By Sule Kivanc-Ancieta | Board Director and Project Coordinator
Dear Friends,
We are happy to announce a multicultural initiative led by our BTF youth members around the world. Participation continues to grow and now encompasses three continents. Joined with a common purpose to build relationships through cultural bridges and give back to our homeland, BTF youth members are helping BTF scholars in Turkiye develop working skills to communicate in the English language with confidence. The impact of their collective work has been life changing as evidenced by testimonials from both members and scholars.
BTF English Empowerment Program
In Turkey, English is highly valued in all areas of society, including business, technology, and medicine. Speaking English fluently can greatly improve quality of life and create new job opportunities. Most students and adults spend years learning English grammar, comprehension, and vocabulary. Unfortunately, due to a lack of access to native English speakers, students in Turkiye struggle to find opportunities to practice speaking and listening.
Turkey is the world 16th largest economy and globally connected, but English proficiency in Turkey is low compared to more developed countries. In 2020, Turkey ranked #69 of 100 countries in the EF (Education First) English Proficiency Index.
BTF English Empowerment 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. High school students in the US are paired up with one or more university students receiving a BTF scholarship through local NGO’s in Turkiye. The participants connect through video conferencing applications and schedule conversational video calls with each other once a week (2 sessions of 30 minutes or 1 hour a week). The students are paired based on career interests. As a result, the high school students in the US are also able to learn about a particular field of study by talking to a college level student in Turkey.
This might be the first time the students in Turkey hear a native person speak or talk to a native person in English. Native speaking English teachers are rare in Turkey and most families can’t afford private English lessons. Our weekly conversation classes are free and built on mutual engagement to help provide the same access to native speakers for everyone.
The BTF English Empowerment Program started in June 2020, with 10 participants in Chicago, US and 10 students in Kocaeli, Turkey. After a promising two quarters, BTF Program Sponsors have decided to expand it nationwide as it has garnered interest from Boston, San Diego, Seattle, New York, North Carolina, New Orleans BTF Youth. As of now, the program is running worldwide. There are currently 70 participants in the program. Thirty five BTF youth members in the US, Bolivia, and Switzerland and 35 scholars in Turkey.
Through this program, students in different countries also foster international friendships and cultural exchange. Most of the BTF Youth group members are Turkish-American, whether 1st or 2nd generation, or Americans interested in learning about other cultures and the program provides them an opportunity to learn more about Turkish culture and day to day life. This program has not only greatly benefited the Turkish students, also have fostered international friendships.
Kind Regards,
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
