Istanbul Work & study

Study

Language

Writing of Constantinople in 1857, Herman Melville said ‘You feel you are among the nations’, and when it comes to language, the city hasn’t changed much. Melville saw this Babel-like reality as a curse, and after taking the reins of government half a century later, Atatürk and his republican colleagues agreed, establishing the modern Turkish language to take over from its ‘contaminated’ Ottoman predecessor, which was full of Arabic and Persian influences. All Turks were encouraged to learn and speak the new language (and its Latin alphabet) rather than Ottoman Turkish, regional dialects or foreign languages.

Fortunately, contemporary Turkey is reclaiming its polyglot heritage as well as taking pride in its own national language and you’ll have no trouble at all communicating in English and, to a lesser extent, French, German or Russian when you’re here. Snippets of many foreign languages can be heard throughout Old İstanbul (particularly in the Grand Bazaar) and you’ll also notice that the city has particular quarters in which dialects are spoken. Two examples are Ladino, a medieval Spanish dialect that is still used by some descendants of the Sephardic community that migrated here during the Spanish Inquisition; and Aramaic, which is still spoken by many members of the city’s Assyrian Church.

By learning a few Turkish phrases you’ll do your bit to charm the locals.

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Language

The best-known Turkish-language courses for native English speakers are run by Taksim Dilmer (212-292 9696; www.dilmer.com; Tarık Zafer Tunaya Sokak 18, Taksim). On offer are eight-week courses (96 hours total) costing YTL670; four-week courses (80 hours total) costing YTL560; and eight-week evening courses (72 hours total) costing YTL500. Classes have a maximum of 14 students. Other language schools include EF Language School (www.turkishlesson.com), Spoken Turkish (ww.spokenenglish.com) and Tömer (www.tomer.com.tr).

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