“I am Turkish and Polish and was born in Poland and moved to Turkey in 2009. My major is international law. I have my master’s degree in law from the Rzeszow University, in Poland. Currently, I am a Ph.D. student at Istanbul University in the Turkish private law department. As a lawyer, I am interested in private and public international law. These fields are very important and useful in my workplace. I have broadened my knowledge about the Turkish private law. I am interested in international law, thus my dissertation topic is “Legislations on work permits in Turkey during the harmonization process, and in Poland before and after integration process by the EU legislation”. Parallel to my Ph.D. program, I am doing recognition of diplomas in Turkey. I would like to be the first Polish barrister in Turkey. It is a tough way but I believe in myself and I know that I can achieve any goals by being a persistent and diligent person. I think that the most important language barrier in my case is that I do not have a native English speaking partner. Every day I practice my English skills by listening to podcasts on Spotify, watching the news on television, reading articles and news on the internet, and writing on social media, so one and so forth. The HEEAP course within the HOPES project offered me an opportunity to speak in English. I am not a shy person, so I am not afraid of making mistakes. I learned that as a foreigner, it is normal not to understand some new grammar structures, or not to know all the vocabulary. Overall though, I learned some convenient skill in reading texts (skimming, scanning techniques) In my opinion, language is very important because it is a key to communicate with others. By learning a new language, we are not just learning the meaning of each word, actually what we are doing is an acquisition of method which allows us to understand the culture of different countries and to be more tolerant and accept various point of views. My message to other students facing the same difficulties is that they should set their goals and be patient and be hardworking persons. Eventually, the result will come as a natural outcome of their work.”
By Joanna Kuruçaylıoğlu
2019
