Washington - With dozens of excited students ready to learn about a culture that is foreign to their own, the Yunus Emre Institute in Washington D.C. completed another successful day in the Embassy Adoption Program on January 13th, 2021. Ms. Briggs’ fifth grade class used their phenomenal listening skills to learn about a variety of subjects that are important for understanding Turkey. The Yunus Emre Institute, in partnership with the Turkish Embassy in Washington D.C., has been participating in the Embassy Adoption Program for over a year.
The Embassy Adoption Program allows fifth and sixth grade classrooms around Washington D.C. learn about foreign cultures by meeting with embassy representatives from around the world. Each class is partnered with a certain embassy for one academic year. Over the course of the year the students will have lessons about that country and meet with the embassy staff. At the end of the school year, the students will participate in a Model UN session representing their partner country and will prepare a capstone presentation to show their teachers everything that they learned.
All of Ms. Briggs’ students were delighted to learn about a country, like Turkey, that was very new to them. They learned about Turkish greetings and social customs while also hearing about its history, food, holidays, and much more. They were each interested in the music that the Yunus Emre Instituteshowed them with Turkish instruments like the ney, kanun, and bağlama. Some of the students were surprised to learn of how similarly Turkish students live their lives to their own in America. After learning so much and sharing some laughs, it’s safe to say that they are looking forward to next month’s visit on February 3rd.
The Yunus Emre Foundation is a public foundation designed to educate the public about Turkey and its language, history, culture, and art. The Foundation makes such related information and documents available for use in the world. Facilitating cultural exchange between Turkey and other countries is a central objective of the Foundation. If you are interested in receiving more information, please email washingtondc@yee.org.tr.