In 1995, the European Commission for Education issued a declaration announcing the principle that citizens of the European Union should have an adequate knowledge of at least two European languages besides their mother tongue. The aim is to achieve scientific, cultural, political and economic unity in Europe, which consists of different languages and cultures.
Students are offered German, Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Russian in the Second Foreign Language program at Istanbul Aydın University. Courses are held 3 days a week for 9 hours between 17.00-20.00. The courses continue throughout the academic year and students successful in the exams to be held at the end of the course are entitled to receive a B1 certificate. The courses are free of charge. The syllabus, prepared in line with the Common European Union Language Criteria, aims to improve listening, comprehension, speaking and writing skills. The syllabus allows learners to explore culture related to the language.
The purpose of these programs is to endear the target language to the students and make them understand how important a second foreign language is in their future lives. It also allows them to get to know a different culture, and compare it with their own.
The program, designed in line with the Common Language Criteria of the European Union, aims to help students acquire language knowledge and skills according to their level. As we live in the age of communication, the connection between countries has strengthened. While it was a MUST to know one foreign language, it is now essential to know two foreign languages. In this ever smaller world, every language you learn strengthens your communication connections and takes your social and career life up a few steps. According to statistics, English is the native language of more than 360 million people and English is used as the language of business life in many countries. It is now important to learn another language in addition to a good level of English.
In second language decisions, it is crucial to consider how your career life will be shaped, which sector you want to grow in, and the business lines of the sector you want to work in that are linked to foreign countries. Undoubtedly, you are interested in learning a second foreign language to contribute to your career life. The main purpose of many people learning a second foreign language is to support their professional life and to find better jobs. Furthermore, your purpose in learning a second foreign language may also be your interest in a language and your curiosity about the culture of the country where that language is spoken. In this case, of course, you can learn any foreign language you are interested in. There are many people wishing to learn a different language but uncertain about which language to choose. The only thing to eliminate this indecision is the purpose of your learning. Clarifying the purpose of learning a language can resolve your indecision. It would be best to make your foreign language choice in line with your career goals, which will increase your job opportunities in the sector, which you have developed or will develop, and which will enable you to approach your career goals.
German as a Second Foreign Language
German is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world with widespread use in both scientific and commercial fields. You can learn German as a second language if you want to work or develop in areas such as engineering, biochemistry, astronomy, physics, psychology, art history, . German, the most widely spoken language in the European Union, is currently the second internet language after English. Another crucial reason for preference is that Germany is home to the world's most advanced economy. You can open qualified job opportunities in Turkey by learning German.
Russian as a Second Foreign Language
Russian is now the mother tongue of 160 million people according to statistics. The number of Russian-speaking people is scattered over a vast region. Russia is a country open to commercial development. Job opportunities are increasing everyday, and there are plenty of investment opportunities. If you are progressing in construction and architecture, Russian may be your second language choice. It is also ideal for those working in the tourism sector and business people.
Spanish as a Second Foreign Language
Spanish is the native language of 400 million people worldwide. You can learn Spanish as a second language if your career goals include agriculture, finance, business, communications, construction, criminology, emergency services, journalism, medicine, teaching, travel industry, etc.
French as a Second Foreign Language
French is another significant language of the business world. French may be your second language of choice if you have career goals in fields of fine arts, architecture, cinema, culinary culture, civil engineering, dance, international relations, fashion, linguistics, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, science, space/air sciences, telecommunications and theater. According to statistics, French is spoken by more than 300 million people worldwide, and is an essential liaison language with countries with developing economic markets.
Italian as a Second Foreign Language
Italian is the mother tongue of 70 million people in and around Italy. As the language of culture, Italian can be learned by anyone wishing to develop in fields like business, art, fashion, technology, music, literature, and international relations.
Chinese as a Second Foreign Language
Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world as a mother tongue. The Mandarin dialect is spoken by about one billion people. Considering China is the most populated country in the world, with more than a billion people, it is not surprising that its official language is also at the top of the list. Chinese is the most difficult language to learn, because almost every word has four different pronunciations. Chinese is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. We can list many reasons for the importance of knowing a foreign language. Especially today, not speaking a foreign language may negatively impact your career.
Arabic as a Second Foreign Language
Like any other language, Arabic is undoubtedly a means of communication for engaging with Arab peoples and societies. If you want to study in Arab universities, trade with Arab countries, analyze Arab societies and access Arab resources, you can learn Arabic.
Korean as a Second Foreign Language
The importance of the Korean language is increasing every day. Especially the low number of speakers and the investments of Korean companies in our country increases the importance of this language. Learning Korean is much easier than learning English.
Countries closest to Turkey in terms of culture are South Korea and North Korea. It is well known that we are very close to these two countries both culturally and in terms of trade. The official language in South Korea and North Korea is Korean. Everyone speaks only Korean. Korean, known to be a very difficult language, is one of the languages that pose the biggest problems in learning.
Turkey has intensive trade and international contacts with these two countries. Every company doing business in Turkey definitely needs an employee fluent in Korean. In this period when foreign language is so crucial, many people can easily get a job with Korean language knowledge.
Private tutoring is known as the most practical way to learn Korean. This language, which is hard to learn, needs to be learned by a qualified instructor and speaking it comfortably. Thanks to this language, which can be learned in a much shorter time with a quality education, you will be able to find applications easily in the business world. You can gain a much healthier business life with the self-confidence of a second language.
Japanese as a Second Foreign Language
Few people speak English outside of big companies in Japan. In many companies in the business world, when you approach these people in Japanese, not English, they somehow hire you. Of course, you can do everything in English on Sony and Toyota. In America, as in many countries of the world, there is a high interest in Japanese because Japan has a lot of big companies.
Japan has three alphabets. "Hiragana", "Katagana" and "Kanji". Hiragana is an easy alphabet for beginners. It is usually in cartoons and for children. Those who start learning Japanese have to start with that one. Katagana is a special alphabet for words coming into Japanese from the outside. Kanji is the most difficult alphabet. If you don't know kanji, you can't read newspapers in Japan, those who don't finish high school can't read newspapers, and you can watch TV, but you can't understand it.
Japanese is not very distant from Turkish. The words change with the suffixes at the end of the roots. Sentence order, conjunctions, and verbs are the same. There is no difference in pronunciation; the glottal one is Chinese. An aunt selling gözleme in Cappadocia can learn Japanese more easily than English or Spanish. There is a saying in Japan: "The person who learns our language can do difficult things well." It is necessary to combine this saying with our saying; "There is no gain without pain."
Learning Japanese culture is more difficult than learning Japanese. Nevertheless, it is one of the societies in the east that you can feel somehow close to.
You also realize very special things when you are learning. Some people's job is solely to write, to write the kanji correctly in Japan. For them it is a very sacred thing. For example, they don't understand that word if you don't follow the order of drawing. You have to write according to the order of drawing.
