the teacher, Bilge Özel

The Teacher

Bilge Özel is an experienced language teacher who has taught Turkish at various levels at different universities in the United States and in Germany for over ten years. She grew up bilingually in Turkey (Turkish and German) and has an M.A. in English and French Languages and Literatures from the University of Hamburg. She also studied Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) where she also taught Turkish, German and French. Ms. Özel is fluent in Turkish, German, English and French and speaks some Spanish. She has a strong passion for language teaching. Having experience in teaching more commonly taught languages such as German, English and French besides Turkish, she can draw from a large variety of teaching techniques and ideas.

Below are some comments from my students:

Bilge is a fantastic teacher. I learnt more with her in a week than I did in a whole year of evening classes at home in London. Having learnt different languages herself, she understands exactly the best way to teach them. She is patient and thorough, but not afraid to push you if she thinks you can take it. Being half-Turkish, I always wanted to learn the language, but I viewed it as a huge task – very daunting and a lot of hard, boring work – but Bilge made it seem fun and exciting. I didn't just learn the grammar and vocabulary, I learned the confidence to use it.

Emine Saner, London, March 2008 (emine1@hotmail.com)

Having spent my working life in classrooms myself, I knew immediately "there is a professional 
at work" when I came across Bilge Hanım's website. And not only that. I met a charming 
warmhearted woman overflowing with enthusiasm for teaching her mother-tongue; well, 
father-tongue in her case. She was able to switch effortlessly between the individual needs of 
both an old man's, whose interest in Turkish is purely academical and a young woman's, who is 
eager to communicate with her Turkish boyfriend and particularly his family. We both felt very 
much at easy while we were initiated - over endless cups of tea - into the niceties of the admittedly 
intriguing Turkish vocabulary and grammar. The course follows by no means a strict line; although 
there is one -  but adjusts to whatever the students feel important to express themselves. It was 
amazing what we could say at the end of the two weeks. Thank you very much, Bilge. See you 
next year for a follow-up.
Robert Link, Germany, October 2006 + 2007 (robert.link1@gmx.net)


During the 2 weeks beginners course the lessons started by the basic greetings
vocabulary and expressions. From day to day my knowledge increased and I felt more
and more confident on my basic Turkish. The lessons covered a large number of
aspects being the grammar and the vocabulary the most important. The teaching method
was adequate and flexible enough to go thru my wishes or doubts, being helped by
homework. The material is easy to use and to understand.
Helder Bernardo, Portugal/Netherlands, September 2006 (hell_bee@hotmail.com)

When my company decided to set up a production facility in Turkey to meet the demands of this higly dynamic and prospering economy, I was chosen to be the boy for communication. But how? My knowledge of Turkish was limited to what I had come across in Berlin and other German cities. To be honest: it was practically not more than Döner Kebab.
The task was to learn the basis of Turkish grammar and vocabulary within a tight schedule of two weeks. And we succeeded. Learning is all about the communication between teacher and student: together they define what to do, when to pause, when to stay with an issue and when to proceed to the next. Bilge accommodated her didactics perfectly to my linguistic background (e.g. experience with Arabic), to my personal needs and to my way of familiarizing myself with new linguistic systems.

What I specifically appreciated was her ability to draw analogies on French, German, English and Arabic. It helps a lot if you see a new grammatical phenomenon in the mirrow of a familiar language. And Bilge masters them all! Her background is both
Turkish and European/ American which was quite helpful for understanding linguistic and cultural patterns in Turkey.

So, I strongly recommend the language courses with Bilge. It gave me a thorough understanding of Turkish and the quality of my conversations with the people progressed daily from very silly to silly and then, ultimately, to not silly. And Marmaris and Icmeler is great, too.
Stefan Halbach, Germany, January 2006 (shalbach@halbach.com)