NSLI-Y Turkey Conference Call

Last night I was one of the Alumni on the NSLI-Y Country Specific Call for the participants going to Turkey this summer. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed sharing some of my experiences with high school students who are in the same position I was in 3 years ago. It seems like it was so much longer, but I was first immersed in the Turkish language and culture just 3 years ago at about this same time. 

While on the call I realized a few things. I was giving advice to the students, and that advice I really should follow myself. Here are a few tips that I told the students, which I am going to try and live by this summer:

Don't freak out, everything will be fine. It will all work out in the end.  I am the type of person who is extremely organized and likes to know all of the details before I do something. This is not how it goes when participating in programs like NSLI-Y or CLS because there are numerous unknowns before one arrives in their host country. I will have to wait until I arrive in Izmir to know about weekend plans and when/if I can travel to visit friends.

You get out of it what you put into it. I really want to be a part of my host family. Close relationships with people take work, and I want to spend as much time with my new host family and friends as possible. The more time and effort I put into studying Turkish the more I am going to learn. And my goal from this summer from the beginning has been to get my Turkish down pat and really feel comfortable with the grammar and vocabulary, and that is something I can control with how much effort I put into it.

Spend as little time on the computer and social networks. This is really going to be challenging for me, but for the most part I am going to try and unplug for the summer. I will sign a contract saying I am only going to speak Turkish (unless speaking with my American family or in an emergency pretty much), so I want to do that through the internet as well. I have been toiling over the decision whether or not to take my laptop and after last night I came to the decision that I am not going to take it. I will not be completely disconnected from the world and I will survive without it.

Enjoy and take advantage of everything! I want to take advantage of all of the opportunities I am given because this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I know I have received a scholarship from the US Department of State several times, but each time I am in a new city surrounded by new people and am able to do exciting new activities. I cannot wait to be in Izmir to see everything it has to offer! :)

One month until Izmir!

In one month I will be returning to Turkey, but this time I will be going to Izmir! I received the Critical Language Scholarship from the US Department of State, which is a program for undergraduate and graduate college students to intensely study critical foreign languages fully immersed in the language and culture. Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey and is on the Aegean Coast in the south west of Turkey. Last time I was in Turkey, I was with the high school version of the program for a gap year of 10 months in Samsun, so this time I am fully prepared for what I am getting myself into. I will be studying advanced Turkish at the same language institute that I studied at last year, Ankara Üniversitesi TÖMER. I really like how the language institute sets up its language classes and the method it uses. This allowed me to know exactly which level I will be in, but at the same time I have to review a lot of what I learned while in Samsun because I have not used a lot of it this year and it is in the back of my brain. This month, before I go to Turkey, I will spend time reviewing and studying all of the grammar in the beginner and intermediate levels so that I can hit the ground running when I get to Izmir. I am extremely excited to be back in a country that I love surrounded by a wonderful culture and delicious food, but I have a lot of studying to do before then. After my two month program in Izmir, I will spend a few days in Istanbul and about a week in Samsun visiting my former host family and friends. I miss them so much, so this will be a great way to end the summer. Maybe I can visit them one weekend before then, but if not I will see everyone in August!


For those of you who do not know the geography of Turkey I have attached a map for you to see where I talk about. Samsun is in the north on the Black Sea Coast. Izmir is in the west on the Aegean Coast.