Learning Turkish in Texas and Türkiye: JF's Story

Continuing the series we started last week, this week's letter comes from JF.

I have written everything on this blog from my perspective as a Turkish teacher. Students experience the language from a different side and I want to include their voices too.

JF first fell in love with Türkiye on a trip over a decade ago and has been finding his way back to the language, and the country, ever since. Here is his experience in his own words.

JF is also a writer and poet. If you would like to learn more about his work and find his poetry and books, you can visit his website at jfbierlein.com.

Here is his experience in his own words.

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In 2013, my wife and I took a trip in honor of our 20th wedding anniversary. We called it "The Cradle of Civilization" tour. It took us to Thessaloniki and Athens in Greece; to Skopje, Macedonia; and to Istanbul, Türkiye. While we enjoyed all the stops we made, we both fell in love with Istanbul and the Turks. Turkish hospitality, creativity, and layer upon layer of history captivated us. That led us to return to Türkiye in 2014 and again in 2015. Our initial trip stimulated us to learn at least some Turkish.

I had bought the Teach Yourself Turkish, so I could order a meal, ask directions, and do all the basic tourist things. But how can you ever get to know a country and its people that way? So, we enrolled in a local Turkish course here in Texas in 2016, and it was wonderful, we met people with whom we remain close and over two years in the course, we created a little family. A number of us were people with Turkish spouses. While it was a very good foundation, unfortunately one teacher after another had to leave. So it felt like we could only get so far in our Turkish journey. But it lit a spark in my mind, I found the Turkish language fascinating and captivating.

So, this year, I began one-to-one Turkish lessons with Seda that focused on conversation and also on more subtle or nuanced structures in Turkish. Through self-testing, I land sometimes in the B1 level and other times in the B2 level, but I am still working on daily speaking and Seda has helped me immensely.

But beyond speaking, my Turkish studies, and particularly my interaction with Seda, have opened the door to the vast world of Türkiye, its culture, history, cuisine, and social customs, and none of these things can be divorced from at least a basic understanding of the Turkish language. I am still studying and expect to continue for the rest of my life.

By the way, my wife and I are making our seventh trip to Türkiye this fall. We've fallen in love with Türkiye and the Turks.