Mediterranean Languages Center Becomes An Intercultural Bridge

İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mediterranean Languages Center establishes a bridge among cultures with language courses in French, Italian, Spanish, Greek and Arabic. Oğuz Malatya, a Greek course graduate, says, “The way to understand each other passes through culture”.

Integrated into İzmir Mediterranean Academy, Mediterranean Langauge Center introduces the people of İzmir to the languages of countries with coastlines on the Mediterranean. Operating under İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, the center attracts demand from almost every segment, including university students, workers and retired people. One of the people whose paths cross with Mediterranean Languages Center is Oğuz Malatya, a retired philosophy teacher.

Mr. Malatya was the first person to register as a trainee when the center first opened in 2020. What’s more is that he was the oldest graduate that was entitled to receive a certificate. His curiosity for Greek dates back to his childhood. In a theather play depicting the War of Independence, he was performing a Greek officer and afterwards received bad nicknames by his friends. “However this state created an opposite effect on me; i started to develop an interest in Greek and philosophy” Mr. Malatya says.

“We have to live together”

He tells about how his paths cross Mediterranean Languages Center this way: “From time to time, i look at events from İzmir Metropolitan Municipality’s website. When i saw the Greek course in pandemic time, i decided to participate. Because as people from same shores, we have to live together. The way to understand one another passes through culture and language. Once we understand each other, we realize that we are not different and hostility is artificial and bad. Mediterranean Language Center does a good job and offers us an invaluable opportunity. I am sure that people will be happy when they learn the Greek language”.

Mr. Malatya wishes to go to Greece in a short time and do Greek practice.

“There is a high demand”

On the other hand, Greek teacher Ramazan Gırız says these: “İzmir is very lucky about Greek since we have Mediterranean Languages Center. There is a high demand. Some trainees join because of their family past, some because they do not want to face any issues when they go to vacation, some because of their cultural interest. Here we start teaching Greek from the alphabet and give 3 months long education for each level.

Course services in five languages

İzmir Mediterranean Academy Director Zeynep Özen Barkot says “İzmir Mediterranean Academy is a think thank that operates in the fields of city, culture and design under the Mediterranean context. We can define it as a democratic platform as well. The knowledge produced by the Academy is shared with public through its activities and publications. Lastly, Mediterranean Languages Center joined us. We are quite happy about this development”.

Since 2020, the Mediterranean Language Center has reached out to over 5,000 people. 900 individuals have completed the language courses and earned certificates.

Details can be found in Mediterranean Languages Center’s social media accounts.