Walk Like An Egyptian

Turks sometimes mistake me for a Turk who grew up in Germany. The truth is just the opposite: I am an American who has lived more than half my life abroad and has dual American-Turkish citizenship. Not that many Turks have blue eyes! And, unfortunately, my Turkish has a foreign sound to it, so it is soon discovered that I am not 100 percent Turk. However, because I have learned over the years how to blend in, it is not unusual to be stopped by a Turk and for the person to ask in Turkish for directions or the time, etc.

Learning another language well and understanding the culture in depth can take a lifetime. The other day I had a flat tire and learned a new word in Turkish that I had never heard before. I was asked by the Turkish attendant at the station if I had a spare tire. He used the word, “istepne.” Not understanding this term, and being a foreigner with some Turkish, I told him I had a “yedek” (spare). I knew what I said was not correct, but I had been understood. When the attendant used the word “istepne” it did not sound Turkish to me. Later on, I learned from the Chambers Dictionary the following about the word: stepney/ step'ni/ (old sl.) n. a spare wheel (often fig.); a mistress, esp. that of a white slaver (said to be from the name of a street where the wheels were made).

A friend of mine is a language mentor to some newcomers and offers wise words of advice and encouragement to them. Some of the following points below are a few of her tips and those of Benny Lewis, whom she references. I'd like to pass these on to our Today's Zaman readers -- whether you are studying Turkish or maybe you are a Turk studying English abroad.

My friend points out that many of us are trying to move grammar items from "I know it in my head" to "I can use it fluently in conversation." It is easy to forget that successfully learning a foreign language is also about our attitude as language learners. Lewis, author of "Fluent in Three Months," offers some ideas on this. Before you switch off at this point because of the title -- let me explain that his definition of fluent is being able to talk the basics even though you make loads of mistakes. Benny Lewis advises us to “Walk like an Egyptian!” (cue the music from the Bangles song, if you're old enough to remember it!)

Here's Lewis's advice --

"A factor that influences whether or not you could be confused for a native speaker, involves working on your social and cultural integration. This is often overlooked, but has made a world of difference to me, even in my early stages of speaking several languages.

For instance, when I first arrived in Egypt with lower intermediate Egyptian Arabic, I was disheartened that most people would speak English to me (in Cairo) before I even had a chance for my Arabic to shine. It's easy to say that I'm too white to ever be confused for an Egyptian, but there's more to it than that.

They took one look at me, saw how foreign I obviously was, and this overshadowed what language I was actually speaking to them.

To get around this problem, I sat down at a busy pedestrian intersection with a pen and paper and made a note of everything that made Egyptian men about my age different from me. How they walked, how they used their hands, the clothing they wore, their facial expressions, the volume they'd speak at, how they'd groom themselves, and much more. I found that I needed to let some stubble grow out, ditch my bright light clothes for darker and heavy ones (despite the temperature), exchange my trainers for dull black shoes, ditch my hat (I never saw anyone with hats), walk much more confidently, and change my facial expressions.

The transformation was incredible! Every single person for the rest of my time in Egypt would start speaking to me in Arabic, including in touristy parts of town where they spoke excellent English and would be well used to spotting tourists.

Try it yourself, and you'll see what I mean -- once you start paying attention, the physical social differences will become easy to spot.

You can observe people directly, or watch videos of natives you'd like to emulate from a target country. Really try to analyze everything that someone of your age and gender is doing, and see if you can mimic it next time you are speaking.

Imitation is, after all, the most sincere form of flattery!"

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON (Cihan/Today's Zaman)