I have wanted to take the Self-Directed Language course since my first semester. I finally have the space to do so. I began learning Turkish simply to learn another language. Turkish was intriguing to me because it is unrelated to any language I’ve ever studied. Linguistic textbooks talk about the uniqueness of Turkish extensively. As a linguistic minor, I believe it is useful to know a language like Turkish.
Most of what I know about Turkey is from 7th grade world history. I have enjoyed learning more about Turkey’s rich history and culture throughout this course. This semester I am also taking a history course about WWI in the Middle East. I registered for the class thinking it would be about Arab countries, but it is primarily about the former Ottoman Empire and present day Turkey. It is neat that this course is overlapping into my other classes.
I am able to pick up languages fairly quickly. I can easily imitate the accent and memorize the phonology. In the early stages of language learning I have a lot of enthusiasm. However, if I don’t have enough motivation, I plateau. This is something I will try to work on throughout the semester and into next year. Meeting with my tutor has been so beneficial. I have tried teaching myself languages in the past and have failed, simply because I had no one to practice with.
The Self-Directed Language course actually does provide me with direction. If I were to try and learn Turkish completely on my own, I would not learn about the culture. I am more interested in the language rather than the culture in which it is spoken. This course pushes me to research Turkey’s history and culture just as a formal language course would.
So far, I have had a positive and productive experience learning Turkish through this course. I am really enjoying the language as well as learning more about the culture. Hopefully I will travel to Turkey one day and practice all that I have learned..
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