The Yunus Emre Institute welcomed nearly twenty new A1.1 Turkish language students to their exciting language learning journey on January 17th 2020. These students will join an ever-growing group of over 500 Yunus Emre Institute Turkish language students in the Washington D.C. area. Throughout the 13 week semester, students will build their foundational knowledge of Turkish language and culture using relevant vocabulary and phrases to express themselves. Once they complete the A1.1 level by May, students can advance their base Turkish knowledge by joining A1.2 in order to learn about the more nuanced aspects of Turkish language and culture. The Yunus Emre Institute’s language classes are completely free to sign up for because valuable cultural experiences and exchanges should be widely available to everyone. Through a dynamic combination of formal teaching and friendly conversations, the Institute’s students are able to immerse themselves in what makes Turkish language and culture so engaging. Students who complete the entire A1 curriculum are eligible to take the Turkish proficiency exam and be recognized for their outstanding achievements.
During their orientation at the Yunus Emre Institute’s office in Washington D.C., students met to hear an overview of how their semester would look for the upcoming months. Each student received their textbooks, workbooks, and syllabi that outlines the course curriculum. Casey, the Institute’s Public Relations Director, discussed course expectations with the students over their freshly brewed Turkish coffee. All of the students come from a wide range of different backgrounds with their own motivation to learn Turkish. A few students wanted to learn Turkish because they had a group of friends who are Turkish and wanted to communicate with them. One student deals with Turkish clients everyday at their job and one student is married to a Turkish person. One student even went to Istanbul once in their youth, fell in love with Turkey, and bought a house there. A collective love of Turkey and Turkish people was certainly a unifying theme among each student.
Orientation commenced with a video that introduced students to what the Yunus Emre Institute aims to accomplish and commemorates the Institute’s 10 year anniversary. Casey also discussed the details of the Yunus Emre Institute’s fully funded summer program that gives students firsthand experience living in Turkey and engaging with Turkish customs. The Yunus Emre Institute’s Washington D.C. office is thrilled to see each student grow as a language learner this semester and encourages them to personally experience everything they can to attain a better understanding of Turkish culture.
The Yunus Emre Foundation is a public foundation formed to promote Turkey, Turkish language, its history and culture and art, make such related information and documents available for use in the world, provide services abroad to people who want to have education in the fields of Turkish language, culture and art, to improve the friendship between Turkey and other countries and increase the cultural exchange. If you are interested in learning or continuing to learn Turkish, please email washingtondc@yee.org.tr