Being a Fulbright FLTA

Hello! My name is Meltem Ateş. I graduated from METU in 2015 and started working as an English Instructor at Başkent University Preparatory School. After working at Başkent University for 2 years, I applied for Fulbright FLTA program in 2017 and started working as a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) at Michigan State University in 2018. In this post, I would like to talk about my Fulbright journey through reflecting my own experiences, because I believe Fulbright FLTA program literally broadens your horizons by offering many cultural exchange opportunities and improves your language teaching and leadership skills.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

When we were undergraduate students, some of our professors shared their experiences as Fulbright scholars, and they encouraged us to apply for Fulbright scholarship. I took a chance and applied for Fulbright FLTA program because it was a very exciting idea to represent my culture in the U.S. and learn about different cultures through holding such a prestigious scholarship. In the application process, it is required to write two essays: the objectives and the methodologies to follow. I believe they have the utmost importance in the application process, because you tell your achievements, competencies, and goals in them, and they are the essays that can lead you one step closer to get the scholarship. Therefore, emphasizing why you are a good candidate for the program is quite important while writing your essays. The second step is to have an interview with Turkish Fulbright Commission; they ask you questions about how to represent Turkish culture and how to teach Turkish. Therefore, I assume that having some experiences in teaching Turkish would be advantageous before applying for the program. When I had the interview with the Commission, I got excited and nervous at the same time, because I had no experience in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. During the interview, I was able to answer the questions about how to represent Turkish culture, but it was hard for me to answer the questions related to teaching Turkish. However, I tried to answer the questions depending on my teaching experiences, and I think it worked out for me. After two months, I learnt that I was accepted to the program.

We had our first Fulbright meeting in the beginning of December 2017, and we were placed in our universities in June, 2018. We waited for a long time until it became certain that we were scholarship holders. In this waiting period, I observed some Turkish classes at Başkent University to see what it was like to teach Turkish to international students. I also got some cultural materials from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to use in my cultural presentations in the U.S. After the placements, I got my visa approved in a very short time, and got my permission from Başkent University for one academic year. All these processes happened in 6 months, and it was easy to complete them because we were constantly being informed and helped by Turkish Fulbright Commission. Talking to the former Fulbrighters also helped me a lot to get an idea about what it would be like living in the U.S. Then, I came to the U.S. and started living one of the most exciting chapters of my life.

BEING A FULBRIGHT FLTA

The FLTA program requires you to assist the primary language instructors and teach your own language as well as taking 2-3 courses per semester. Since there was no primary language instructor in my institution, I started teaching Turkish as the primary instructor. As I needed to understand both American and Turkish perspectives while teaching my native language, I can say that teaching Turkish improved my metalinguistic and cultural awareness. To give you an example, I realized that Turkish is really a wishful language in which you wish the best for others in many different social contexts. For instance, I would like to say “Hayırlı olsun!” to celebrate the new things that my friends start, but I cannot, because there is no such a thing in English that could give the exact meaning J The basic challenge I experience while I am teaching is that it is hard for students to familiarize themselves with Turkish vowel harmony, and they need time and practice until they get used to it. However, I am glad to see the progress in such a short time. I can say that it is an amazing experience to observe my native language in different perspectives.

Another thing that I gained thanks to this program is adapting myself to American culture. I did not have a cultural shock, because the campus that I live in is not so different from METU’s campus. However, I had some interesting experiences related to colloquial English. For example, when I completed my payment in a store, the cashier told me “You are all set!” which was a lexical chunk I had never heard before. It’s just a closure sentence that ends the conversation between you and the cashier, and it makes sense, but it felt a little bit odd in the beginning, to be honest. Another example I want to give is about ordering food. I must say that ordering food is a complicated process until you get to the point of “you are all set”. I remember trying to order a sandwich in Subway for the first time, and it was a real struggle for me. You must be clear about everything you want in your sandwich because they ask you EVERYTHING. The kind of bread, cheese, veggies, meat, sauce… It seemed like a never-ending process at first, but I got used to it. You can watch this video to see how to order food in Subway in the U.S:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK7MVDrOpKk

The accents and dialects also differ according to nations and states, and I realized that talking as many people as possible help you to adjust yourself to different Englishes. I had a chance to speak English with people from various countries, so it is great to experience the diversities in English speaking. J I feel lucky to have a chance to improve my English skills through being directly exposed to daily life contexts.

As a cultural ambassador, I had the opportunity to represent Turkish culture in many different events. I made presentations to primary school and high school students in Michigan, and I got remarkable reflections and questions from them. They asked me questions about Turkish lifestyle; they were curious about whether Turkey is a Middle Eastern or European country. Also, while I was talking about my college life, the fact that we carry banners on which our social and political messages are written during our commencement ceremony caught the students’ attention. They stated that it was a creative way to let your voice be heard. Lastly, as high school students in the U.S. are not expected to choose their branches in terms of deciding on whether to be a science or language student, it was interesting for the students to hear that we make our choices in high school. Their analyses and reflections gave me different insights; I am glad to have the opportunity to talk with them. Here is a photo of me and my friends from an event called “Beyond Insights”:

All in all, I want to say that I feel pretty lucky to meet many amazing people from different countries. It was one of my wishes to become a universal person, and I am one step closer to the person I want to become thanks to this program. Through the Fulbright Orientation and Mid-Year Conference, I had a chance to learn about a lot of different cultures, and these events helped me to create bonds with many people from all over the world. J Now that I share the same office with the other FLTAs from all around the world, we exchange our cultures and discuss everything through reflecting our own point of views. We also celebrate our countries’ special days and holidays together. For example, this week, we are going to celebrate Chinese New Year with our Taiwanese and Chinese friends. It is, indeed, wonderful to be connected to such diversity. Therefore, I can say that this program enhanced my social and cultural awareness in every single way. Here is a photo with my colleagues:

I wanted to give you an idea about what it is like to be a Fulbright FLTA through telling my personal experiences. Don’t hesitate to apply for this program, it will definitely change you in many good ways! If you have any questions related to the program, I will be glad to help you!

Meltem Ateş   E-mail: meltem.ates@metu.edu.tr