#19a Travelogue Kyrgyzstan & Turkey: Mid-air language issues
On the plane from Bishkek 🇰🇬 to Istanbul 🇹🇷 cabin crew handed out Covid-19 forms for entering Turkey. The forms were in Turkish and English. Several passengers approached the busy air hostesses in Russian for help with filling in the forms but none of them spoke even a word of Russian. At some point, one of them just shouted "English!!!" after a stubborn passenger's repeated attempts.
I wonder what the Kyrgyz passengers thought - a) the cabin crew should speak Russian, b) I should speak English or c) Kyrgyz and Turks should understand each other.
c) is Panturkism – the idea that all Turkic nations should be united. I heard one air hostess asking a passenger: “Do you want chay or su?” – It’s a start.
---Vocab---
📍cabin crew = people working on planes to serve passengers 📍approach sb = ask sb for help or information 📍air hostess = female cabin crew 📍stubborn = not giving up 📍attempt = try
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey #kyrgyzstan
On the plane from Bishkek 🇰🇬 to Istanbul 🇹🇷 cabin crew handed out Covid-19 forms for entering Turkey. The forms were in Turkish and English. Several passengers approached the busy air hostesses in Russian for help with filling in the forms but none of them spoke even a word of Russian. At some point, one of them just shouted "English!!!" after a stubborn passenger's repeated attempts.
I wonder what the Kyrgyz passengers thought - a) the cabin crew should speak Russian, b) I should speak English or c) Kyrgyz and Turks should understand each other.
c) is Panturkism – the idea that all Turkic nations should be united. I heard one air hostess asking a passenger: “Do you want chay or su?” – It’s a start.
---Vocab---
📍cabin crew = people working on planes to serve passengers 📍approach sb = ask sb for help or information 📍air hostess = female cabin crew 📍stubborn = not giving up 📍attempt = try
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey #kyrgyzstan
#19b Travelogue Kyrgyzstan & Turkey: More mid-air language issues
We’re still on that interesting flight from Bishkek to Istanbul. Something else happened that made me think Kyrgyz and Turks should really understand each other without using Russian or English, if only they try.
When looking at those Turkish-English Covid-19 forms my Kyrgyz seat neighbour was totally puzzled, not understanding a word of what was written there. I asked him if he needed help and then explained it all in Uzbek. And – voilà – he understood!
Now try speaking Uzbek to a Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan or Kyrgyz to an Uzbek in Uzbekistan and you may get negative reactions. They could understand if they tried but they just don’t feel they should. But an emergency situation can change everything.
---Vocab---
📍form = a document that you fill with information about yourself 📍puzzled = confused 📍 voilà = (from French) used when saying sth surprising
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey #kyrgyzstan
We’re still on that interesting flight from Bishkek to Istanbul. Something else happened that made me think Kyrgyz and Turks should really understand each other without using Russian or English, if only they try.
When looking at those Turkish-English Covid-19 forms my Kyrgyz seat neighbour was totally puzzled, not understanding a word of what was written there. I asked him if he needed help and then explained it all in Uzbek. And – voilà – he understood!
Now try speaking Uzbek to a Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan or Kyrgyz to an Uzbek in Uzbekistan and you may get negative reactions. They could understand if they tried but they just don’t feel they should. But an emergency situation can change everything.
---Vocab---
📍form = a document that you fill with information about yourself 📍puzzled = confused 📍 voilà = (from French) used when saying sth surprising
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey #kyrgyzstan
#20 Travelogue Turkey: Hagia Sophia
Spot the difference: Istanbul during a previous visit in 2011 and now in late 2020.
Perhaps you saw it in the news not long ago – Turkey’s president Erdoğan decided in a highly symbolic move that the old Hagia Sophia which was built as a church in 537, then became a mosque in 1453 and eventually a museum in 1935 should become a mosque again in 2020.
Check out the looong history of that place: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
I wasn’t unhappy about the change because mosques have much better opening hours than museums (especially in times of corona) and are free to enter as well. And the atmosphere inside is even more authentic as a place of worship. However, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of mosques in Istanbul and the museum was also interesting to visit.
---Vocab---
📍move (noun) = decision 📍eventually = finally 📍worship = praying 📍shortage = not enough
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
Spot the difference: Istanbul during a previous visit in 2011 and now in late 2020.
Perhaps you saw it in the news not long ago – Turkey’s president Erdoğan decided in a highly symbolic move that the old Hagia Sophia which was built as a church in 537, then became a mosque in 1453 and eventually a museum in 1935 should become a mosque again in 2020.
Check out the looong history of that place: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
I wasn’t unhappy about the change because mosques have much better opening hours than museums (especially in times of corona) and are free to enter as well. And the atmosphere inside is even more authentic as a place of worship. However, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of mosques in Istanbul and the museum was also interesting to visit.
---Vocab---
📍move (noun) = decision 📍eventually = finally 📍worship = praying 📍shortage = not enough
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
#21 Travelogue Turkey: Kitty city
Meow! – this sound belongs to the soundscape of Istanbul. It feels like the city is populated by as many cats as humans. Cats can be seen in parks, around mosques, basically in every street and even in metro stations.
Although they are street cats they live quite well and don’t need to fight over food as cat-loving citizens provide them with leftover human food and proper cat food as well. Volunteers even put up boxes as night shelters.
But why?
🔘 Cats come from in the Middle East and were domesticated in Ancient Egypt. They’ve been in this world region for a long time.
🔘 They are seen as clean animals by Muslims.
🔘 People can afford to feed not only themselves but also cats in Istanbul.
🔘 The city is more westernised and European pet craze may have had an influence.
---Vocab---
📍soundscape = the sounds in an environment 📍shelter = safe place 📍domesticate = turn a wild animal into a pet 📍craze = being crazy about sth
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
Meow! – this sound belongs to the soundscape of Istanbul. It feels like the city is populated by as many cats as humans. Cats can be seen in parks, around mosques, basically in every street and even in metro stations.
Although they are street cats they live quite well and don’t need to fight over food as cat-loving citizens provide them with leftover human food and proper cat food as well. Volunteers even put up boxes as night shelters.
But why?
🔘 Cats come from in the Middle East and were domesticated in Ancient Egypt. They’ve been in this world region for a long time.
🔘 They are seen as clean animals by Muslims.
🔘 People can afford to feed not only themselves but also cats in Istanbul.
🔘 The city is more westernised and European pet craze may have had an influence.
---Vocab---
📍soundscape = the sounds in an environment 📍shelter = safe place 📍domesticate = turn a wild animal into a pet 📍craze = being crazy about sth
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
#3 Travel Notes: Mount Ararat
▶️ Borders are weird sometimes. Mount Ararat is the national symbol of 🇦🇲Armenia although it is entirely in 🇹🇷Turkey. The sight of the mountain is truly impressive and graces (=make sth more attractive) the Yerevan cityscape (=landscape of a city), especially when there is less air pollution. The mountain is 5,137 metres high. Read more about it on Wikipedia.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #armenia #turkey
▶️ Borders are weird sometimes. Mount Ararat is the national symbol of 🇦🇲Armenia although it is entirely in 🇹🇷Turkey. The sight of the mountain is truly impressive and graces (=make sth more attractive) the Yerevan cityscape (=landscape of a city), especially when there is less air pollution. The mountain is 5,137 metres high. Read more about it on Wikipedia.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #armenia #turkey
#8 Travel Notes: Love yourself
▶️ Flags are magical things. They are powerful symbols that express the essence (=innermost quality or character) of a nation. However, it’s not that easy if your feelings towards your nation are so incredibly overwhelming (=making you feel so strongly that you cannot think clearly) that one simple flag is not enough. So what can you do if you know you live in the world’s best country, i.e. 🇹🇷Turkey? You can a) put up lots of small flags, b) go for (=choose) one huge flag, or c) let Atatürk help you out once more.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
▶️ Flags are magical things. They are powerful symbols that express the essence (=innermost quality or character) of a nation. However, it’s not that easy if your feelings towards your nation are so incredibly overwhelming (=making you feel so strongly that you cannot think clearly) that one simple flag is not enough. So what can you do if you know you live in the world’s best country, i.e. 🇹🇷Turkey? You can a) put up lots of small flags, b) go for (=choose) one huge flag, or c) let Atatürk help you out once more.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
#9 Travel Notes: Déjà vu
(=sth you feel you have seen before)
▶️ There are a few things in 🇹🇷Turkey that look strangely familiar to someone living in 🇺🇿Uzbekistan. Here’s what:
🔹 Dummy police cars – Can’t control the traffic? Put up a few dummies (=fake object) to scare at least those who aren’t familiar with the local area.
🔹 Shops called “markets” – “Shop” doesn’t sound as cool and modern as “market”, which is derived from (=comes from) the globally used Anglicism (=English word in another language) “mini market”. Sadly, it’s a mistranslation.
🔹 Education centres – Uzbekistan is so full of education centres that there’s hardly room for anything else. Foreign tourists often have no clue what this IELTS thing is in Uzbekistan. In Turkey, however, it’s a thing (=it’s a phenomenon, sth that people know about) as well.
🔹 Big Bens – These classically designed modern-day clock towers are able to take any small town to the next level.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
(=sth you feel you have seen before)
▶️ There are a few things in 🇹🇷Turkey that look strangely familiar to someone living in 🇺🇿Uzbekistan. Here’s what:
🔹 Dummy police cars – Can’t control the traffic? Put up a few dummies (=fake object) to scare at least those who aren’t familiar with the local area.
🔹 Shops called “markets” – “Shop” doesn’t sound as cool and modern as “market”, which is derived from (=comes from) the globally used Anglicism (=English word in another language) “mini market”. Sadly, it’s a mistranslation.
🔹 Education centres – Uzbekistan is so full of education centres that there’s hardly room for anything else. Foreign tourists often have no clue what this IELTS thing is in Uzbekistan. In Turkey, however, it’s a thing (=it’s a phenomenon, sth that people know about) as well.
🔹 Big Bens – These classically designed modern-day clock towers are able to take any small town to the next level.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
#85 Travelogue Tukey: Try something new
▶️ Without the many new things to try, travelling would be half as interesting. Let’s explore 🇹🇷Turkey for some weird stuff:
Unripe melons
The taste is cucumber plus x, and it is eaten with a dash of salt. Quite special, especially when sold by unripe people!
Carob
Chocolate hanging down from a tree? Yes, this fruit has a chocolatey flavour indeed but think of it more as a wood-flavoured chocolate.
Mussels
This iconic Izmir street food is enjoyed with lemon juice. ‘Enjoyed’ of course only if you’re into seafood.
Atom Tea
Wipe out all the germs and viruses that trouble you in one go. Boom!
Situation
Apparently this refers to a drink. Hot or cold, alcoholic or not – maybe that’s up to the situation.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
▶️ Without the many new things to try, travelling would be half as interesting. Let’s explore 🇹🇷Turkey for some weird stuff:
Unripe melons
The taste is cucumber plus x, and it is eaten with a dash of salt. Quite special, especially when sold by unripe people!
Carob
Chocolate hanging down from a tree? Yes, this fruit has a chocolatey flavour indeed but think of it more as a wood-flavoured chocolate.
Mussels
This iconic Izmir street food is enjoyed with lemon juice. ‘Enjoyed’ of course only if you’re into seafood.
Atom Tea
Wipe out all the germs and viruses that trouble you in one go. Boom!
Situation
Apparently this refers to a drink. Hot or cold, alcoholic or not – maybe that’s up to the situation.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
#10 Travel Notes: Sights of Istanbul
▶️ Let’s forget about the touristy parts of the city and do sightseeing of a different kind today:
🔹 The Water
The city’s most spectacular views can be enjoyed from a boat – the silhouette (=dark shadow or shape seen against the light) of the big mosques and the bridge connecting Asia and Europe.
🔹 The Streets
Some of Istanbul’s streets are just nice places to be. That’s not because of one particular thing, it’s a combination.
🔹 Street Art
Graffiti (=writing or painting on walls in public places) and surreal (=unreal, like in a dream) paintings on house walls – this really gives Istanbul a European feel.
🔹 Cats
Erdoğan may be the president of Turkey but Istanbul is ruled by cats actually.
🔹 Living Walls
Along the many big roads you can find walls that are vertical (=up and down) gardens. Never seen that elsewhere!
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
▶️ Let’s forget about the touristy parts of the city and do sightseeing of a different kind today:
🔹 The Water
The city’s most spectacular views can be enjoyed from a boat – the silhouette (=dark shadow or shape seen against the light) of the big mosques and the bridge connecting Asia and Europe.
🔹 The Streets
Some of Istanbul’s streets are just nice places to be. That’s not because of one particular thing, it’s a combination.
🔹 Street Art
Graffiti (=writing or painting on walls in public places) and surreal (=unreal, like in a dream) paintings on house walls – this really gives Istanbul a European feel.
🔹 Cats
Erdoğan may be the president of Turkey but Istanbul is ruled by cats actually.
🔹 Living Walls
Along the many big roads you can find walls that are vertical (=up and down) gardens. Never seen that elsewhere!
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #turkey
#86 Travelogue Greece: The Old Continent
▶️ Sometimes you can feel how global forces shape life on a local level. It is said that Europe is an old continent and that the 21st century belongs to Asia. You realise just how true that is when you cross the sea from 🇹🇷Turkey (Asia) to 🇬🇷Greece (Europe). Let’s take a closer look:
History
You’ll find ruins of lost empires all around the Mediterranean. Greece is full of protected ruins while in Turkey you don’t see them much. It’s more modern there.
Population
The Turkish side is quite crowded but in Greece you see fewer people, and most are old, locals as well as tourists.
Economy
Turkey is cheap, tourism is booming and there is lots of construction going on. On the Greek side it’s not like that at all.
👆 You can replace Greece with Europe and Turkey with Asia and it’ll be just as true.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #greece #turkey
▶️ Sometimes you can feel how global forces shape life on a local level. It is said that Europe is an old continent and that the 21st century belongs to Asia. You realise just how true that is when you cross the sea from 🇹🇷Turkey (Asia) to 🇬🇷Greece (Europe). Let’s take a closer look:
History
You’ll find ruins of lost empires all around the Mediterranean. Greece is full of protected ruins while in Turkey you don’t see them much. It’s more modern there.
Population
The Turkish side is quite crowded but in Greece you see fewer people, and most are old, locals as well as tourists.
Economy
Turkey is cheap, tourism is booming and there is lots of construction going on. On the Greek side it’s not like that at all.
👆 You can replace Greece with Europe and Turkey with Asia and it’ll be just as true.
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #greece #turkey
Forwarded from Hoffmann's Travelogue (Joho)
Travelogue 🇹🇷Turkey #1: Visiting a school in Turkey
▶️ It's a paradox (=sth that doesn't fit together). Turkey is so much in the middle of everything but doesn't have a middle itself. Eastern Turkey and Western Turkey are worlds apart (=very different). Here in the East, teachers are sent from the West to civilise the crude (=rough, uncultured) Easterners - mainly local Kurdish and Syrian refugee children.
Many things remind me of Uzbekistan. The patriotism, the hospitality, the whole feel of the place. But there are also differences: Most of teachers smoke during the break, students and teachers speak different languages, and a lot of the school's equipment is donated (=given for free as a help) by the EU to lessen (=reduce) the migration pressure on Europe.
📍Şanlıurfa, Turkey
#turkey #culture
▶️ It's a paradox (=sth that doesn't fit together). Turkey is so much in the middle of everything but doesn't have a middle itself. Eastern Turkey and Western Turkey are worlds apart (=very different). Here in the East, teachers are sent from the West to civilise the crude (=rough, uncultured) Easterners - mainly local Kurdish and Syrian refugee children.
Many things remind me of Uzbekistan. The patriotism, the hospitality, the whole feel of the place. But there are also differences: Most of teachers smoke during the break, students and teachers speak different languages, and a lot of the school's equipment is donated (=given for free as a help) by the EU to lessen (=reduce) the migration pressure on Europe.
📍Şanlıurfa, Turkey
#turkey #culture