SPbU’s students at the summer school of Turk studies in Ankara
In Ankara, the international summer school of Turkish language has finished its work. During a month, 17 SPbU’s students studied at the Yunus Emre Institute.
This year, Turkey invited about 700 international students for the short-term course. As a rule, any state can be represented by only 10 students, but Turkey made an exception for SPbU and accepted 17 its students.
In April, St Petersburg University was visited by Turkish Ambassador in the Russian Federation Huseyin Derioz to discuss areas for collaboration in academic exchange between Russian and Turkish universities. He spoke in Turkish with the SPbU’s professors and students and said that the Turk school at SPbU was regarded as the most successful one in Russia.
During the lessons, the students could enlarge their vocabulary and listening skills. As the school invited students across the world, they could meet new people and socialize. Importantly, Turkish was the language they all communicated in.
At the University, as a rule, we mainly read classical literature, while during the summer school we used Turkish books and studied texts about sports, nature, and politics. The school in Turkey was a good bonus to what I had already studied at the University.
SPbU’s student Nikolai Geiger
The summer school of Turk studies was held in Ankara, where students spent three weeks and then traveled to Istanbul. The programme was quite ambitious: there were lectures, seminars on the Turkish language and literature, and excursions to the historic sites. In Istanbul, the students visited Hagia Sophia, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Topkapı Palace, and Gülhane Park. Besides, they had a boat trip to the Büyükada in the Bosphorus, which is the largest of the nine so-called Princes' Islands.
“We visited such places as Bursa, Eskişehir, Yalova, Amasra, Konya, and Safranbolu that is added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites, and Cappadocia, one of the most picturesque places in Turkey, — said Nikolai Geiger. — In Ankara, we visited the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in the ancient castle. Most of all I was impressed by Anıtkabir Mausoleum who was the founder of the Republic of Turkey”.
In the Turkish capital, the students visited the official residence of the President where there was an official ceremony during which the Turkish Prime-Minister Binali Yıldırım delivered a speech. Besides, the students received a certificate which they can use as a privilege when entering the Turkish universities. The students hope that SPbU will arrange such trips on a regular basis, which can help students in the Turk studies get insight into the Turkish language, history, and culture.