we are not all born pretty much the same
not psychologically intellectually or
physiologically with the right
environment support coaching care and
luck we can all succeed we can all
improve but what if we are not that
lucky enough to have that opportunities
and what if we have to create our own
chances in most of our life persuades
our environments decide our ambition our
skills and perseverance determine the
matter of success for example in sports
it is not really important where you are
from the important thing is how fast
have strong and how accurate you are
still your environment introduce you to
some sports and withholds you from the
others I would almost say have you ever
seen a Jamaican bobsled team as an
example or in science it is not really
important where you are from as well in
science it is about the hypothesis you
formulate the facts you find and the
conclusions you draw still your
environment is more likely or less
likely to introduce you to science for
instance through visiting a university
watching Discovery Channel or reading
National Geographic this is even more
true in language learning in Turkey
English language is not present as it is
in many European countries and for that
reason our ability to speak English is
not good enough not fluent enough and we
are not fully benefitting from the
opportunities presented to us especially
all over the world
let me explain when I was a child I used
to live in a small town near Avianca
racer and there was only one public
school
unfortunately English lessons were not
available to me not like today’s
children who have already been learning
English since kindergarten or even at
second grade in public schools and when
I was six
there was a famous TV show called from 7
to 77 presented by Marsh Moncho who was
a great musician traveler and cultural
ambassador of Turkey most important of
all he was a man in search for Khan
action and he was my idol in his TV show
he traveled all around the world from
the Arctic to the Ecuador and presented
the cultures of those countries he
visited through the stories of average
citizen and each week I was eagerly
waiting for the next episode that
allowed me to discover new countries new
cultures and go beyond the borders of my
own small town at an early age I became
aware of the fact that to really
understand different cultures different
values and contact with other people I
had to learn their language but this
opportunity was not available to me
internet was in its early days Turkish
national TV channels had hardly
broadcasted English programs no one in
my family could speak English and there
was almost nothing for me to expose to
English and the only thing I could do
was just listen to the radio listen to a
literal Franklin Celine Dion or Madonna
and memorize the lyrics of their songs
at first I had no idea what they were
really about or if I really memorize the
correct words but later I started to
grasp the meanings and the emotions
attached to them and later I start to
understand the sentence and slowly but
surely I could really understand the
message of a song after a short while
and with each word I grasped I felt like
my horizon broadened and each word added
to my self of confidence and each word
made me more curious for the next as an
old saying goes curiosity is the best
teacher for me and when I was 11 I
started secondary school and I met my
first English teacher and as you all
guessed he was my favorite to simulate
my passion for learning English he
encouraged me and motivated me to write
and send letters to the foreign
embassies in Turkey I would ask for
tourism or travel brochures or any kind
of materials related to their countries
this idea was a bit weird for my father
at the beginning because he thought the
embassies had more important missions
and duties rather than answering a kid’s
letter so he didn’t want me to send but
I just wrote and sent those letters and
the results were amazing
almost all embassies sent me boxes full
of books posters booklets brochures all
kinds of colorful materials you can
imagine and in a short time I had almost
a small library full of books that at
reason faculty and white and some
embassies even were very generous they
sent me some ten pal contacts the
addresses of kids from different parts
of the world who wanted to correspond to
and wanted to get to know you more of
course I reached out and connected to
those kids and I made friends with whom
I could practice my English and people
with whom I’m still in touch today that
moment of first contact was a
breakthrough in my life when I started
to receive letters from different parts
of the world I knew I had already broken
a huge barrier gotten into any world
even beyond what my environment provided
to me only because I reached out and
connected in a different language later
I continued my education at a boarding
school far away from my family and far
away from my hometown because the
facilities were better in the city
centre in terms of foreign language
education at the beginning it was a bit
painful for me to get used to live alone
without my parents but I am really
grateful and thankful her that
experience because these made me far
more quickly independent encourages at
an early age and later I went to one of
the best universities in the turkey
Middle East Technical University in
terms of foreign language education and
my passion even after graduation opened
up more options to expand more
opportunities in international arena and
I have traveled several country
for different reasons sometimes just for
collaborating in international projects
sometimes just for attending
international conferences and sometimes
just for business deals
currently I hold a PhD in tourism
management and working as an assistant
professor at the Faculty of tourism in
mesh Mehta Narvekar University in Konya
I am a member and the director of
Foreign Affairs Commission in Konya
women and democracy Association I am
also an entrepreneur working on several
European projects with different
European partners next to this I am
teaching vocational English to tourism
students and recent studies clearly
indicate that the perception of quality
of a country as a holiday destination
are being determined by the quality of
customer experience during brief
face-to-face encounters and with tourism
stuff hotel employees and locals and
current customers and tourists are
looking for and yein for a personal
touch and connection and for this to
happen and for this development to
really accelerate transition a reform in
turkish vocational education is
necessary in terms of language teaching
when it comes to foreign language
teaching in prison departments i can say
that it is getting better and better in
terms of quality and standards when
compared to my childhood but still there
are some important problems we have to
overcome it and one of the main issues
the english lessons we provide are
mainly focused on grammar and textbook
conversation and unfortunately as a
tourism employee your grammar skills
will not help you to make you contact
with your foreign customers whether you
write colors like brits or colour like
americans you will not sell more posh –
however if you use exactly the right
word
to communicate with your customers you
will even benefit more economically when
I wrote with my Panthers my grammar was
horrible at the beginning but I just
wanted to make connections and I just
wanted to make friends for my life and
there is a common belief quite widely
spread out in Turkey that a foreign
language can only be learnt understood
and spoken by living in that country for
that reason each year several people if
they are lucky enough they travel abroad
and started to live abroad just to learn
their language but most people are not
that lucky enough to have their chances
the resources available or even to that
interest and this whole aspect and this
is what I am trying to change in my
country I have always believed my
students like anybody else need an
inspiration to have them keep moving
forward and for that I have always tried
to be universal as much as possible to
reach that part of learning that we can
all empathize with but this is not the
case for many others and so I believe my
mission in my country to make it at
least possible for my students to derive
satisfaction from the process of
learning English to show them to
motivate them showing the path for their
future carrier as successful tourism
employees and in order to achieve this
in my courses I’m trying to conduct
meaningful conversations and integrate
the main concepts of each week from
different newspaper articles famous TV
shows global discussions or hot topics
related to tourism and I truly love to
see my students eyes sparkle when they
get rid of their fears and when they
push themselves and eventually started
to express their emotions their beliefs
and their ideas in English or in a
different language as a conclusion I can
say that
find your passion and make connections
even beyond what your environment
provided my passion for learning English
allows me to reach my highest goals and
fulfill my biggest dreams as you see you
are here in front of you speaking
English to an international audience on
a TEDx stage and still connecting with
new people and different cultures so
please come and see me today I would
love to meet you thank you [Applause]
not psychologically intellectually or
physiologically with the right
environment support coaching care and
luck we can all succeed we can all
improve but what if we are not that
lucky enough to have that opportunities
and what if we have to create our own
chances in most of our life persuades
our environments decide our ambition our
skills and perseverance determine the
matter of success for example in sports
it is not really important where you are
from the important thing is how fast
have strong and how accurate you are
still your environment introduce you to
some sports and withholds you from the
others I would almost say have you ever
seen a Jamaican bobsled team as an
example or in science it is not really
important where you are from as well in
science it is about the hypothesis you
formulate the facts you find and the
conclusions you draw still your
environment is more likely or less
likely to introduce you to science for
instance through visiting a university
watching Discovery Channel or reading
National Geographic this is even more
true in language learning in Turkey
English language is not present as it is
in many European countries and for that
reason our ability to speak English is
not good enough not fluent enough and we
are not fully benefitting from the
opportunities presented to us especially
all over the world
let me explain when I was a child I used
to live in a small town near Avianca
racer and there was only one public
school
unfortunately English lessons were not
available to me not like today’s
children who have already been learning
English since kindergarten or even at
second grade in public schools and when
I was six
there was a famous TV show called from 7
to 77 presented by Marsh Moncho who was
a great musician traveler and cultural
ambassador of Turkey most important of
all he was a man in search for Khan
action and he was my idol in his TV show
he traveled all around the world from
the Arctic to the Ecuador and presented
the cultures of those countries he
visited through the stories of average
citizen and each week I was eagerly
waiting for the next episode that
allowed me to discover new countries new
cultures and go beyond the borders of my
own small town at an early age I became
aware of the fact that to really
understand different cultures different
values and contact with other people I
had to learn their language but this
opportunity was not available to me
internet was in its early days Turkish
national TV channels had hardly
broadcasted English programs no one in
my family could speak English and there
was almost nothing for me to expose to
English and the only thing I could do
was just listen to the radio listen to a
literal Franklin Celine Dion or Madonna
and memorize the lyrics of their songs
at first I had no idea what they were
really about or if I really memorize the
correct words but later I started to
grasp the meanings and the emotions
attached to them and later I start to
understand the sentence and slowly but
surely I could really understand the
message of a song after a short while
and with each word I grasped I felt like
my horizon broadened and each word added
to my self of confidence and each word
made me more curious for the next as an
old saying goes curiosity is the best
teacher for me and when I was 11 I
started secondary school and I met my
first English teacher and as you all
guessed he was my favorite to simulate
my passion for learning English he
encouraged me and motivated me to write
and send letters to the foreign
embassies in Turkey I would ask for
tourism or travel brochures or any kind
of materials related to their countries
this idea was a bit weird for my father
at the beginning because he thought the
embassies had more important missions
and duties rather than answering a kid’s
letter so he didn’t want me to send but
I just wrote and sent those letters and
the results were amazing
almost all embassies sent me boxes full
of books posters booklets brochures all
kinds of colorful materials you can
imagine and in a short time I had almost
a small library full of books that at
reason faculty and white and some
embassies even were very generous they
sent me some ten pal contacts the
addresses of kids from different parts
of the world who wanted to correspond to
and wanted to get to know you more of
course I reached out and connected to
those kids and I made friends with whom
I could practice my English and people
with whom I’m still in touch today that
moment of first contact was a
breakthrough in my life when I started
to receive letters from different parts
of the world I knew I had already broken
a huge barrier gotten into any world
even beyond what my environment provided
to me only because I reached out and
connected in a different language later
I continued my education at a boarding
school far away from my family and far
away from my hometown because the
facilities were better in the city
centre in terms of foreign language
education at the beginning it was a bit
painful for me to get used to live alone
without my parents but I am really
grateful and thankful her that
experience because these made me far
more quickly independent encourages at
an early age and later I went to one of
the best universities in the turkey
Middle East Technical University in
terms of foreign language education and
my passion even after graduation opened
up more options to expand more
opportunities in international arena and
I have traveled several country
for different reasons sometimes just for
collaborating in international projects
sometimes just for attending
international conferences and sometimes
just for business deals
currently I hold a PhD in tourism
management and working as an assistant
professor at the Faculty of tourism in
mesh Mehta Narvekar University in Konya
I am a member and the director of
Foreign Affairs Commission in Konya
women and democracy Association I am
also an entrepreneur working on several
European projects with different
European partners next to this I am
teaching vocational English to tourism
students and recent studies clearly
indicate that the perception of quality
of a country as a holiday destination
are being determined by the quality of
customer experience during brief
face-to-face encounters and with tourism
stuff hotel employees and locals and
current customers and tourists are
looking for and yein for a personal
touch and connection and for this to
happen and for this development to
really accelerate transition a reform in
turkish vocational education is
necessary in terms of language teaching
when it comes to foreign language
teaching in prison departments i can say
that it is getting better and better in
terms of quality and standards when
compared to my childhood but still there
are some important problems we have to
overcome it and one of the main issues
the english lessons we provide are
mainly focused on grammar and textbook
conversation and unfortunately as a
tourism employee your grammar skills
will not help you to make you contact
with your foreign customers whether you
write colors like brits or colour like
americans you will not sell more posh –
however if you use exactly the right
word
to communicate with your customers you
will even benefit more economically when
I wrote with my Panthers my grammar was
horrible at the beginning but I just
wanted to make connections and I just
wanted to make friends for my life and
there is a common belief quite widely
spread out in Turkey that a foreign
language can only be learnt understood
and spoken by living in that country for
that reason each year several people if
they are lucky enough they travel abroad
and started to live abroad just to learn
their language but most people are not
that lucky enough to have their chances
the resources available or even to that
interest and this whole aspect and this
is what I am trying to change in my
country I have always believed my
students like anybody else need an
inspiration to have them keep moving
forward and for that I have always tried
to be universal as much as possible to
reach that part of learning that we can
all empathize with but this is not the
case for many others and so I believe my
mission in my country to make it at
least possible for my students to derive
satisfaction from the process of
learning English to show them to
motivate them showing the path for their
future carrier as successful tourism
employees and in order to achieve this
in my courses I’m trying to conduct
meaningful conversations and integrate
the main concepts of each week from
different newspaper articles famous TV
shows global discussions or hot topics
related to tourism and I truly love to
see my students eyes sparkle when they
get rid of their fears and when they
push themselves and eventually started
to express their emotions their beliefs
and their ideas in English or in a
different language as a conclusion I can
say that
find your passion and make connections
even beyond what your environment
provided my passion for learning English
allows me to reach my highest goals and
fulfill my biggest dreams as you see you
are here in front of you speaking
English to an international audience on
a TEDx stage and still connecting with
new people and different cultures so
please come and see me today I would
love to meet you thank you [Applause]
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