Countries

Host Family

 

Students will live with host families in order to experience a true immersion into Turkish culture. Families are selected based on recommendations from members of the local community, and each is carefully screened by AFS staff and volunteers. Many families hold a position of influence within their community, and all are highly regarded by their relatives and neighbors. Hosting communities exist through the presence of a strong volunteer support network, with a local volunteer, or “liaison,” available to each student hosted in the community.

 

Support Structure

 

Students are supported through a strong network of AFS staff and volunteers both in the United States and in-country in Turkey. Within the larger volunteer community, each student will have a local volunteer, or “liaison,” assigned to him or her, who is often either an alum of the YES program, a past host parent or a teacher at the student’s school. Each student will be given a cell phone after arriving, and will have the contact number for the AFS-Turkey office. In the case of emergency, a Duty Officer is on-call 24/7 in both Turkey and the US, and this number is made available to both students on-program as well as their parents.

 

Cultural Activities

 

A variety of cultural excursions and enrichment activities will be offered over the course of the year to YES Abroad students. Many of the trips organized will be focused around educational themes, using museums and places of worship to illustrate information presented in schools and language classes. Students will also have the opportunity to learn traditions and crafts such as Turkish folk dancing, paper marbling, and traditional music.

 

School Life

 

Students will be placed in both public and private schools where the language of instruction is Turkish, in order to provide the best opportunity to gain fluency. Ideally, different schools will be used for the placement of each YES Abroad student to facilitate better integration and immersion into local culture. Students traditionally choose a specific curriculum track and most classes will focus around that particular theme; however all YES Abroad students will have the opportunity to study in-depth about Turkish culture and will be offered language lessons.