How it feels to understand only a half of the world around
I have been living in this country for little more than a year now. Previous to my arrival I had some Turkish language prep, although when I look back now it was rather poor. Throughout my first year here I mostly lived in English in a pretty international environment and I continue to do so here in Ankara although most people prefer not to speak to me cause their English just isn't good enough (or at least I hope that's the reason).
In the beginning the lack of knowledge of Turkish hasn't really bothered me since I could get around and besides I learned quite a lot in a relatively short time. So I was mostly better in Turkish than other foreigners around me although not good enough to interact with the environment around me beyond basic things.
After a few months I started feeling handicapped. I couldn't just read the headlines in newspapers as I was walking on the street, I couldn't just overhear news or conversations. I started feeling as if most of the life around me is hidden from me because I cannot understand it. Even then however I lived in my bubble with quite a few other people (Istanbul603!!) so things weren't really all that uncomfortable.
As I arrived in Ankara though things got worse. I thought that here I would be able to take intense Turkish classes and rapidly improve. This however isn't the case as foreigners usually have no Turkish knowledge, so I am the best in my class but still cannot effectivelly communicate on more complex subjects. As there is (for Turkey) a relatively high foreign student population in Bilkent, everyone knows some English, so I am not as often forced into using the little I know. Most importantly as a masters student I just simply don't have the time. As much as I know how important it is to learn the language, it's also as important to get my school work done. So I continue being left out...
It's so constraining not to understand people, news, TV, radio, random words, not even being able to go to the movies to see an interesting European film. I can speak to people and understand them but can I ever actually grasp the local culture if I cannot communicate anything of importance to a regural Turkish person?
In the beginning the lack of knowledge of Turkish hasn't really bothered me since I could get around and besides I learned quite a lot in a relatively short time. So I was mostly better in Turkish than other foreigners around me although not good enough to interact with the environment around me beyond basic things.
After a few months I started feeling handicapped. I couldn't just read the headlines in newspapers as I was walking on the street, I couldn't just overhear news or conversations. I started feeling as if most of the life around me is hidden from me because I cannot understand it. Even then however I lived in my bubble with quite a few other people (Istanbul603!!) so things weren't really all that uncomfortable.
As I arrived in Ankara though things got worse. I thought that here I would be able to take intense Turkish classes and rapidly improve. This however isn't the case as foreigners usually have no Turkish knowledge, so I am the best in my class but still cannot effectivelly communicate on more complex subjects. As there is (for Turkey) a relatively high foreign student population in Bilkent, everyone knows some English, so I am not as often forced into using the little I know. Most importantly as a masters student I just simply don't have the time. As much as I know how important it is to learn the language, it's also as important to get my school work done. So I continue being left out...
It's so constraining not to understand people, news, TV, radio, random words, not even being able to go to the movies to see an interesting European film. I can speak to people and understand them but can I ever actually grasp the local culture if I cannot communicate anything of importance to a regural Turkish person?
posted by ivuska at 10:34 AM
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