besiktas is a highly rated football team and it's generally very hard to get a spot on their roster. It's a team that tends to spend millions of Euro's to purchase players, and then sells the best ones for millions more to top European teams. They generally play in the Champions League or Uefa Cup every so often (those are high, high levels).

I wouldn't bank on him getting a deal there, but he can always try out as a walk on. Some european teams have times in the year where they have try outs, generally in the summer. If he goes to their website he can check for such try outs.

Best of luck!

[calsimsek]

Hi Elle,
Forget English. Not to many hire no native speakers. If your friends French is at a native level, he can try out Bati Diller on Bagdat Cad the top high street in the country (the only place to live and work) and ELF in Taksim and Berlitz also in Taksim. His best bet is to try out with the French Center in Taksim. They some times hire native speakers for their clubs and activities.
Good luck,
ps try the Asian side sometimes its alot more of more.

[joshpaul]

Ahoy.
For inexpensive Turkish classes, check out Istanbul University's Turkish for Foreigners classes. They have summer and academic year courses at all levels. Go to Istanbul.edu.tr, click on academics, then departments, then foreign languages. If that doesn't work, try emailing [email protected] or [email protected]
I took their intermediate course in 99. Don't expect to see the communicative approach in action, and I didn't think much of the curriculum then, but the instructors were all super friendly, and the students (precious few Westerners) were motivated and lively in class. Tuition was almost laughably cheap by US standards, around 600 US $ for an academic year, as I recall. Or maybe it was 600 DM. Manageable, at any rate. Classes were offered for around 3 hours a day, morning or afternoon, Monday through Friday. The academic year was Oct - June or so. I was only able to attend 3 days a week, due to scheduling conflicts with my TEFL job, but the instructors were accomodating. As a student there, you will recieve an ID card which makes you eligible for a student-discount AKBIL (An electronic ticket that gets you onto ferries, trains, and buses in Istanbul), and more importantly, 15-cent lunches at the University cafeteria. It's a straight ride from the Besiktas bus station (by the ferry dock) to Beyazit, where the Foreign Language Dept building is located. Takes about 15 minutes.
If you've got money to burn, have a look at TOMER in Taksim.
Best of luck.
ps, don't sweat the lack of bars in Besiktas. Taksim is only 15 minutes' walk, 25 if alchohol-enhanced

[SueH]

[patchwork]

I'm in Canada and I know Besiktas and Fenerbahce!