Learning Turkish in Turkey
The Feedbacks and reviews of our former students around the world are all written from a personal perspective and gives insight into the experiences with our turkish teaching school in Izmir /Turkey.
Merhaba Semiha, Merhaba Saniye, Bu ekim İzmir'de çok iyi bir Türkçe kursuna gittim! Şahane eğlendim! Çok şey öğrendim!. Teşekkür ederim! It was a pleasure for me to attend the Turkish course in Izmir this October. I had a lot of fun! Learned a lot! My special thanks goes to Saniye our great Turkish teacher. The school is great located in Izmir with the advantage, that you have a lot of possibilities to practice Turkish. It is located in Karşiyaka/Atakent, being not such a touristic place, which allows you to speak Turkish also outside the school. Izmir is a nice city and especially the sunsets at the harbor are incredible beautiful. During the weekend I recommend to visit Ephesus, or to go swimming on the beach of Kuşadası. Many thanks and best wishes Andreas from Germany
I am an American learning Turkish for work and went to Turkish Language Center as a total beginner, not knowing any Turkish at all. I had a really great experience at TLC and recommend it as a wonderful way to learn the language and to really experience Turkey and it's amazing culture. Izmir is a beautiful city right on the sea and the school is just a few minutes walk from the water and some nice restaurants and cafes. The neighborhood that the school and apartment are located in (Atakent) are perfect--it's not at all touristy and really easy to get around. The people are very friendly and it's a great area with lots of parks and easy access to the trains and ferries. I stayed in the apartment and it was very basic but nice and fairly modern. The school is literally a 3 minute walk away which was awesome. The overall consensus was that the apartment or hostfamily is the best way to interact with others during your stay. Most of the other students there were German, but most spoke English, as well as the teachers. We had two teachers while there and they were both really good and patient. It is a tough language to learn but all the instruction is done in Turkish and you leave there with a good understanding of grammer fundamentals and basic vocab. The really nice thing about Atakent is that there are very few English speakers so you get to put your new skills to use right away. Everyone at the school was great and very friendly and accomodating. There were never more than 6 students in our class, so you got a lot of opportunity to speak and ask questions. I will be returning for another course in a couple of months and am really looking forward to returning. A suggestion to anyone going during the summer months--bring a travel fan, Izmir is hot during the summer. The beach is about 45 mins away, so bring a beach towel and your swimsuit as well. Overall, I had a really great experience and I highly recommend the Turkish Language Center.
Merhaba Sibel, Merhaba Semiha, bu yaz, Izmir’de çok iyi bir zaman geçirdim. Teşekkür ederim, herşey için. Now in a language that i can express myself a little bit better. I had a really good time overall in Izmir and I will definitely recommend it to my classmates in London to attend a course at your turkish center in Izmir. I have learned a lot and that speaks for the classes. Thank you „wonderful“ teacher Sibel. It is great that you always tried to figure out what i was trying to say.
Merhaba Sevim. I was surprised to read in your email an invitation to lodge complaints as well as suggestions, since my experience was so positive I find it difficult to imagine that there could be any complaints. The athmosphere was welcoming and warm, the turkish tuition was excellent and the information about culture and customs was very good. The offer of ongoing support was extremely generous. If there is one recommendation I might make it is that I would have found it more valuable to be in a house on my own. Since my housemate had a lot more turkish than me she did all the talking and I did not have the opportunities to use my turkish. But the positive is that I have formed a lovely friendship with my housemate. I would like to compliment in a special way to our tutor. Her patience was wonderful, her understanding and most of all her variety of teaching methodologies made for active participation in the course and so for good learning the only difficulty was that she worked us so hard that by wednesday of the second week I was exhausted !!! a good complaint. I wish you continued success with your school and I hope to have an opportunity to return when I have mastered all that I learned in March. Best wishes. Mary
I very much enjoyed my week-long intensive Turkish course at the Centre in Izmir. The class was small, the teacher was excellent and the informal athmosphere made it really enjoyable. I learned a huge amount while there and in particular my vocabulary and confidence is speaking and understanding Turkish improved greatly. I loved every minute of the course, including the tea and chats every morning with the school managers. The accomodation, while basic, was located in a great place with lots of restaurants, cafes and bars nearby and within easy walking distance of the school. I intend to go back to the Language Centre this year and have also recommended it to several of my friends who are learning Turkish. I look forward to seeing you later in 2011.
Türkçe her gün öğrenmek istiyorum, ama maalesef benim nadiren zamanın var. As regards my participation in the language school, I was very satisfied. Turkish Teacher was an excellent and dedicated teacher. Despite the fact that I knew almost no Turkish when I arrived in Izmir, I was able to learn an enormous amount in the two weeks that I was there. I wish that I would have had more time to study with Turkish Teacher, and I hope that I will have an opportunity to participate in the course again in 2011. As you probably know, I recommended the course to another person who also enrolled in your language program and took it a few months ago. I do want to underline that my comments of course pertain only to the one-on-one intensive course that I took. I personally believe that this was the right choice for me, and if I return to Izmir, then it would again be in order to take such a personalized, one-on-one course.
Sevgiler, Christian (Assistant Professor of Southeast European Studies)
The Turkish Language Center provided a wonderful introduction for me to both the Turkish language and to Turkish culture. The Center is small and personalized. It is located in a "real" Turkish neighborhood. Students are warmly welcomed as part of the school family. I appreciated the small classes and the support of my friendly, knowledgeable teacher Sibel, who organized her lessons to meet the individual needs of her students. She also provided insights into Turkish culture, introducing us to Turkish customs and cooking, which was fun, interesting and useful knowledge. I knew a small amount of Turkish before starting this course. The course has given me an understanding of the fundamentals of Turkish grammar and idiomatic usage that will help me to communicate more fluently and accurately.
I spend 2 weeks in Izmir to learn Turkish. Two weeks is not a long time-period ofcourse, but I was surprised how much I learned in those weeks. In class we learned both grammar and talking turkish. Our teacher was very enthousiastic and willing to explain everything. The lessons were very practical and clear. He explained very well and we did lots of excercises all together. It was so much fun: what we learned at school in the morning we could practice in the afternoon. I shared accomodation with 3 other students and we lived nearby school. We had a good time together. Izmir is a beautiful and friendly city. It was so nice to live there for a while and do make trips in the weekend. You can go to Cesme, Bergama, Dikili and lots of other places. And it is nice to do it all together. Before I came to Izmir I did not speak any turkish besides "hayir", "evet" and counting from 0 to 10, but after 2 weeks I could do my own shopping and buy a busticket while speaking Turkish!! :-) This stimulated me to do another Turkish course backhome and I hope to be back to improve my turkish more in the Turkish Language Center!
I very much enjoyed my course at the Turkısh Language Center ın İzmir. I found my way to the school with no difficulty thanks to people I met on my way. One family told the bus driver exactly where to let me off and then having arrived in Atakent,and asking for direction, I was walked to the door of the school. I was given a quick tour of the area and shown where I could get my groceries etc. Then I was brought to my apartment, which I was sharing with another student. The apartment was wonderful. In addition to my bedroom I aslso had sole use of a sittng room. We shared the kitchen and bathroom. It was just around the corner from the school. In the morning, lessons began, and when it was discovered that my standard was higher than the other students, everything possible was done to facilitate me and ensure that I got what I needed from the course. In the mornings, I took lessons alone with another teacher Mehmet Bey for three hours. These lessons included oral discussion, reading and grammar. Verb forms that had been unclear to me previously were explained and made clear. In the afternoons, I rejoined the other three students for classes. Our Turkish Teacher is very patient, explains clearly and keeps the lessons, which were very grammar focused moving at a very fast pace. However, lots of repetition was included. It was great revısıon for me! Lunch times were great fun as we went to eat together and to practise what we had learned...even though this sometimes led to extra portions arriving! After lessons, Semiha was always ready with advice about places to go and what to do in the evenings, on one occasion when we wanted to get a ferry that was leaving shortly, she drove us to the ferry terminal. What I like most about the school,is the fact it is so personal. However, Semiha did everything to ensure my particular needs were met and this did not just apply to the lessons, she checked regularly that I was happy with my accomodation also. All I need now is the time to assimulate what I learnt and put it into practise. I hope in the future that I may return with some of my Irish friends who have been going to the same turkish classes as I in Ireland and we can do a group course together. Hayırlı işler, Saygılarımla, Mary
Language school: it was generally good but it was difficult for me to find the location in my first day, there was no sign on the location to make it easy for a new comer like me to find it. My Turkish Teacher was excellent " Yüzde yüz" for her, she was very understanding and showed high knowledge and experience.
Günaydin, Thank you, yes I had a good time in Izmir. From the school director Semiha I can say that she was very good and took care of me. If I had questions, I could always ask her or my roommate Sevim. She helped me to organize a trip for me. Language School is really superb. In a short time a learned so many new things and it was always fun. I have now a better feeling for the Turkish language. The accommodation was good of the equipment and location., but I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed that I only shared the flat with a girl.