Marina CP-5

Last Tuesday I met up with Fatih again at Tea Time after he has not been able to see me for the week before because he was studying for his GRE. I asked him how that went and he said that his verbal section, which Fulbright asked him to get at least a 400 on, was lower than 400. He said that he hopes to get a better score on the TOEFL exam next week to make up for the GRE.

I asked him how he studied for the GRE and he told me that he consistently practiced the verbal part on daily basis because his math section was already high. I told him that it was a good idea to take about at least half an hour each day and practice the areas that are problematic to him because it will not only help him get used to the format but also drill him on what responses certain types of questions expect.

I also told him that for the TOEFL exam to practice what he thinks he has to improve, since last time he was 6 points away from getting his desired score.

I also remembered that in class, we watched videos and discussed culture, so Fatih and I talked about Turkish culture (since I realized I don't know too much about it), politics, its relations to other countries, and overall how people live, what they think and believe, etc.

I was surprised to find out that Turks call themselves both Europeans and Middle Easterners, depending from what region of the country they come from. Those who live in areas that border Europe, apparently associate themselves with Westerners and Europeans. I thought that was interesting because I never thought they could call themselves both. I thought it was either one or the other since Turkey is in the middle of both. In Russia, we mostly consider ourselves European, simply because our culture is more influenced by Europe than Asia.

So I think it's important to inquire about cultural details of a country to gain a better insight on the thought process of people that come from there.