Check out these highlights from our Summer 2019 Turkish program in Turkey!
At the end of June, the NSLI-Y Turkish participants arrived in Istanbul and visited the U.S. Consulate where they were briefed by consulate staff and went on a tour of the compound. From there, the students traveled to Bursa and met their host families, started language classes, and met their peer language partners.
The NSLI-Y students soon began enjoying spending time with their ‘Peer Language Partners’ doing various activities. One activity consisted of students finding common places in town (grocery stores, schools, post offices, etc) and associating words and phrases with them. The Turkish volunteers who are a part of the ‘Peer Language Partners’ program, were given words in English, while their American peers were given the words in Turkish. The students went around, finding their partners with a word match so they could call out: Bingo!
In celebration of ‘Democracy and National Unity Day’ on Monday, July 15th our NSLI-Y Turkish participants took advantage of the extended holiday weekend to visit nearby cities, go to the beach, attend weddings and other celebrations with their host families. On July 17, the participants visited the office of the Ministry of Education in Bursa, where they learned about the Turkish education system.
The NSLI-Y Turkish students have now completed four weeks of classes and are feeling motivated to keep up with their language studies and working on their culminating projects. This week, students and their ‘Peer Language Partners’ worked on vocabulary and phrases related to family. The students and partners created family trees and described ages and occupations for the family members. The group then played a game of charades to guess what adjective was being acted out.
During the final week in Bursa, the NSLI-Y Turkish participants presented their Culminating Projects, met with their peer language partners for the final time, spent quality time with their host families, and enjoyed a farewell dinner. The students also had the opportunity to learn Turkish water marbling at the local community arts center. Students were given an introduction to the technique and were then able to make their own design.
