"Ne var ne yok?"
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This mean's "What's going on?" in Turkish, or something to that effect. It's one of the only Turkish phrases I know.
It's always angered me that my mom never taught me Turkish. She said, "It just wasn't common in the 80s to teach your kids your native language." Excuses, mom, excuses.
So instead of complaining to my mom, or trying with Rosetta Stone (not my cup of tea), I found a language course here in San Diego. As soon as I found it, I signed up right away. I'm thrilled. Not just for learning the language, but because I get to learn something new!
I've realized that when I'm feeling stuck in a rut, bored and disenchanted with life, it's because I'm not learning anything. I am an eternal student. I'm always craving knowledge and always wanting to see and experience new things. Since I can't take a vacation anytime soon (stupid vacation hours at work), I knew I needed to find something in SD that will fill my brain with something useful, so I don't feel so useless.
So the next time someone asks me, "ne var ne yok?" I can reply, "fantastic!"
Er, but in Turkish.
"Harika." Which reminds me, I used to work with a woman named "Harika." Good times...
ReplyDeleteCanim...you are not alone. My mom never taught me Turkish either. :( Her excuse was...she was the only one speaking it and since a baby can't talk back she never even tried. :( Crap crap crap.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm in Istanbul though I do speak it but it takes a while. Self-study books, movies, and all helped. But it sure sucks not to know it as perfect. :(
Merhaba Ashley, dont hesitate to send me a message whenever you want to practice Turkish! I think I can help you learn Turkish slang what you can't learn in a language course. Tamam ? =)
ReplyDeleteMy best friends' Peruvian mom never taught them Spanish, because she didn't want to class them as immigrants or something (I'm paraphrasing, she would never put it like that). It's really unfortunate that the dominant trend in the 80s was assimilation to the point of losing your language... but hey, at least you're doing something about it now. It's totally possible to get ahead on your own (i.e. my Spanish is way better than my friends').
ReplyDeleteOh, and you think you had it bad? Another friend's parents never taught her Gallic, because they wanted to have a language to speak between themselves that the kids couldn't understand. And Gallic is a dying language which makes it extra tragic...
Sounds like someone needs to sign up for some classes.
ReplyDeleteI just took a beginners Italian class bc I was in the same rut. There's a wonderful feeling in pursing knowledge. :)