Job Discussion Forums

[trillian584]

hey-

I've recently been offered a job in Istanbul and am set to fly out and start within the next two months. I've never been to Turkey before and this is my first teaching job. Is there anything you wish you knew/brought with you/had prepared before you got there? I'm talking anything from general pointers on life, living, and getting around to specific advice about teaching. I'm starting the daunting process of figuring out everything I need to do before heading out.

[coffeespoonman]

Congratulations!

Things I wish I had brought? Not really. Everything's available here, with the exception of certain food products. And technology always costs an arm and a leg more here. I guess if you've been thinking about getting a new camera or something, buy it before you come.

Wish I had known? Yeah.

About living here:

1. NEVER agree to buy / bite into / order ANYTHING until you learn the price. Prices are usually not marked here, and if you don't ask beforehand, it will likely be twice what you were willing to pay.

2. Make sure to arrange accomodation near your school. For my first two months here, I lived in Taksim and worked in Kadikoy. And that was before the metrobus or the Kabataş funicular! That means nothing to you now, but it will. *shudder*

3. Don't expect things to be like they were back home. I moved here from Prague, which is the most beautful city in the world, full of interesting things to do day and night, and connected with a marvelous and cheap public transportation system. I think the reason I really couldn't adjust to Istanbul at first was that I just kept being disappointed that it wasn't Prague.

4. Learn the language. This is something I did and 95% of teachers don't do, and it REALLY does enhance your stay. I'm not just talking about being able to order food. Once you know the language fairly well, you'll be able to appreciate the music and literature, you'll be able to make small talk in bars and on the street, and perhaps most importantly, you'll be able to read all the signs and advertisments around you. I think people underestimate this. Being able to read the billboards, newspaper headlines, signs, etc. goes a long way towards making you feel at home and in control of your surroundings.

5. I don't know your school, but DON'T expect them to help you very much in terms of paperwork. You probably won't get a work permit, and maybe not even a residence permit. If you don't get a residence permit, you'll have to leave the country every 90 days. If this is the case, go to Bulgaria (it's much cheaper) instead of Greece. Be careful about your dates. It's 90 days, not necessarily 3 months, and even overstaying by one day can get you banned from the country.

About teaching:

1. Learning the grammar does not equal learning a language. Perhaps that's obvious to you, but my first foreign language was Latin. You don't speak Latin. You don't write Latin. You learn grammar and vocabulary and translate. But that doesn't work with a living language.

2. Don't lecture. Lecturing works for history, but not language learning. Keep them busy with other things - group work, worksheets, role plays, activities of any sort. They don't want a lecture, and they will NOT take notes.

3. Expect cheating. I don't know where you're going to teach, but this problem is pretty much the same everywhere. Turkey comes from a very different education system - one where memorization is the ONLY learning strategy, and because you're never expected to synthesize the information you learn, KNOWING it isn't at all important, only being able to reproduce it. So, students cheat. They'll look at others' papers during quizzes, call our answers, plagiarize essays, copy homework... And punishment doesn't work because they really don't think they're doing anything wrong. So, you need to be vigilant in class and design homework activities that require personalized input (i.e. NOT "write about the history of Istanbul", INSTEAD "write about the history of your family")

4. Don't overplan. You should (almost) never walk into class with no idea about what you're going to do, but by the same token, don't come in with a rigid lesson plan. Relax, and be willing to change your activites/lesson aims depending on the class.

5. Don't just go through the book. There's nothing more boring than saying "open your books to page 15. Do exericse 1. Finished? Ok, exercise 2..." This might be necessary sometimes, but it should be avoided when possible.


Hope that helps. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM. And again, congratulations!

[Teflon Don]

I arrıved ın Istanbul yesterday, so I can only really add my own perspectıve on arrıvıng.

The maın thıng I am pleased I dıd before comıng was read page upon page on here, learn all about the practıcalıtıes, ın partıcular the transport system, and put some effort ınto learnıng survıval Turkısh.

The transport system seems easy to use so far (get an akbıl and get ıt charged up).

As for the language, I thought I had done quıte well wıth the lıttle I had learned before I set off, but now I thınk I wıll have to do a lot more. I have encountered no problems due to language, but I can see how ıt wıll go a long way.

It has taken me just one day to fınd accommodatıon that I am happy enough wıth for now, but I can totally understand what coffeespoonman means by gettıng accommodatıon near to work.

I have got somewhere ın Taksım, but I can ımagıne I wıll move ıf I fınd a job too far away. I won,t be actıvely lookıng for a job for my fırst week here though, I want to get my bearıngs fırst.

My next thıng to learn wıll be where the apostrophe and normal ı are on a Turkısh keyboard!!

Good luck on your move, I am sure ıt wıll go well. And as for my fırst ımpressıons of the cıty - ıt ıs certaınly worth comıng.

[coffeespoonman]

' - SHIFT and 2

i - where the apostrophe should be - right of the ;

[Teflon Don]

Thanks for that coffeespoonman, , it's most helpful.

(Actually I'm cheating, I have my laptop and connection now, was just on an internet cafe computer when I posted above, that said, thanks).

Any tips on where's best to get a haircut (preferably close to Taksim) would also be much appreciated, .

[coffeespoonman]

Dunno - look in the side streets. Shouldn't be more than 5 TL. Used to get mine cut in Kadık�y back in the day for 2. Can't have changed too much. The word for hair is 'sa�', by the way. And that should come with a shave and a setting of your ears on fire!

[Teflon Don]

Yes I've read about the ear burning, can't say I'm thoroughly looking forward to that part!

Thanks for the help,