Job Discussion Forums

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

OK let me clarify a bit. Not speaking the language does not in itself mean disrespect for the culture, but it does mean that the person has chosen to isolate him/herself by not TRYING to learn it. It means s/he is not trying to truly communicate with the local people beyond tarzanca and/or gestures. To me, that shows a lack of respect (is that gentler than disresepct?).

MY Turkish is OK but as a language teacher I am quite aware of the lacks in it. However, I am confident that I can carry my part of most conversations and I am not at the mercy of someone to try to translate for me. That becomes a burden to that person, also. It also encourages laziness, as if someone is translating, I don't listen to the original conversation- I wait until it has been translated for me. I have bought a house and spent 2 1/2 yrs in court with my Turkish, and if I don't understand something right off I am able to get someone to explain it a little more clearly, in Turkish.

Again, as language teachers, we need to walk our talk. How can we convince our students that they can learn English in Turkey when we are not learning Turkish in Turkey?

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

Speaking some of the language is a form of credibility also. It shows the students that you are taking the country and the language seriously, and while it is true that ghost left Turkey earlier than anticipated (the original plan had been to stay for one year....ghost left after 6 months)....no once could accuse the poor canuck in at least trying his best to accommodate to the country and the culture....and this included coming to Turkey in June to take a course in Tomer/Univ. of Ankara, and then doing course 2 at Tomer/Antalya branch.....

Ghost left because the two places he worked in were not a good fit, and at his age, he was not prepared to waste time....a luxury that some younger teachers might have been able to afford. Also, ghost is not the kind of individual to shut his mouth and work in terrible conditions just for sake of a paycheque. And unfortunately, he witnessed many teachers in Turkey willing to do just that....sad.

Teaching takes a dual responsibility between learner (receiver) and teacher (the one giving). If the captive audience is not interested in learning, as was the case, then there is very little the teacher can do to swing the situation around, and teachers like Yaramaz admit, without reluctance, that they "endured" conditions teaching captive/disruptive audiences for lengthy periods of time.

It all depends on what you accept....but this was not on for ghost....life is too short...and working in a farcical situation such as the one at the Private school would have given ghost far more negatives than positives....

Back to the Turkish language. M.F. has said it all, and one can only agree that trying to learn Turkish shows that the foreigner is willing to go the extra mile to integrate into the new culture...and that surely is laudable and creditable.

demet · Joined: 26 Jan 2005 Posts: 13

hi, I was checking out the topic and thought I would reply. English is my native language. I went to Istanbul for my highschool education. Within three years ( I went to a public school) I became quite fluent. Reading books ( the most basic) really helped my vocabulary, reading, and writing sills. As far as speaking.... social life came in handy Smile

Although I do have an accent.... the guys find it especially cute in Istanbul. I wish everyone the bets of luck becuase there are certainly a couple of tongue twister words in th Turkish langauge.

whynotme · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 728 Location: istanbul

i have friends who stayed here for so long and found Turkish so hard to learn...i can easily understand it because most of them are English Teachers and people want to speak English with them which makes their learning longer and painful....i do no think it is related to the idea of respect to the other people, but someone coming here to work and live should know
1.Istanbul is not the capital of Turkey and
2.most people in the country are muslim...
3.also it snows in Turkey...
i was asked many times whether Istanbul or Bodrum is the capital? or does it ever snow in Turkey kind of questions...i think not trying to learn the culture and some of the realities of the country you are living or working is called disrespect.....

p.s. language is mainly learnt to communicate;so a yabancı trying to learn my language means he/she is trying to communicate with me or get to know me and my culture more and i respect him/her more.