Student Spotlight: Esra Bozkurt
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Esra and I am from Istanbul, Turkey.
What is your level of education and field of study?
I have a bachelor’s degree in religious education.
Why did you decide to enter a U.S. intensive English program?
I want to apply for master’s program in an American university.
How did you choose your English program?
I have to live in San Jose because of my husband. I searched on the Internet, then I saw the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. I contacted them and asked my questions about ESL program. They answered very well. After that, I decided to go to that school.
What do you like best about studying here?
I liked the different classes for different levels for each skill. For example, I took a placement test during orientation. I was placed in different levels for writing, reading and speaking instead of being placed with all of my skills in one level. I think that it helps me progress faster in each skills.
What do you miss most about home?
Sometimes I don’t want to eat at home, so I want to go to a cafe or a restaurant as I do in Turkey. However, I can’t have pork products and alcohol for religious reasons. Whenever I go to a restaurant, I have to ask the chef this. That is sometimes really hard to explain with poor English. In addition, many foods contains pig products or alcohol. For example, cakes, pastas and chocolate, and so I cannot be sure of the ingredients in my food. Many restaurants also can’t meet my needs because of that. Hence, I really miss to eat out in Turkey because I don’t need to check what I am going to eat or where I can eat.
What was your biggest surprise about U.S. life and education?
About life in US, before I came here, I watched a lot of American movies and TV series and I thought that life in America was like the movies. After I came here, I have noticed that everything about life is very normal and people are very natural. Especially in Monterey, life is calm contrary to the movies.
What was your your biggest disappointment?
Checking in at the airport is my first and biggest disappointment about America. I think that American people are very polite and very understanding. However, airport officers act like I am potentially guilty. That was not nice. Anyone from America won’t experience the same bad behavior in any Turkish airport.
How do you handle language differences?
It was very difficult in the beginning. I think that I needed some time to get used using English. In addition, I have to learn not to be shy to speak English. I used to be worried about speaking English but after attending classes I feel more comfortable to speak.
How did you handle adjusting to a different educational system?
There isn’t anything too big that I cannot handle. I found if I attend classes regularly and listen carefully, I can achieve my goals. In addition, teachers have the most important role to handle language differences. They really helped me to adjust to the American education system.
How did your English improve? After you complete the program, how do you think your improved English skills will help you in your work or studies?
I could check my improvement via TOEFL. There is eleven points improvement between my scores that I took before my first session and the score that I took at the end of the session. I also believe that if I take two or three more sessions, I won’t have problems with English in my graduate education.
What activities are you involved in?
I am personally a homebody. I like to spend time at home. However, I really want to travel to many states in USA and central and south America’s countries during my education. Moreover, I do different activities with my classmates every Friday, like going to the movie theater or trying different world cuisines.
How easy or difficult is making friends?
I have really close friends from my classes. I don’t have friends who are native speakers. Actually it is a little difficult because language is the biggest problem, I cannot keep up the conversation, so it sometimes becomes boring. Furthermore, in the US people don’t have much time. They usually are very busy. Because of that, if you have new friends, you can not meet them frequently. That is the another problem to make new friends.
What are your career goals? How relevant is the ESL program to your
personal goals and to the needs of your country?
I want to get master’s and PhD degrees in education in an American university in the future, so I need good academic English skills. This program is helping me a lot to develop these skill because I have a chance to learn and practice academic skills in the classroom that I need at university. For example, I am learning step by step how I can write an academic essay in writing class. I am also learning to give an academic presentation and how I should take notes in an English lecture in oral communication class. These are the skills that I need for my future education.
What is your advice to other students?
If other students are foreigners who have not come to the US yet, my best advice is to watch movies without subtitles. It will improve their listening skills that they need everywhere in the US. Especially the first month can be more difficult to understand people and to respond to them.
One more thing, until now, I have never regretted to come here. This is an amazing experience and also a very big opportunity for my future career. I want to say to other students that they should have this experience in their life and they shouldn’t give up their dreams.
