Students learning Turkish in Poland on the rise

By Meltem

WARSAW

Polish students learning Turkish as a second language through the Yunus Emre Institute in Poland are on the rise, according to the chairman of the institute’s Warsaw office.

Since it was established in 2013, the institute’s Turkish Cultural Centre has taught hundreds of people Turkish in Poland, Ozturk Emiroglu told Anadolu Agency in an interview.

More than 600 Poles have so far qualified for their certificates, Emiroglu said.

He said people in Poland were coming to their institute to learn Turkish for various reasons.

“Firstly, most students come to learn Turkish because they have Turkish friends. Secondly, some people who vacationed in Turkey say they now want to learn the language.

“Thirdly, people want to learn Turkish to gain the advantage of knowing an uncommon language,” he said.

Agnieszka Lesiczka, a student doing her Ph. D in Turkish language and who has been lecturing at the institute for three said the number of students increasing at the institute with each passing year.

“At first, we had fewer students. However, when the students told their friends: ‘Turkish is more logical and mathematical, and easier compared to English,’ the number of course attendees increased,” Lesiczka said.

Emiroglu said the institute works in coordination with universities teaching Turkish to promote the language around the world.

Apart from teaching the language, the institute provides workshops and courses in the arts, including silk painting, photography and traditional Turkish music, he said.

The Yunus Emre Institute is Turkish government’s non-profit organization named after the famous Turkish poet. It has taught Turkish language and culture to thousands of people across the world in 36 countries since its inception in 2009.