Erasmus Intensive Language Course… To do or not to do?
Since I’m going to study at a university in Istanbul through the EU’s Erasmus program, I was allowed to sign up for a (free) Turkish language course under the Erasmus Intensive Language Course (EILC) program. I immediately jumped on it, since it had many other advantages, such as free accommodation at the Istanbul University campus.
Then I found out that my own university, Yeditepe University, would also be offering Turkish language courses. I found out that the EILC courses overlap with the courses I’m supposed to be following at Yeditepe. Plus, they decided to put us into hostels instead of the campus and we’d have to pay for it ourselves. If I’m going to be in a hostel, I’d like to pick it myself, besides… I’d have enough to do anyway, such as finding an apartment, people to live with and getting myself orientated. So I sent them an email.
Hi,
I’d like to inform you by this email that I won’t be able to attend the EILC courses starting this August. It’s a great service, but I’m afraid time won’t allow me to attend a considerable number of the classes, so I feel it’s better for me to withdraw.
Kind regards,
Bastiaan
Student at INHOLLAND Amsterdam/Diemen
The Netherlands
Apparently they won’t take no for an answer. As you see I sent this email on July 28 and today I got an email back with an acceptance letter dated August 8.
This got me thinking… Should or shouldn’t I do the EILC? It will offer me an opportunity to meet Erasmus students from all over the city, going to one out of many universities in Istanbul. Maybe I can team up with some people and find an apartment even. Having said that, I’m sure the hostel will evening clocks and things like that and I really enjoy my freedom.
If any of you have experience with studying abroad, help me out. When I was living in Sofia, Bulgaria, quite a few of my friends were Erasmus students and they had gone through the EILC course… I must say, I wasn’t very impressed with the level of their Bulgarian. A few were ok, but most hadn’t really learned anything. Compared to most of them, my Bulgarian, that I learned on the street, was better. And learning a language on the street is of course much more exciting than learning it in a classroom or protected environment. 
What are your thoughts on this? Should I remind them I cancelled, or just go to the courses?
Tags: EILC, Erasmus, erasmus exchange, erasmus intensive language course, intensive language course, Istanbul, istanbul university, Turkey, Turkish, turkish language course
August 12th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Go with your gut feel. Besides, they obviously want you there so perhaps it’s worth the try.
MJs last blog post: “Sagada Squash Pancit Canton Gets A Boost“
August 12th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Maybe it’s the universe’ way of telling me to go, no?
August 12th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Hahaha!
I don’t know about you, but I believe in fate, luck and all that stuff. Sometimes there are things in life that are pushed right into our faces.
They maybe good or bad, but it all matters on how we treat such situations.
Good luck!
MJs last blog post: “Sagada Squash Pancit Canton Gets A Boost“
August 12th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Learning Turkish should be interesting. An Iranian friend, who speaks Turkish told me it’s one of the most difficult languages to learn. The only Turkish words I can remember from my trip last year were good morning and thank you.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I lived in Bulgaria previously and learned some of the language… Everywhere I go I hear people saying their language is the most difficult to learn… I’ve heard the same about Turkish, but I’ve also heard that the grammar in Turkish is very clear and that it’s not to hard to learn once you get the basics.
We’ll see. Pronounciation will be the first stumble block
Thanks for the comments!!
August 12th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I wish you good luck with your study. Before I came to the netherlands. I also learn Dutch language at Erasmus
Dutch is difficult language, maybe later my son will teach me new words when he go to school hi hi hi hi.
Juliana RWs last blog post: “Happy Birthday, hubby.“
August 13th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I think both education levels would be almost equal. I can say one thing though. Istanbul University is governmental but Yeditepe is a private university. So, Yeditepe seems to be a slightly better choice. But, if things didn’t change (I live more than 5 years in Moscow) Yeditepe is located in Asian part and a little bit far to the Asian center (Kadikoy) but has more facilities than Istanbul university. I mean tennis courts, swimming pools etc. Istanbul University don’t have such things. If you care your private life, it is better not to stay in those student dormitories etc because generally they have strict rules and can easily drive you mad in a near time. Better to live in heavy metal hippie style but with freeeeeeeedooom in a cheap rent
I don’t want to much affect you, decide yourself but I provide you university official links. Check for yourself.
http://www.istanbul.edu.tr/english/
http://www.yeditepe.edu.tr/yeditepe/Yeditepe%20UniverSiteSi/English.aspx?cacheid=/Yeditepe%20UniverSiteSi/English
I hope I could help a bit
Murat
Muratoss last blog post: “Real Estate Investment Opportunities in Nicaragua“
August 13th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Try it out.
Nothing ventured- nothing gained
what do you have to lose?
Quickroutes last blog post: “QUICKSILVER – Stop the Lights“
August 15th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
@Murat:
Thanks for your comment. The great thing is I’ll be studying at both
My normal courses @ Yeditepe, my Turkish language @ Istanbul University
@Quickroute:
You’re right. I notified them today to tell them I will be attending.
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:04 am
[...] course I decided that I actually should take part in the language course I blogged about. After posting it here and going through the comments, I figured “why not?” So [...]
September 13th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
[...] offered to help me out and then I remembered why I initially had cancelled the language course (LINK!!). I was way too concerned with finding a flat to be bothered with it, so I made an [...]
October 19th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I accidentally found your post looking for a friend and I just wanted to share my impressions of Yeditepe– aside from the fact that half of everything in Turkey is backwards or slow moving, I get the impression like there is nothing very valuable in the education here. Im a new exchange student here, and its kinda sad. Most public universities have decent online resources for research, such as JSTOR and other common scholarly databases. Yeditepe doesnt even have this. Yeditepe has so little its really a crime, especially considering they are private and more expensive. The campus is beautiful, they charge you money if you want to use the pool, and everyone says they ask too much for the cafeteria food, which really is nothing exciting. The only thing they seem to have that is exceptional is a Dentistry school. Everything else? Who knows… at first everyone was complaining about the lack of structure to our Turkish classes, but mine are slowy getting better. I just keep getting the nagging feeling that if were in almost any other campus in İstanbul, the quality of my education, which is actually important to me ( maybe not so much to a yuppie spawn) would be drastically improved.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I think you’re absolutely right, Peter.
Most importantly, the value of the education is what you make of it. You will probably have a lot of free time due to the low level, so use it to travel and learn about Istanbul/Turkey.