The second intercultural, free, lesson in the Greek and Turkish languages

19 Ιουλίου, 2013 · by Business Travel blog · in ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΣ. ·

Thessaloniki, 14-24 August, 2013

10 days, 35 hours of instruction, 3.5 hours per day (a teaching hour is 60 minutes)
Registration fee:60€
Cost of participation:0€

The registration fee covers the basic expenses of the course; materials, equipment rental, and a portion of the ticket costs for teachers and organizers. Teachers and organizers work without compensation, they also pay board expenses and a portion of their ticket costs.

Who should attend?

This opportunity is addressed to Turks and Greeks who already have a basic level of communication in the ‘other’ language. More specifically, the course is intended for (a) individuals who speak one of the two languages as their native tongue or who have grown up in, and been educated at all levels in one of these two countries while at the same time (b) are able to at least read, write, and understand simple sentences in the ‘other’ language. One group of absolute beginners will also be formed, for a limited number of participants.

The course

Each class is mixed; in other words, it consists of Turkish students learning Greek AND Greek students learning Turkish. Instruction of each language takes half the time of the daily program and uses the method of working in pairs. The teachers facilitate each pair of students (one Greek and one Turk) in speaking to each other and in practicing various skills. The instructors teach their own native tongue (Turks teach Turkish and Greek teach Greek) and have experience in the teaching of foreign languages. The course is based on and supported by materials produced specifically for it; these materials are freely available via the internet.

The idea

After the Asia Minor disaster and the founding of the Turkish state, a wall was erected between the two countries and social, political and human contacts between the two ethnic groups were cut off. This lack of contact led to the demonization of the other side and to the replacement of reality by an knot of prejudices. This course is a small contribution to the tearing down of that wall. Language is a necessary tool of communication and a mirror reflecting the perceptions of the speaker. But human contact itself helps in the building of a clearer idea of who the ‘other’ really is.
Thus, instead of drinking beer while listening to Elftheria Arvanitaki putting on the red dress at some concert in Smyrna or the Bosphorus, or instead of trying to understand the Turks by peering through a keyhole into Fatmagul’s bedroom, let us talk as ordinary people, one to another, about the things which embitter us, and the things that might unite us.