Bursa, Turkey

Program Overview

The CLS Turkish Program in Bursa, Turkey provides students with the opportunity to learn Turkish through intensive language study in an immersive environment. The program covers approximately one academic year of university-level Turkish during an 8-week period. The language instruction is designed to meet the needs of students from a variety of language levels and backgrounds, including advanced students and those who are learning the language for the first time.

Formal classroom language instruction is provided for an average of four hours per day, five days per week with a focus on developing students’ reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in Turkish. Formal language instruction is then supplemented with cultural activities and excursions in Turkey, such as group trips to the local theatres, museums, and other cultural destinations. These supplemental activities are designed to expand the students’ understanding of Turkey’s history, geography and culture; as well as to provide the opportunity to use their target language outside of the classroom.

Students will live with host families, which gives them an opportunity to experience daily life inside a Turkish family and further practice their language skills outside of class. In addition to their relationship with the host family, students also have regular one-on-one meetings with language partners. Language partners are often local university students that offer not only conversational practice of Turkish, but are insight into cultural norms and customs.

All program activities will be conducted in Turkish. Furthermore, students are placed within Turkish host families and paired with Turkish language partners

The CLS Program in Bursa is hosted by the TÖMER Institute, at the Bursa Branch of Ankara University. The TÖMER Institute was founded in 1984 with the purpose of teaching Turkish to foreigners and at the time was the only institution in Turkey where Turkish was taught as a foreign language. Students will benefit from the program’s rich history and pedagogical methods. For more information about TÖMER, please visit their website.