With the "My Choice is Turkish Project" carried out by Yunus Emre Institute (YEI), Turkish started to be taught as an elective course in Romania.

Türkiye's Ambassador in Bucharest Özgür Kıvanç Altan, Bucharest Sector 3 Mayor Robert Sorin Negoita, YEI Romania Director Mustafa Yıldız, Dante Alighieri High School Principal Maria Dan, YEI instructors and students attended the first Turkish lesson that started at Dante Alighieri High School.

Turkish Lessons in Public Schools with “My Choice is Turkish Project”

With the My Choice Turkish Project implemented in Bucharest, Romanian students come together with Turkish in public schools.

The project, which was met with interest by Romania's well-established schools, started to be implemented in six schools in Bucharest, although it is in the pilot implementation phase.

Dante Alighieri Lisesi, 103 Numaralı Ortaokul, Titu Maiorescu Ortaokulu, Adrian Paunescu Ortaokulu, Sfantul Andrei Ortaokulu ve Uruguay Ortaokulu Türkçe derslerinin başladığı okullar arasında yer alıyor.

Dante Alighieri High School, Secondary School No. 103, Titu Maiorescu Secondary School, Adrian Paunescu Secondary School, Sfantul Andrei Secondary School and Uruguay Secondary School are among the schools where Turkish lessons have started.

Türkiye's Ambassador to Bucharest Altan Gave the First Turkish Lesson

The first Turkish lesson started at Dante Alighieri High School was given by Türkiye's Ambassador to Bucharest Altan.

Altan, who taught the students introduction dialogue in Turkish, presented the gifts prepared by Bucharest YEI to the students.

In his speech, Ambassador Altan pointed out that there is great interest in Turkish in Romania and stated that this is related to the historical relations between Türkiye and Romania.

Stating that the friendship between the two countries dates back to ancient times, Altan said that Romanians are trying to get to know Turkish culture and language more closely.

Altan noted that the My Choice Turkish Project is an extremely well-prepared program on this subject, "By doing the first Turkish lesson with the students, we had the chance to see first-hand how eager they were to learn Turkish. Türkiye and Romania are very close countries to each other." he said.

Emphasizing that they have built bridges with these close relations stemming from a common history, "Yunus Emre Institute is establishing these friendly relations between the two countries, as befits its name. I wholeheartedly congratulate both the schools participating in the My Choice Turkish Project, Yunus Emre Institute and the Mayor of Sector Three." "I do." Altan said.

Sector 3 Mayor Negoit stated that he was happy and proud that this project was carried out in his field of duty and thanked YEI for bringing this project to Bucharest free of charge.

Saying that they encourage students to learn Turkish and other foreign languages"Because there are long-standing cultural, economic and touristic ties between Türkiye and Romania. We want to further develop these ties. In addition, Turkish will also help us in terms of tourism. Now We will be able to have our holidays in a better way." Negoit said.

“The project will spread throughout Romania"

YEE Romania Director Yıldız stated that they started this project in Romania, which they have successfully carried out in 10 countries, and said that this project, which they started as a pilot program with approximately 400 students in 6 schools in Bucharest, will spread throughout Romania.

Yıldız explained that they will make Turkish-taught schools in Romania and schools in Türkiye "sister schools" and these students will make mutual visits.

Yıldız pointed out that the two countries will have the opportunity to get to know each other's culture closely and said:

"Our project, which will be implemented as a pilot until June for now, will spread throughout Bucharest as of September 2024 and throughout Romania in the future. In terms of cooperation, I would like to thank the Romanian Ministry of Education, our schools and our valuable students who have devoted themselves to Turkish. I wish everyone an enjoyable academic year."

Maria Dan, Principal of Dante Alighieri High School, which is the school with which the first protocol was signed in the My Preference Turkish Project, expressed that she was happy that YEI offered this opportunity, and pointed out that this is an important opportunity and the importance of Turkish.

Saying that more than 100 of 1600 students preferred to learn this language and said, "Because in the different projects we carried out with Turkey, they saw that they needed to speak not only English but also Turkish. Turkish is a fun language and has similarities with mathematics. Those who love mathematics and are good at mathematics Someone can also learn Turkish easily." Dan said

Noting that they teach students how important it is to learn a foreign language, Dan said, "Knowing Turkish is a great advantage in cultural and commercial aspects. Someone who knows Turkish can make the most of it when he finds an opportunity." she said.

With Future Projects, Countries will Get to Know Each Other's Language and Culture.

With the My Choice Turkish Project, it is aimed to increase the closeness between the two countries and cultures through education, through events to be organized in addition to teaching Turkish in schools.

In the future, the Sister School Project, which is a sub-branch of the My Choice Turkish Project, will be implemented, and students, teachers and school administrators of "sister schools" in Romania and Turkey will have the opportunity to visit each other's schools and get to know each other's language and culture.

It is planned to spread the project free of charge, first in Bucharest and then throughout Romania, with protocols to be signed with different schools in Bucharest.

The project continues to be successfully implemented in 10 countries with the positive feedback it has received since 2011.

Continuing its Turkish teaching activities throughout Romania, YEI, in addition to the Turkish courses within the cultural center, also provided Turkish courses to senior public employees in Romania with the Project on Teaching Turkish to Public Employees, enabling approximately 5 thousand people to become acquainted with Turkish.