During the fall of my junior year, I studied abroad at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. This was not my first visit to Turkey. I had spent the previous summer travelling around various regions of Turkey with my family. I went to Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Bodrum. I had a wonderful time, and this first exposure to the country confirmed my excitement to study abroad in Turkey. I only really fell in love with the Turkish culture, food, life, and language once I moved to Ankara in August 2010.
During my time at Bilkent, I was able to meet many Turkish people and develop a basic knowledge of the language. It is a language that is very interesting and not too difficult in many respects since it uses an alphabet that I am familiar with, yet it incorporates many Persian words. Being of Persian origin, this language particularly intrigues me.
The last time I went to Istanbul and Ankara was in March 2011 for Spring Break. It was a short visit but I hope to someday return to Turkey more permanently, so I want to become a confortable Turkish speaker. I want to focus my learning of Turkish to oral skills but a basic written knowledge will also be valuable.
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