Do some research about the culture of your target language and write about the ‘linguistic aspects’, e.g., body language, how people talk about time, etc.
After conducting research about the Turkish culture, I realized how little that I knew about the country as a whole. For example, I was completely unaware of the prevalence of religion within the country. Even though Turkey is secular country that gives its citizens religious freedom, close to 98 percent of the people are Muslim. Consequently, this affects many of the customs that are carried out.
I have found a few interesting aspects of Turkish body language that differ from common American body language. Here are a few examples: (1) when you shake your head at a Turk, it means that you are confused, (2) the OK hand gesture means that you are accusing someone of being homosexual, (3) it is rude to point your finger at someone. I believe that I could potentially find myself doing all of these things in one day so I am happy that I have been made aware of them.
Beyond body language, I have also found out some interesting facts regarding verbal politeness. For example, verbal gratitude apparently does not occur in the Turkish household. It seems logical to me that a family member would not have to say “thank you” when acts of kindness are expected, but I cannot imagine not expressing my gratitude. Another similar fact is that parents tend to refrain from verbally showing warm feelings to their children. I find this so intriguing because the culture in the United States is the complete opposite in this matter. We tend to excessively express our love to parents. I am going to consult with Gökhan to inquire about the validity of these findings. Of course, there is much more that I could write about, but I just wanted to share these few things that stood out the most to me.
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