In a bid to improve Turkish language skills among Arab students, particularly Syrians, in Türkiye, Syrian businessperson Aswan Nahar runs the "Talaqi Project," designed to help Arabs integrate into Turkish society and improve intercultural understanding.
Shedding light on the importance of the project, Nahar said: "As a Syrian, I realized the essence of learning Turkish in order to establish social relations with the nationals. Hence, under this project, Syrians fleeing war and Arabs coming for various reasons to Türkiye for cultural, intellectual and productive goals must be provided with an opportunity to learn and adapt."
Meanwhile, the head of the Turkish Department at Istanbul Language Education Institutions (AKDEM), Dr. Gülcan Bayrami, explained: "Türkiye's popularity has increased with Turkish TV series, which attract around 5,000 students from 65 countries every year. We give 112 hours of Turkish lessons at A1 level and at the end of the training, they received an AKDEM Istanbul Language Education Institutions diploma."
Nahar said that she voluntarily took part in cultural, health and educational projects and humanitarian aid work in Syria. "I have been working on these projects for a while. In these projects, children and youth are provided with both education and employment opportunities so that they can take care of themselves and their families,” she explained.
We have always seen Syrians as the ones on the receiving end in Europe; however, I want them to be seen as givers this time. Sharing the details of the project, Nahar said: We have both online and face-to-face classes. There are 19 students enrolled in our face-to-face lessons and 22 students in the online classes. These lessons will develop basic skills in grammar, speaking, listening, reading and writing."
Another Turkish teacher, Esra Tuna Başoğlu who has been working at AKDEM for seven years, underlined students aged 10-59 learn Turkish at the center.
"We thank Ms. Aswan for her efforts to encourage underprivileged students to learn and study. The class is a group of different nationalities, which creates a good fusion. We laugh at our mistakes and encourage each other to learn more. I also make mistakes sometimes. We only speak Turkish during the whole class and teach in a theatrical manner," she added.
Similarly, Melike Demir, who also teaches Turkish, shared that there is avid curiosity about learning Turkish.
"Some students who attended the classes had never been to Türkiye. They only know Türkiye through Turkish TV series. They often ask questions about Turkish culture, people and food," Demir explained.
The course lasts about five weeks and successful students are presented with various awards as well as educational scholarships for their future endeavors.
