School Culture in Turkey

Learn about Turkish school culture

Lesson Transcript

Want to speak real Turkish from your first lesson?

My name is Seda, ben Seda. Nasılsınız?

Şimdi sizinle Türkiye’deki okullardan bahsedeceğim!

Welcome to turkishclass101.com.

Bugün sizinle Türkiye'deki okullardan bahsedeceğim.

Today I will be talking about school culture in Turkey.

First, let's talk about the school system in Turkey.

The whole system changes every now and then.

So this is how it is now.

If you watch this video in a couple of years and everything is different,

then I want to warn you before starting.

Anyhow, the compulsory educational system is like the formula 4 plus 4 plus 4.

4 years of primary school, ilkokul

4 years of middle school, ortaokul

and 4 years of high school, lise

Before primary school, there is the pre-primary kindergarten,

which is called okul öncesi eğitimi or anaokul, ana sınıf.

This is optional, it's not compulsory.

And this education is for children from age 3 to 6.

Primary education is ilk öğretim.

This is compulsory education for all children from age 6-7 to 14-15.

This education lasts 8 years, grade 1 to grade 8.

After this grade, kids take an exam, which is called lgs, liseye geçiş sınavı,

the exam to continue to high school.

After this exam, every student gets a certain score.

According to this score, there are different schools.

Some are private, some are public, some are good, some are not so.

And if the student doesn't have a score on this test,

she/he has to go to the closest school in the district.

It can be a bad school and the student wouldn't have the chance to change it.

So this exam is a big deal for a lot of students.

After this exam, there is high school, which is lise.

And this is for students from age 14-15 to 18-19.

And it lasts 4 years, from grade 9 to grade 12.

There are different types of high schools, public high schools.

And under that, regular high schools, ordinary high schools, Anatolian high schools,

where more lessons are provided in a selected foreign language.

And science high schools, focusing on science, education.

And there are private high schools.

And these are established by private companies

and provide more lessons in selected foreign languages, English, German, French, etc.

And there are technical schools, focused on a certain type of profession.

So after the grade 12, the compulsory education is done, it's finished.

And it's up to the students to continue with their studies or not.

And if they want to continue, then they need to take the university exam

and get a good score and apply for a university.

And it can be a public or a private one.

And different schools have different scores.

And having good grades in school and getting a good result from this exam

give the students options to choose.

Okay, these were the grades and info on the educational structure.

What else?

From 1 to grade 1 to 12, all students have to wear uniforms.

It is mandatory.

Every school has its own uniform.

Smoking, drinking, swearing are forbidden.

Teachers should be respected.

The rules differ, of course, depending on which school you go to.

Some schools may be a lot stricter than the other schools.

But in general, wearing wild accessories, makeup, dyeing your hair is not okay.

And students generally call the teachers by saying hocam

or in primary schools öğretmenim, which means my teacher.

And the schools open in September.

These are from 1 to 12.

And there's a week off during November.

At the end of January, there is two weeks of vacation.

And there's again a week of April off.

And the second, third week of June is done.

Then the summer vacation.

Then there is the summer vacation.

Of course, there are some religious and civil holidays as well.

And school days are from Monday to Friday.

And Saturdays or Sundays are off.

But if you're on the grade 8 and 12, some schools can call the students

on Saturdays to help with their big exam.

And if you're planning to study in Turkey, you should note that the Turkish state schools

do not provide special help to children whose first language is not Turkish.

So you should discuss your needs directly with the schools.

Okay, these are all I can think of.

Let's give you a couple of vocabulary relating to schooling.

The first vocabulary is

Okul

School

Okul

Okulunu seviyor musun?

Do you like your school?

Okulunu seviyor musun?

Ödev

Homework

Ödev

Ödev yapmaktan hoşlanmıyorum.

I don’t enjoy doing homework.

Ödev yapmaktan hoşlanmıyorum.

Forma

Uniform

Forma

Formanı nasıl kaybetmiş olabilirsin?

How is it possible to lose you uniform?

Formanı nasıl kaybetmiş olabilirsin?

Kitap

Book

Kitap

Bu sene çok kitap satın almamız gerekiyor.

We need to buy a lot of books this year.

Bu sene çok kitap satın almamız gerekiyor.

Okay, that's it guys.

Hope you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new about Turkey and its school system.