BTF Youth English Empowerment Program Update
BTF youth leaders around the world participate in online conversational English sessions with BTF college students in Turkey to help them practice their speaking and understanding of the English language through the English Empowerment Program.
The program brings together students from all over the world for online English language practice sessions to help Turkish students improve their speaking and listening skills through regular conversation. The pilot program began in June 2020 and has been going on for 23 months. It is currently expanding nationally.
English is highly respected in Turkey across the board, particularly in business, technology, and medicine. Fluency in English can significantly enhance one’s life quality and open up new work possibilities. Most students and adults study English grammar, comprehension, and vocabulary for years. Unfortunately, students in Turkey struggle to find opportunities to practice speaking and listening due to a lack of access to native English speakers.
The program is intended to be the modern equivalent of a “pen pal program”, but instead of writing to each other, the students talk to each other with the goal of improving the Turkish students’ English speaking. To apply, the students attend the mandatory informational Zoom meeting along with the application form where they fill out questions about their hobbies and career interests, which helps BTF pair up students from the Youth group with Turkish students. By doing this, while students in Turkey improve their English, the students in the youth group are learning about college life related to their field interests. There are 3 seasons: winter, fall, and spring. Each season lasts for 10 weeks and it is mandatory to talk to the partner for an hour each week. There is a 2-week break between the seasons where if the partnered group could not get to talk to each other for 10 hours they can make up during that time. At the end of 1 year, the members get a “Volunteer Participant” award.
In BTF, our coordinators make sure to partner up with the universities that have the most need of our help.
Down below is the list of all the Turkish schools we partnered up with:
o Kocaeli (Necmettin Erbakan ve Kocaeli Üniversitesi)
o Çanakkale 18 Mart Üniversitesi
o Konya Selçuk Üniversitesi
o Adana Çukurova Üniversitesi
o Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi
o Trabzon (Karadeniz Teknik ve Trabzon Üniversitesi)
I have been a student in BTF Youth since the summer of 2021, and this is the 3rd season that I am doing it. I got to learn so many things about college life and Turkey by talking to them, and I also got to help their English and see how they improved their speaking skills. My BTF partners became a part of my life, where we text each other just to check up on each other, and I get excited every time I call them. I know what they want in their lives and what they want to achieve and so do they about those in my life. We talk about TV shows, songs, sports, school life, food, and so many other things. It has affected my life in a very positive way and I can tell it has done the same with my partners as well.
The other BTF Youth members have been very satisfied with the program as well. “The opportunity to gain deep insights into a student’s way of living is immeasurable,” says Selim Onay, who has been in the BTF Youth group since he was in high school. He currently is in college but continues the program. “My BTF partners have been optimistic individuals who are primed to study and take advantage of their surroundings despite worldwide and Turkish professional trends”. The same thing can be said about our Turkish partners as well. “My BTF experience continues very nicely. Although I was hesitant about starting because of my language level, I can now speak English more confidently. At the same time, I have made a very good friend in this project,” says Nazlinur, who has been my partner for over 7 months.
BTF continues to expand worldwide. We currently have 32 students in 8 states in America, 1 in Bolivia, and 1 in Switzerland, and we have a total of 35 students in Turkey, and 70 teens in total all around the world. We are excited to help more students as we expand and grow together.
To change and impact someone’s life in this way as a teenager has been very intriguing. I could never think that I could help someone so that they can improve their second language which affects their future lives, and I am forever grateful to be in this project. We created a project where all of our lives change as we get to know our partners; we learn from them and they learn from us. To know that there is someone in Turkey who is happy to talk to me and share her life is amazing.
If you are interested in participating, , please contact
btf-chicago@bridgetoturkey.org.
Bridge to Türkiye Fund (BTF) is a US based, volunteer run, charitable non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions made to BTF are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by IRS. BTF’s tax identification number is 58–678580.
