WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT interviews Rumi Forum

Excerpt from full article that explores the new and growing language courses in Washington DC including our Turkish language classes

...."Basically we recognized a demand, and we thought with our background and the fact this organization was founded by Turkish Americans, we could play a part in bringing that to the Washington, D.C., area," Celik explained. "Turkey is on the rise in terms of global attention so a lot of people are wanting to improve their understanding of Turkey. And the best way to do that is through Turkish language and culture."

So far, around 40 to 50 students have completed the intensive program, which includes eight four-hour classes per month, over a two-month span. Currently, 20 students are enrolled in classes held at the Rumi Forum offices in downtown D.C.

Though it's still small, with a single teacher, Celik is optimistic that more people will be attracted to the classes once word gets out. He points out that learning Turkish at the Rumi Forum focuses on more than just the language — it teaches about traditions, norms, etiquette and even food.

"I think they really appreciate that — it's more than just pen and paper classroom. We really do encourage students to pick up on all aspects of Turkish culture as that's what will help them," Celik said, noting the forum recently organized a Turkish dinner for its students.

SOURCE:   www.washdiplomat.com

Preparing yourself for success in language learning - Learning styles: a major key to learning

Success in learning a new language has to be carefully thought out and planned.


If you dive into it without thinking about it, your language learning endeavor has a strong possibility of falling to the wayside to join the ranks of started diets and paid-for gym memberships. An often overlooked, yet vital aspect, of success in learning new information is understanding one’s personal learning style.

Learning styles (sometimes also called strategies) refer to the way an individual processes new information. There is no one-size-fits-all way of learning a language. Most of us utilize several learning strategies when we encounter new information.

Volumes have been written about this subject, but for our purposes, we’ll look at some of the key aspects. As you read about the learning styles and strategies mentioned here, take a moment to think back about the things you have learned over your lifetime. Try to remember how you best processed the information. Then imagine you are about to learn something new and difficult and slowly mull over each of the following learning styles -- which one describes you? Note your response and refer to it in the subsequent articles in this series about learning languages.

The five dimensions of learning styles we will consider for this article are:

1. Perceptual – how the brain receives information

2. Processing – how the brain processes information

3. Environmental – how the surroundings affect learning

4. Physical – how the body feels while learning

5. Emotional – how the mind feels while learning

The perceptual dimensions of learning are visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile. We generally use all of them when we are learning something new, but most adult learners have a favorite.

Visual learners need to see information before they can remember it. They notice visual details and can easily discriminate between words that look alike (yine/yeni). A visual learner usually says, “I need to see it before I can remember it.” or “Can you write that down for me?” If you are a visual learner, you may want to make sure you carry a pad and paper around with you at all times. Or you may want to take pictures of the language you see around you.

Auditory learners recall information much better after they have listened to it a few times. They can easily discriminate between words that sound similar (hesap/kesap). An auditory learner might record lectures and listen to them again on an mp3 player to better understand new information. If you find you recall information better after listening to it, consider buying a recording device much like journalists use for recording interviews. They can be found at Teknosa for about TL 100. You may also do better with an auditory method of learning such as the Pimsleur method.

Kinesthetic and tactile learners usually need to write down what they are learning a few times before it sticks in their mind. They also like to have physical contact with the information. Kinesthetic/tactile learners usually say, “I have to write it down before I can remember it.” They also do very well with flash cards, which they make themselves, and board games.

Processing dimensions of learning refer to left/right brain orientation. While many of us live somewhere in the middle, for learning new and difficult information we tend to favor one side over the other.

Left-brained learners love details. They want to know the rules, spelling and sounds. They love lists of words and conjugations. They prefer to study difficult words before reading a text and like to continuously monitor their progress. Left-brained learners also tend to want to know the methodology of a technique or approach for a learning task before undertaking it.

Right-brained learners tend to be spontaneous and creative; they are happy to dive right into a learning activity and get to the details later. They are comfortable with learning whole phrases such as “yoldayım” (I’m on my way) without being bothered with the grammatical rules that make up the utterance. Right-brained learners also do well with learning through songs and poems.

Environmental dimensions pertain to the set up of the learning environment in terms of lighting, sound, temperature and furnishings that ideally should match your unique learning style. Some people like a little background music when they study, for example, while others need absolute silence.

Physical dimensions refer to when and how a person best processes information. For example, you may be a morning person and therefore would be better studying in the morning. Additionally, some people like to sit in a soft comfy chair to study, while others need to sit at a desk with a straight-back chair. Also, a restless person might want to build in frequent breaks in the study process.

Emotional dimensions refer to each learner’s motivation. How self-motivated a person is can play a large role in the final outcome of learning a new language. If you think of learning Turkish as a chore or an impossible task, your brain will give you fight or flight chemicals. This may cause you to try to fight through the learning or to find ways to avoid studying Turkish. In either case, you will not achieve optimal learning. However, if you approach learning a new language as fun or interesting, you will receive the brain chemistry to match those thoughts – your brain will be fully engaged.

The next article in this series will be about how you can apply your personal learning styles to creating a study space and a practical schedule.


SOURCE: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-238932-preparing-yourself-for-success-in-language-learning---learning-styles-a-major-key-to-learning.html

Living in a Turkey less travelled

Ph.D. student Bridget Purcell has a unique expat experience living in Turkey’s Southeast. Here to research modern pilgrimage and faith tourism, Purcell talks about her expectations about Turkey before coming here and life in Urfa

Even though she wouldn’t describe herself as adventurous, Bridget Purcell, a 26-year-old Ph.D. student from the US, is as intrepid as they come. Turkey wasn’t her original destination, however, and she tells us about how she’s come to research modern pilgrimage in Şanlıurfa and also shares her experiences of living in the Southeast of Turkey as a foreign woman.




A roundabout route here

Bridget was living in Damascus when she first discovered Turkey. “That was in the summer of 2008, and I’d been planning to do fieldwork in Syria,” she tells us. “One weekend I crossed the Hatay border with a couple of friends and was instantly drawn to that region, with its mosaic of sociolinguistic and religious communities. I decided pretty quickly to learn Turkish and move my research site here.



“I first chose Antakya; that was a pragmatic choice because I could speak Arabic while learning Turkish. There, I stayed at an interfaith guesthouse for pilgrims run by a German nun called Barbara. My conversations with her and with pilgrims passing through -- many were on the way to Jerusalem -- inspired me to study pilgrimage in Turkey. Because I was more interested in Islam than Christianity, I came east to Urfa [Şanlıurfa] to study its Abrahamic holy sites. At that point I noticed the rapid rise of faith tourism as a development strategy.”



Before coming to Turkey, she had few strong or well-defined expectations. “In general I think Americans don’t really know what to think of Turkey,” she points out. “For them it’s part of the ‘Middle East,’ but -- unlike Syria or Egypt -- it seems to partly escape our media-constructed image of the region. For instance, nobody back home asks me about ‘terrorism,’ which was a constant refrain when I was in Syria. Most of the expectations and stereotypes I’ve encountered have been regional stereotypes within Turkey.”



But isn’t it difficult dividing time between the US and Turkey?



“Yes, partly because I’m just not very intrepid as a traveler,” she admits, adding, “In fact, part of what drew me to the topic of travel and pilgrimage was a desire to know how these solitary ‘gezginler’ do it.”


Ins and outs of researching modern pilgrimage

Urfa, as we all know, is famous for being the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham. What we may not realize, however, is that its holy sites -- mosques, gravesites and sacred carp pools -- are as popular today among pilgrims as they have ever been. For her Ph.D. in anthropology at Princeton, Bridget is studying how pilgrimage is being taken up and reframed in contemporary Urfa as “faith tourism,” as part of a state-backed cultural development initiative in the region.



“I’m focusing largely on emerging tourism schemes in Urfa that bring together various interests, such as state representatives, local religious figures and international participants, and asking how they mobilize Urfa’s history and material environment,” Bridget points out, and continues: “The tourism sector in Urfa is really developing: mosques and traditional houses are being restored, there are inter-faith and inter-cultural festivals, and there’s also a burgeoning infrastructure for faith tourism. Yet while there’s a steady stream of tourists, Urfa seems to be expecting a flood: two new hotels -- a Hilton and a Sheraton -- are going up now. Perhaps the philosophy is: If you build it, they will come.”



But what does her research actually consist of? “I do a lot of walking and talking,” she explains. “My project is about Urfa’s physical space -- its history, social life, decay and development -- and I explore that by doing ‘interviews’ on the move. I walk through Urfa with locals as well as visiting pilgrims and tourists, trying to get as wide a cross-section of perspectives as possible. I also volunteer with a home stay tourism project by being an intermediary figure -- doing everything from helping with administrative tasks to developing walking routes with visitors or helping train local teenagers. I get a close-up view of the dynamics of these projects.”



If you wanted to be an anthropologist, it wouldn’t do to be shy, but how does Bridget go about interviewing total strangers in a foreign language in a different culture? For many of us, language would be an issue, but Bridget studied Turkish for a little over a year before going to Urfa, and it’s improved a lot since then. But isn’t her Arabic an advantage? “Although it used to be very good, it’s now utterly submerged by Turkish,” she notes. “My modern standard Arabic also helps me very little with the dialect of Arabic spoken in Urfa. As for ‘interviewing’ people, that might be a little misleading to describe what I do. Lots of social science consists of entering a social field, guns blazing with ready-made questions and surveys. But anthropology is more protracted and perhaps more passive; I try to first learn what’s important to people and allow my questions to emerge from that.




“In general, people are incredibly cooperative and patient with my never-ending, poorly formulated questions. One might expect some sort of wariness on the part of my interlocutors, but I almost never approach total strangers, and if someone appears uncomfortable with my questions or project, I generally beat it. I also find that as I incorporate people into my research project, they’re simultaneously incorporating me into their own projects and goals, and I can be helpful in ways such as teaching or translating English or helping a researcher access articles through Princeton databases.”


A few myths dispelled

If you haven’t yet visited Urfa and are unfamiliar with what being in the Southeast may be like for a Westerner, Bridget’s experiences of living there are enlightening.



The question on the tip of all our tongues is, of course, about what it’s like to be a Western woman based there. “It’s not particularly harrowing, but nor is it an easy or obvious fit,” she explains, noting, “Whilst learning the ropes I’ve made countless errors, such as sitting in the wrong part of the restaurant or the wrong place on the bus or even gulping water from a plastic bottle in public, which I’ve been told is unseemly.”



And does she feel safe there? “That’s an important question, as I do,” she tells us. “In fact, I’ve experienced almost zero harassment or unwanted attention. I have become interested in the local conception of Urfa as a ‘safe’ place, a zone of public decorum and the social relationships and norms that sustain that conception. Partly it’s that ‘everyone knows everyone,’ and thus, one is never really alone in Urfa. Whether one experiences this as an attentive community or an oppressive paternalism depends upon one’s perspective, and these perspectives vary widely at the local level.



“For instance, one evening, on my way home, I started jogging because I simply felt like it. I immediately got two phone calls, saying: ‘We saw you running! Are you OK?’ I could give you 12 stories like this off the top of my head. Whether or not one welcomes this sort of social vigilance depends on the individual and to some extent on factors like gender, generation and one’s place in the social structure.”



Doesn’t she feel isolated as a foreigner? “I know one other Westerner who’s not just passing through: Alison Tanık, a British woman who lives out in Yuvacalı village, 60 kilometers northeast of Urfa. She’s married with children and runs the home stay project -- Nomad Tours -- that I’m volunteering with. She’s super helpful and has been a source of advice, humor and sanity. I’ve also made many more Turkish friends in Urfa than I did while living in İstanbul, partly because there I was ensconced in the Boğaziçi University expat world. Here all of my friends are ‘locals’ -- farmers, doctors, librarians and students. Halil and Pero, with whom I stay in Hilvan when volunteering on the home stay project, and their three children, are perhaps more than friends: It’s there that I really feel sort of at home and looked after. Socializing here is so different from home: the activities, venues and numbers, but I guess the human function of friendship is the same,” according to Purcell.



So what does the future hold for her? “I’ll be here until September, and after that I’ll go home and have to step back, rearrange, and figure out how my fieldwork all fits together,” Bridget explains. “I imagine I’ll then go on the US academic job market.”

SOURCE: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-240694-living-in-a-turkey-less-travelled.html

Language struggles

KATHY HAMILTON , İSTANBUL




“Why don’t you speak Turkish properly?” the tiny old woman hissed at me angrily as she leaned over to interrupt, obviously eavesdropping on the conversation I was having with two of my close Turkish friends. As we turned in surprise to see who had so rudely interrupted us, I managed to say in broken Turkish: “I moved to İstanbul two months ago and have only been learning the language for a month. Turkish is a very difficult language for me.”

Brushing my explanation aside, she snorted and replied: “What do you mean you’re just now learning Turkish? At your age, you should be fluent. It is the easiest language in the world to learn. Why, it is so simple that every child can speak it better than you can. What’s wrong with you?” Puzzled, I told her, in somewhat mangled Turkish, that in the country where I grew up we had spoken English and Spanish at home and I had no reason to learn Turkish until I moved here. Undeterred, she shook her head and insisted that the entire world spoke Turkish. “Look at the television shows,” she said, waving her hands for emphasis, “even the ones made in America are all in Turkish. Everybody speaks Turkish. Except you!”

My two Turkish friends stifled their laughter as they tried to convince the old woman that she was wrong about Turkish being a universal language. However, she could not be swayed and continued to insist that she was right. Even when they tried to explain that different languages are spoken in other countries, she refused to entertain the possibility that she may have been mistaken. Shaking our heads, we returned to our own conversation, which consisted of our own mix of Turkish and English words and phrases. My friends were irritated by the old woman’s intrusion and by her criticism of my grasp of the language.

Even though my friends were quick to point out that this elderly woman had most probably never travelled out of her country, or had interactions with foreigners before, she reminded me of the angry, frustrated tourists I had seen just earlier that day in Sultanahmet, the historic area of İstanbul. Obviously confused about where they were going, they approached a street cleaner and asked him for directions. The worker apparently did not speak English, but tried to understand what they needed, wanting to be as helpful as possible. The couple realized there was a breakdown in communication, and instead of showing him a map or photo in their guidebook of where they wanted to go that would help him figure out how to direct them, they restated their question, but in slower and louder English.

Seeing that they were becoming irritated with the situation, I came over and spoke with them, offering to help. I thanked the cleaner for his time and told him I could assist these lost tourists. Seeming to be relieved, he returned to his work. After giving the couple directions to the site they were looking for, they began to complain to me about their visit. “What is wrong with this country?” the woman asked. “The only people who understand other languages are those who are trying to sell us something. When we need help or directions, it seems impossible to find anyone who can speak English or French properly.” “ Yes,” the man added, “It is so hard to communicate here. You would think that more people would be fluent in other languages. How are tourists expected to find their way? We have tried speaking in the most basic English and French, but that does not even help.”

From all outward appearances, the tourist couple and the old woman I encountered across town a few hours later are worlds apart in terms of their financial situations and education levels. However, they are alike in that they expect everyone else to comfortably, and fluently, speak their own native tongue. Both assumed that they could navigate their way in the wider world using only the language, or languages in the case of the lost couple, they grew up using. I am sure the old woman was not being intentionally cruel to me, but was instead voicing her astonishment at the fact that a middle-aged woman could not speak her language as well as a 4-year-old child who had grown up only hearing Turkish. Speaking louder in a foreign language will not force the listener to suddenly understand your native tongue. Likewise, if someone is obviously trying to learn another language, it is much more helpful if native speakers are encouraging instead of disparaging.

In a way, the old woman was correct. My language skills should be better than they are. I hope that if we ever run into each other again, she will be impressed at how far I have come and she will appreciate how hard I have struggled to grasp the intricacies of yet another language.

SOURCE : http://www.todayszaman.com/news-235898-language-struggles.html

A much loved friend of Turkish learners gets a facelift

A group of foreigners living in Turkey attend a Turkish language class in Ankara.


2010 seems to have been a year of rebuilding and restoration in İstanbul. The several efforts starting a few years early to renovate some of the city’s best-loved monuments gained speed, focus and, most importantly, a budget as the city became a European Capital of Culture.



I guess I first noticed the sea-change in attitudes to old buildings in the fall of 2009 when I took some foreign visitors to the Hagia Sophia and was absolutely delighted to see the work then under way on the outer buttresses. The plaster and bright paint that had been added in misguided enhancements to the building towards the end of the 20th century were being painstakingly removed, revealing the most magnificent original brickwork underneath.


At that time, of course, the inside of the church-turned-mosque-turned-museum was scarred by the scaffolding so necessary for the interior renovations, but this too was dismantled at the beginning of the year to reveal the nave and dome in all its glory, including a newly renovated archangel.

Arguably the most outstanding restoration in 2010 was that of Sinan’s İstanbul masterpiece -- the Süleymaniye Mosque. Although not quite as marvelous as his later work in Edirne, this mosque is an amazing example of the architect’s genius.


It also was given a special place in the cultural heritage of the country by Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, who wrote a famous poem about prayers on a religious feast day at Süleymaniye. The poet describes the mystery of the footsteps of hundreds of people coming together in the early hours of the morning “under our own dome, the sky,” and imagines the curtain of time rising over the ghosts of nine centuries of the faithful who have trod the same path every religious feast day morning. So it was fitting that the reopening of the newly restored mosque should coincide with the first religious feast day of Kurban Bayramı.


Another of Sinan’s works being given a facelift as a result of 2010 financing is the Kılıç Ali Paşa Mosque at Tophane. Once a week I pass by on my way to Karaköy, and I have watched the external progress on the dome, as old sheets of metal have been replaced with gleaming new ones. In eager anticipation I wonder what the scene will look like once the corrugated metal fencing is taken down.


Just a quick scan of the 2010 website shows many more buildings that have been renewed in the year. Not just mosques: bridges, clock towers and even the historic Hasköy Mayor Synagogue have received a little bit of the 2010 stardust. A banner over the motorway invited İstanbulites to visit the renewed Otağ-ı Hümayun. Curious about this, I did a little research and discovered it is an old building on the Yıldız University campus, named after the old sultan’s tents, which now is potentially a wonderful location for exhibitions and events.

Not all of the 2010 changes have been publicly funded. Closed for a long period, the Pera Palas Hotel opened with its newly restored face in September. The style and elegance of the Orient Express era is alive and well in the center of old İstanbul. I have always loved the dramatic elevator, with its velvet lining and cast metal frame, and am enthralled every time I see the sedan chair in which visitors -- maybe merchants, lords or ambassadors -- were carried up the steep hill from the Galata Bridge to the hotel. It was a delight to see these survive the refit, in pride of place, along with the fascinating chairs in the patisserie with their hoods to protect the modesty (or anonymity?) of female guests.


Marble has been re-polished, wood and glass restored, and much of the hotel is vastly improved. Some parts, however, are a slight disappointment, with a restaurant named after Agatha Christie, but otherwise resembling a bland 21st century hotel dining room....[CONTINUED BELOW]

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-231936-a-much-loved-friend-of-turkish-learners-gets-a-facelift.html

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled…

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled…
You would be surprised at the number of foreigners when it comes time to get out of a dolmuş (shared taxi) who have said in a loud voice to make sure the driver hears “inek var” instead of “inecek var.” Instead of saying “I want to get out,” the person said, “There is a cow.”

Not everyone in the world speaks English. According to the CIA World Factbook, only 5.6 percent of the world’s total population speaks English as a primary language. Embarrassingly enough, the United States is supposedly the only industrialized country that routinely graduates students from high school who lack knowledge of a foreign language.

Learning another language opens up new opportunities and gives you perspectives that you might never have encountered otherwise. Without the ability to communicate and understand a culture on its own terms, you will be limited in understanding. For example, one of the most revealing cultural aspects for many who study Turkish is the lesson where the teacher explains about when you break something.

In Turkish when something has broken, you say that it broke, whereas in English you would say, “I broke it.” It gives you a sense that things just seem to happen here and for no reason… Two phrases that you will hear often and pick up quickly as a result are the expressions “bilmem” (I don’t know) and “bir şey değil” (it’s nothing; it doesn’t matter). The encounter with cultures different from one’s own leads to tolerance of diverse lifestyles and customs

Saying goodbye to family and friends can be hard, but travel abroad can be rewarding. If you are looking at spending much time in Turkey, learning the language opens up a world of social opportunities. Turks are very pleased if you attempt to learn their language, and they will usually make an effort to understand you.

Turkish is somewhat challenging. One of the main features of Turkish is vowel harmony, the fact that suffixes accommodate the vowels in words. A second challenge is the difficulty in pronunciation. How well you do in this area depends a lot on your nationality, and if you have ever studied a foreign language. Finns, Hungarians and Germans tend to pick up the correct pronunciation easier than some other nationalities. Turkish has a few vowels that can provide some difficulty. A few of us native English speakers from the southern states in America have to work a little harder on those vowels.

It is good to know and use the following set phrases:

* Nasılsınız? - How are you?- Always asked when you see someone.

* İyiyim - I am fine - Set response - Then ask them how they are.

* Memnun oldum - Pleased to meet you - Said when introduced for the first time.

* Afiyet olsun - Bon appétit - Said at the meal table.

* Elinize sağlık - Health to your hands - Said to the cook, by guests, often in response to afiyet olsun.

* Geçmiş olsun - May it pass - Said if someone is ill, or has a problem.

* Çok yaşa! - Live long! - Said if someone sneezes.

* Siz de görün! - May you see it! - Said in response by the one who sneezed.

* Kolay gelsin! - May it be easy! - Said if you see someone doing physical work.

* İyi çalışmalar! - Happy working! - Said to colleagues, or someone else who is working.

* Güle güle oturun! - Live smilingly! - Said when someone moves house.

* Güle güle giyin! - Wear it smilingly! - Said when someone has new clothes.

* Güle güle kullanın! - Use it smilingly! - Said when someone has something new.

* Gözünüz aydın! - Light to your eyes! - Said to new parents when a baby is born.

* Allah kavuştursun! - May God let you meet again! - Said when someone leaves a loved one (to go to another town, etc.)...[CONTINUED BELOW]

http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_openPrintPage.action?newsId=231819

Turkish Classes in Washington DC, Rumi Forum

Our new promo video for our ever popular classes. Enjoy !

Read testimonials from past students:
http://learnturkishdc.blogspot.com/2011/11/testimonials-from-past-students.html

Also for the latest info on our courses visit:

http://www.rumiforum.org/frontpage/learn-turkish.html