July 24, 2011

A reader's digest for the 9th International Turkish Olympiads

9th International Turkish Olympiads took place between June 15-30. Below are some news excerpts and insider stories that were not published in our blog earlier.

News Record in 9th International Turkish Olympiads (Zaman)

The number of reports published in the media about the 9th International Turkish Olympiads have reached to a significant level this year. According to the results or the research conducted by Interpress, a total of 2.155 reports about the Olympiads took place in the media.

Comparing to the last year, there occurred a hundred percent increase in the number of reports in media. In print media, a total of 1.197 reports took place about the different contests in the Olympiads while 945 reports were in TV channels.


Ghanaian Students Amazed Turkish People

Mr. Ahmet has worked hard for 6 months in order to prepare the Ghanaian students to the Olympiads.

At the beginning, the students were having difficulty in performing such a bustling folk dance, but now they always want to do it.

Ghanaian students performed a traditional Black Sea folk dance called “horon” in such a great way that Turkish people were amazed at their performances. The videos of the students performing the folk dance is among the top watched videos in social media. We found them in the closing ceremony of the Olympiads. They are not aware of the sympathy that Turkish people show them. They are sad that they did not get first in the Olympiads. However, participating in the Olympiads is also a great chance for the students. The Ghanaian students perform the folk dance wherever they are. There is a student in the group called 'Hasan Amca' who leads the group while performing the folk dance. When he shouts as "Hayde", all the students in the group start to perform the folk dance. The students' teacher, Mr. Ahmet, is the one who have taught them how to perform 'horon'. He said that it was difficult for the students to perform it in Ghana because the weather is so sweltering that it does not allow you to do it easily. But now they are so happy when they perform 'horon'.


All Flowers of the World (by Ali Çolak, Zaman)

Maybe you have heard that poem so many times. In ceremonies, halls, village schools...

Last night, the shadows had hit to the the sea near the shores of Haliç, and the kids of the world burst onto the stage. The students were from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Georgia, Mauritania, Indonesia, and Kyrgyzstan ... The children were lovely, smiling, cheerful and talented. They were all singing the song 'Yeni Bir Dünya'. One thinks that this athmosphere is enough for the peace of the world. In such a situation where battles, occupations, pressures, and hatred are everywhere... Students from 130 countries are establishing a new world by saying 'yeni bir dünya'...

One of the children reads the poem of Ceyhun Atuf Kansu: "Dünyanın bütün çiçeklerini diyorum / Bütün çiçekleri getirin buraya..." That local poem travels all around the world. Vietnamese, Northern Iraqi, Filipinos students... A Tajik students reads a poem that brings you to a village school: "Şimdi sustum, örtün beni, yatırın buraya, / Dünyanın bütün çiçeklerini getirin buraya."

The children are spreading goodness, beauty, peace, and love to the world consistently while waving their own countries' flags. They turn the chaos to a livable environment.


Belarusian Vladislav's love of Turkey

Belarusian Vladislav, who read the poem "Utansın" by Necip Fazıl Kısakürek in the Olympiads and ranked third, is a real fan of Turkey. When Vladislav leaves his country to participate in the Olympiads in Turkey, his mother makes jokes to him by saying "you will stay in Turkey and not come back here" and he tells "ok, no problem for me."

Vladislav's love of Turkey has started on 23 April events that the Ministry of Culture organized two years ago. He represents Belarus in those events and loves Turkey. When he returns back to his own country, he asks his parents to send him to a school where he can learn Turkish language. His mother wants im to learn Chinese but he doesn't do that. So Turkish becomes his fourth language after Russian, Slavic, and English.


We want to go to University in Turkey

The children from all around the world coming for the Turkish Olympiads love Turkey. Most of them want to go to University in Turkey and have already started to achieve their goals.

There were colorful scenes in the Turkish Olympiads this year. The medals went to different countries, like Tajikistan, Bosnia and Indonesia. They are happy to get attention of Turkish people and want to go to university in Turkey.

Tajik Shohrukh Yunusov is 12 years old. He says that he was very excited when he was on the stage but got motivated with the applauds. He knows more than 20 Turkish songs and is a fan of Ahmet Özhan. He wants to meet him soon and also wants to be a singer. He loves İstanbul and the sea.

Şejla Kocan, who ranked second in the song contest final of the Olympiads is a fan of Sertab Erener. She says that she knows most of her songs. She also says that it is great to see people from different cultures of the world in the Olympiads.

Indonesian Rahmi Amalia sang the song "Dert Bende Derman Sende" during the Olympiads. He says that he wanted to go to the Turkish school in Indonesia and now wants to go to university in Turkey.


1.000 Students Speaking Turkish in 130 Countries... (Yiğit Bulut, Habertürk)

...Before I started writing these words, a group of students whose mother language is not Turkish visited me. I was very happy when I saw them. They were like students of the nearby school. They were thinking in Turkish, feeling in Turkish and tearing while singing Turkish songs..

Dear friends, believe me that the Turkish that they earn is completely different from the English of French that we learn here in Turkey. Those children were feeling Turkish when they were talking to me. They were living what they were saying...


Related posts:
For more information on the contest and contestants, news stories, various multimedia, and downloads readers may refer to http://www.turkceolimpiyatlari.org/
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