Language Learning

During my time here in Ankara I want to learn Turkish, and I am trying!  It's not an easy language to learn, but I want to give it a go.  I was looking at courses in local language centres, but they are a minimum of 12 hours a week, which combined with a full time job is really a non starter.  So I have been trying to learn using some books that were given to me.  They are difficult  books to follow, but I have been trying, and maybe it is time for me to invest in some new books, that don't try to teach me phrases like 'Is that your UFO in the car park?', and 'Are you an alien, which planet are you from?'.  These are phrases that I don't think I will be able to use on a regular basis.

I agreed with my beginner class that I would study Turkish for 10 minutes every day.  I am 5 days into the agreement and I have 40 minutes to catch up on somehow!

For me learning the language of the country I am calling home for the time being is very important.  I don't expect the locals to speak English to me.  In my younger days I studied Welsh and French at school, French and Spanish in University, and later even attempted to learn some Japanese, so normally languages come very easily to me, but this isn't happening with Turkish.  I also explain to my students that I understand that learning a language is difficult, because I am also trying, and I also make lots of mistakes, but you can only learn from the mistakes.

I love teaching and each level is fun in different ways.  Beginners are good fun but are also the most challenging.  The students laugh at me quite a lot, as I try to act out different words, and laugh even more at my attempts to draw things on the whiteboard.  I have now given up trying to draw anything, I was never an artist, and I never will be.  Last week I walked into one of my classes after the break, and they were 'redrawing' one of my pictures!

We were talking about food in one beginner class, and I was asked if I liked Fish and Chips, as this is one of the most well known food from the UK.  I said yes, I liked them with mushy peas!  Then of course I had to explain mushy peas, this was unsuccessful, so they looked it up in the dictionary, and then responded, 'Ah yes Caroline, we understand....... romantic peas!'  Ummm not quite!

I am often asked questions about Wales, and this is a subject I could never get fed up of talking about.  I am proud to be Welsh, and am happy to tell people about Wales, most students didn't even know Wales existed, but now they are keen to know about the country I call home.  I miss so much about Wales, friends, family, the coast and beauty of the country, but for now Ankara and Turkey is where I choose to be.