Turkish Educational System

English As a Second Language

Turkey’s national language is obviously Turkish, but English is also a required language in school, especially at the college level.  It isn’t like America, where learning a foreign language in high school is required, but students are not expected to be fluent in it.  Students in Turkey began to learn English when they are around 4th to 5th grade. In some schools it begins right away in1st grade.  My Turkish buddy told me that some high schools will do one full year of only English classes and then everything is taught in English, but in others English may be taught throughout the four years.  When they reach college they will have a year of “Prep School” in English.  During this time they will not take any courses for their majors, but only English courses to polish up their English so they can prepare for the later years of college courses that are mostly taught in English.  After the completion of the courses they will take an exam that will determine their English proficiency.  If they do not pass then they have to retake that year of “Prep School”.