Job Discussion Forums

ianprz · Joined: 12 Jun 2005 Posts: 3

Hey guys and gals,

Does anyone know of a good Turkish course in Istanbul? About how much do they run?

My Turkish is woeful, and I need a crash course.

Thanks.

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

Try the Tomer Institute of Languages. They have at least a couple of branches in Istanbul.

The normal schedule is 4 hours a day (usually from 9am-1pm) with a mix of grammar and conversation.

There is daily homework, and the pace is quite intense. At the end of each monthly course (80 hours) - you take an exam, covering the course. If you pass and wish to continue, you go on to level two, etc...

Most students who study in Tomer become fluent in the language after 8 courses (or 8 months of fulltime study). Ghost studied at Tomer Ankara, and Tomer Antalya, and did Levels One and Two, and came out with decent conversational and reading skills, and was well ahead of the vast majority of EFL Teachers (the vast majority of whom are not real teachers, but simply native speakers) who had been living in Turkey for years, but had not taken the course.

Tomer is good value for money. And go to the school direct, do not pay through an Educational Agent.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

Many TEFL teachers (the vast majority of whom are not real teachers, but native speakers) just don`t have the time and money to do a course.

Golightly · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:25 pm Post subject:

alternatively, be open-minded, don't worry about mistakes, observe those around you and teach yourself. That's what I did. Turkish is not a particularly difficult language, in my opinion, certainly not at a conversational level, or to read a newspaper. It's when you get into the realms of officialdom that it becomes more obscure. Certainly, TOMER will give you an extremely good grounding in grammar (sorry about the alliteration), but it's not a particularly communicative technique, and you may find it a put off because of this. To be fair, they have improved quite a lot, but they still have a way to go. The other problem with TOMER is that it deals with 'proper' Turkish, and can leave people sounding rather snooty. Ghost will probably disagree with me: we have had a thread on this subject before, which covers the main arguments.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Golightly · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:36 am Post subject:

Golightly · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:40 am Post subject:

On a more serious note, I didn't find the agglutination (agglomeration also?) much of an issue, because it's all very logical. The hardest bit is the reversing (in relation to English at least) of sentence structures, especially in very long sentences.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I always found Turkish easier whilst drunk Confused

Without alcohol I probably would have never learned. Lower that effective filter.

Golightly · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 10:47 am Post subject:

all languages are easier whilst one is drunk. Everyone speaks lingua boozica.

saloma · Joined: 07 Jul 2005 Posts: 211

I once taught a group of Mexican students who carried out experiments on their teachers. They wrote one week's assignment at home sober, and the next week's assignment in the pub over a few beers.

There were 3 teachers teaching 3 classes at their level. We all awarded the pub papers better grades.

The student's were thrilled and vowed to write all their papers in the pub. Not only did they complete their homework, (SHOCK!) their English improved at a faster rate than their classmates - (namely the study-till-you-drop Asians!)

What they didn't know was that the first assignment was marked at home when the teachers were sober, and the second assignment was marked at a pub after a few beers....

Golightly · Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:16 am Post subject:

logical that is.

Golightly · Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:17 am Post subject:

a drunk yoda being more useful may be.