Jahleel Johnson

Jahleel Johnson participated in the 2023 CLS Turkish Program hosted by Ankara University TÖMER Institute in Ankara, Turkey. Jahleel is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a major in Political Science and minor in German. Jahleel hopes to one day work for the U.S. Department of State and is pursuing the study of languages with that goal in mind.

Getting to Know Jahleel

I am from Aiken, South Carolina. My hobbies include collecting vinyl records, reading, and learning languages. My experience learning languages started in 2017 when I participated in my high school’s German exchange program. I had a German exchange student stay with me and my family for three weeks. A year later, I went to Munich, Germany for three weeks and stayed with a German family. After completing the program, I decided to study German in college and eventually returned to Germany with the Congress Bundestag Young Professionals Program for a year. I was placed in Berlin for most of the program and stayed with a Muslim family from Turkey. They told me my name, Jahleel, is a popular Arabic name after I told them I used to be embarrassed by my name growing up due to it being uncommon. I soon learned my name has its own variant in Turkey, Celal, which many Turks call me. My name has made connecting with people from Turkey and the Middle East easy. In fact, many Turks didn’t expect someone with my name to come from America. Moments like these allow me to establish relationships with people from other cultures. Never would I have thought my abnormal non-Anglican sounding name would be play a part in my cross-cultural experiences. I am glad to embrace this part of my identity.

Finding Mutual Understanding Through Music

I gifted my Turkish friend- my best friend- a vinyl of Taylor Swift's debut album. He told me last year that Swift was his favorite American singer and how he learns English through her music similar to me with Turkish songs. In Turkish, I explained to him that this was her debut album and that she originally started out as a country music singer before transitioning to Pop. I also shared my favorite song from the album, "Teardrops on my guitar" and how I listened to the song a lot as a child. I thought this album would be the perfect gift for him to learn English and learn more about the U.S. My favorite way of communicating with foreigners and telling them about America is through music because music is universal.

Turkish and South Carolinian Hospitality

I shared with my host community about my State, South Carolina since many have not heard of it, or don’t know where it is located on the U.S map. I shared with my community back home how similar Turkey is to South Carolina and the Southern U.S especially along the lines of hospitality. Turks are generous, kind, and caring like most people in my state.

Why Should Others Learn Turkish?

I whole-heartedly recommend others learn Turkish because it makes you one of few Americans who can speak the language. Knowing Turkish is vital to connecting with people from different cultural backgrounds and will ultimately make the world a better and more peaceful place.

Words of Advice

Don’t be afraid of mistakes, and never compare yourself to anyone else. Embrace learning. Every day you try, is another day you get better.