IvSU students spoke about studying abroad

From July 25 to August 5, students of Ivanovo State University took part in an intensive course of Turkish language and culture at Yeditepe University (Istanbul, Turkey) The program is implemented within the framework of the current cooperation agreement.

Yeditepe University has prepared a rich educational and cultural program for IvSU students. After the daily classroom lessons, our group went to the city for a language practice. Together with representatives of Yeditepe, the students visited the world's masterpieces of architecture and the historical districts of the city. We visited the Hagia Sophia and Sultanahmet mosques, climbed to the famous Galata Tower, descended into the underground reservoir of Constantinople - the Basilica Cistern, looked at the largest, colorful market in Turkey - the Grand Bazaar, and also got acquainted with the national Turkish cuisine. The students spent the day in one of the oldest districts of Istanbul - Kadikoy, and also took a walk in the rather conservative traditional Jewish quarter Balat.

Yeditepe University is located in the Asian part of Istanbul. The campus of the university is like a separate small city, which has absolutely everything to provide an autonomous existence and maximum time for studies. On campus, in addition to educational buildings and dormitories, there are also various cafes, restaurants, grocery and clothing stores, large lawns with benches and picnic areas, several sports fields with various halls and a swimming pool, which all students can access. Despite the huge territory of the university, it is very well-groomed and landscaped.

Our students were very pleased with the warm welcome and friendly atmosphere at the university and in Istanbul itself. According to the participants of the trip, the summer school at Yeditepe University is one of the brightest and most eventful periods of this summer. In a relatively short time spent in Istanbul, they managed not only to get acquainted with the Turkish language, but also learned a lot about Turkish culture, mentality, acquired new useful contacts. At the same time, they managed to communicate with the rector and other students at the BBQ-party, which takes place weekly on campus.

Istanbul itself struck with its beauty, scale and fell in love with itself at first sight. The city is wonderful, big, noisy, interesting, mysterious. Its location right on the border of Europe and Asia makes it very contrasting. We can say that Istanbul is a Europeanized Asian city. Here, in Asian style, no one is in a hurry. At the same time, it is clean in European style, has glass skyscrapers, large shopping centers, malls, and a modern transport network. There is a high degree of freedom and relaxation here.

As the participants of the trip note, they didn’t feel any tension and anxiety during their entire stay in this city. The locals were quite friendly, hospitable, open to communication and ready to help. We tried to find points of understanding, we could always help with any questions, advise traditional dishes and, of course, keep company. Students note that Turkish history, culture and language are now considered as one of the possible directions for future scientific activity.

What would you like to advise students who are going to visit this country. If you do not want some trifle or incident to spoil the impression of your stay in Turkey, be sure to study the traditions of the country and the peculiarities of the culture of its inhabitants before the trip. Also, it will not be unwanted to study the basics of the Turkish language and get acquainted with the most common phrases before traveling to Turkey.

Ivanovo State University and Yeditepe University started cooperation in 2007. Over the past years, dozens of our students have taken part in Russian and Turkish language programs, summer schools, completed semester-long inclusive studies at a partner university, and successfully spoke at joint international conferences.

According to the cooperation agreement, in the next academic year IvSU students will again go to Yeditepe University to participate in Turkish language courses.

Mikhailova Alla, 2nd year student of the Master's program in Sociology