A SEASIDE VIEW / Reaching out to helping hands
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Hasan Bayrak
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 24, 2009 00:00
DİDİM - As expat circles become more common in Didim, they are increasingly offering a helping hand to their Turkish hosts in an attempt to bridge cultures. Now, a private school is looking to the community for help teaching its students conversational English.
Özel Yuzyıl Bezci Koleji, a private college, has taken steps to try to tap into the potential of the British expats skills and help Turkish children learn how to speak English.
Teachers at the school, which is based between Aydin and Nazilli, talked this week to the Didim Chatty Chicks women’s group in a bid to find willing members to take up conversational classes with the school’s students.
The "classroom bridge between two communities" came about after the school decided it needed native English speakers to help their children better understand the language and speak more confidently.
The school is only a year old. It was set up for children from 6-18 years old. It has modern facilities, with high-tech equipment and a fitness center.
Yeter Delibaş, a teacher at the school who returned to Turkey after working in the United Kingdom for 15 years, said: "Speaking, understanding and writing English is now becoming an essential part of children’s curriculum and the teaching of it within the school reflects the importance we put on it.
"But while we are able to offer classes for the children, we felt it would be a good idea to approach the British expat community through Chatty Chicks and recruit native speakers who can correct the children when they speak English."
She, owner Nuray Bezci and head teacher Ali Yavaş were present at the Chatty Chicks meeting. Delibaş, who has two children and trained as a biologist at Canterbury, England, said: "I think we are the first college in the Aegean region, and one of the first in Turkey, to realize and take advantage of the skills of native English speakers.
"I discovered through my niece at Didim Belediye that there was a huge British community, and we thought we would turn to them first. My niece, through the press relations department, got in touch with Chatty Chicks to enable us to make the offer."
It is hoped that members of Chatty Chicks will be able to attend the school on a rota basis during the week and be able to talk to students in the classroom during English lessons.
They will be asked to speak on certain topics and engage the children in conversation, so that they can learn from their mistakes and understand the language.
"We want to unlock the potential that the British have by passing on their guidance on the language to Turkish children," Delibaş said. "Our students will then be equipped with the way English is spoken and written."
Chatty Chicks co-founder Chris Marshall said, "It is a marvelous idea, and hopefully the group will be able to help the school in any way it can.
"It is also nice that the British community can help in a proactive way for its adopted hosts. It is another bridge between the two communities."
Teachers at the school, which is based between Aydin and Nazilli, talked this week to the Didim Chatty Chicks women’s group in a bid to find willing members to take up conversational classes with the school’s students.
The "classroom bridge between two communities" came about after the school decided it needed native English speakers to help their children better understand the language and speak more confidently.
The school is only a year old. It was set up for children from 6-18 years old. It has modern facilities, with high-tech equipment and a fitness center.
Yeter Delibaş, a teacher at the school who returned to Turkey after working in the United Kingdom for 15 years, said: "Speaking, understanding and writing English is now becoming an essential part of children’s curriculum and the teaching of it within the school reflects the importance we put on it.
"But while we are able to offer classes for the children, we felt it would be a good idea to approach the British expat community through Chatty Chicks and recruit native speakers who can correct the children when they speak English."
She, owner Nuray Bezci and head teacher Ali Yavaş were present at the Chatty Chicks meeting. Delibaş, who has two children and trained as a biologist at Canterbury, England, said: "I think we are the first college in the Aegean region, and one of the first in Turkey, to realize and take advantage of the skills of native English speakers.
"I discovered through my niece at Didim Belediye that there was a huge British community, and we thought we would turn to them first. My niece, through the press relations department, got in touch with Chatty Chicks to enable us to make the offer."
It is hoped that members of Chatty Chicks will be able to attend the school on a rota basis during the week and be able to talk to students in the classroom during English lessons.
They will be asked to speak on certain topics and engage the children in conversation, so that they can learn from their mistakes and understand the language.
"We want to unlock the potential that the British have by passing on their guidance on the language to Turkish children," Delibaş said. "Our students will then be equipped with the way English is spoken and written."
Chatty Chicks co-founder Chris Marshall said, "It is a marvelous idea, and hopefully the group will be able to help the school in any way it can.
"It is also nice that the British community can help in a proactive way for its adopted hosts. It is another bridge between the two communities."