Certificate Ceremony for Turkish Student at Yunus Emre Institute London

Yunus Emre Institute London hosted first Turkish Course Certificate Ceremony since moving classes online in 2020.

Celebrating the hard-work and achievements of students learning Turkish at the Yunus Emre Institute in London, Friday 24th June 2022 saw the Institute’s first course ending and certificate ceremony since moving classes online in 2020 to accommodate Covid restrictions! Hosted at Yunus Emre Institute London in Fitzrovia, the evening features talks by select guests, performances by students, delicious Turkish food, and certificate ceremonies.

An exciting addition to the evening was a professional TRT Camera crew recording the evening to feature it in the new series ‘Şehrime Hoş Geldiniz’ (Welcome to my City) which will follow two Yunus Emre Institute Turkish Students around London as they introduce the city to a global audience.

Yunus Emre Institute London, since the opening of its doors in 2010, has been promoting friendly ties between the UK and Turkey, echoing the humanitarian and peaceful messages of the famous 13th century poet and Sufi it is named after. Key among the Institute’s services has been the Turkish classes it has provided to over 2000 students that have walked through its doors. Following nation-wide lockdowns, these classes were moved online to increase its accessibility to eager Turkish learners from across the UK and the world!

Due to Covid lockdowns, the termly certificate ceremonies were also postponed to when restrictions were firmly lifted, which was last Friday. The evening began with a surprise traditional Turkish coffee made on hot sand which the students could participate in! Dr Mehmet Karakuş, Director of Yunus Emre Institute London, Professor Dr Ahmet Sacit Açıkgözoğlu, board member of Yunus Emre Institute, and Dr. Hadra Kübra Erkinay Tamtamış, Turkish coordinator gave opening speeches for the evening and touched on the hard work of the students, the teachers, and the Yunus Emre Institute staff.

Joining in the fun, students prepared performances for their classmates. B2.2 student Sam Jenkins performed Yahya Kemal Beyatlı’s “Sessiz Gemi” (Silent Ship) poem, B2.2 student John Sarı read a number of tricky Turkish tongue twisters, A1.2 student Jacob Zhao who brought life to the Türk Meddahlık tradition back to life and B1.2 student Hanan Afify read a number of quick-fire Turkish riddles where the student with the most right answers received a prize! The evening also saw a number of songs both sung all together and performed by students Wiem Bejaoui, Cristina Ionita Magdalena, Natalie Wyngard and Maria Gospodinova, as well as sung all together!

Students attending the courses will also be able to participate in various extracurricular activities hosted by the Institute, such as the ‘Turkish Culture Nights’ once a term and weekly ‘Yûnus’un Otağı: Turkish Speaking Club’ free of charge! These highly popular evenings feature a range of activities including concerts, workshops, performances, game nights, film screenings and more.

Yunus Emre Institute London is the leading provider of online and formal Turkish language education and reopened its virtual doors to new and returning students of Turkish for its Summer intensive courses which are in full swing.

With carefully curated courses and textbooks, small class sizes and experienced teachers, the Institute will again be offering courses for all abilities with various weekday and weekend classes in the Autumn. Excitingly, both online and in person will be available to sign up for this term depending on popular demand! For students who are looking for speaking practice, the greatly popular conversation classes for various abilities will also be going ahead like always. Meanwhile, for those who wish to explore Turkey’s rich culture, literature, and cinema further, an advanced 10-week Turkish course will be opened depending on demand. Yunus Emre Institute London will also be continuing its work with Cambridge University Language Centre to run language courses in Cambridge!

For more information on Yunus Emre Institute London’s Turkish Courses, please visit https://yeelondon.org.uk/ or email londra@yee.org.tr.