Simple Swedish Podcast - #245 - Joselyn om att bo i Turkiet (svår)

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

Nivå: ~B2 Det här är ett samtal mellan mig och Joselyn om många intressanta saker. Att lära sig språk, att flytta utomlands, att bo i Turkiet, det turkiska språket, sociala medier, med mer! Här kommer första delen. För att stödja podden och få transkript till avsnitten - bli patron för bara 5€ per månad – klicka här! För att läsa mer om The Language Gym där både jag och Joselyn är lärare - klicka här. Den perfekta platsen för dig som vill öva på att prata svenska varje dag! ------------------- Instagram: swedish.linguist YouTube: Swedish Linguist Website: www.swedishlinguist.com Language Lock-in: https://www.languagelockin.com/ ------------------- Ett smakprov (sample) på transkriptet: Fredrik Hej hej och välkommen till Simple Swedish Podcast. Och idag har jag en gäst med mig. Och det är Joselyn Rojas. Så ja, välkommen till podden säger jag till dig. Joselyn Tack så mycket. Och det är fantastiskt att få vara här och vara med på din podd. Fredrik Ja men kul. Och ja, vi känner ju varandra för att du är ju också lärare på Language Gym. Och vi har ju börjat på ett liknande sätt. Vi har ju båda börjat som lärare på Italki. Så det är lite så vi känner varandra. Men..ja, och det här är ju faktiskt väldigt spontant inspelat för att det tycker jag är kul. Joselyn Inget manus. Fredrik Inget manus nej. Absolut inget manus. Men kan du kanske bara presentera dig lite kort. Bara berätta lite så här vem du är och vad du gör och så. Joselyn Jag heter Joselyn som sagt. Jag är 25 år gammal. Och jag verkligen älskar språk. Det har alltid varit en stor del av mitt liv. Jag är född i Colombia. Men jag är uppvuxen i Sverige. I en jätteliten ort där det inte fanns några andra colombianer typ. Så det har varit mycket svenska med en gång. Och det blev liksom starten på mitt språkliv. Så det har varit mycket översättning och så när jag växte upp. Så det är det som har lett mig till att jag nu bor i Turkiet, och håller på att lära mig fem språk. Ja typ. Det känns som att man aldrig slutar lära sig ett språk. Fredrik Ja nej det är sant. Egentligen slutar man ju aldrig lära sig sitt modersmål heller. Joselyn Nej precis. Fredrik Men fem språk. Vilka är det? Jag tror jag vet..jag vet att du lär dig persiska. Och jag antar att ett av dem är turkiska också.   ....för att läsa hela transkriptet till detta och alla andra avsnitt, klicka här!  

Hello, hello! Welcome, welcome to Simple Swedish Podcast! Today it will be a fun episode because I have a guest. And it was a little longer conversation so I have divided this episode into two parts. And we have some patrons as as well, which I will thank. They are Thank you for supporting the podcast. You have a transcript of this and the other episodes. For those who want to become a patron, go to patreon.com slash Swedish Linguist.

And who is this guest? Yes, it's Jocelyn. She is one of the teachers at Language Gym and we talk about a lot of different things. She is originally from Colombia but grew up in Sweden and now lives in Turkey. So we talk about moving abroad, to move to another country. We also talk about learning languages. Because she also learns different languages, among other things Persian and Turkish. And I have actually also lived in Turkey, so we also talk about living in Turkey. The differences between Turkey and Sweden, the Turkish language, prejudices and stereotypes and things like that. We talk about learning a language, also about social media, if you become more or less social by social media and also a little bit about

the language gym. So yes, I hope you like this conversation. Here it comes. Hello and welcome to Simple Swedish Podcast. And today I have a guest with me. Yes, a guest with me. And that is Jocelyn Rojas. So, yes, welcome to the podcast, I say to you. Thank you so much. And it's fantastic to know each other because you are also a language gym teacher. And we have started in a similar way. We have both started as an italki. So that's a bit like that, we know each other. But, this is actually very spontaneous, recorded, because I think it's fun. So... No manners. No manners, no. Absolutely no manners. Absolutely nothing, Manus. But you can maybe just introduce yourself a little bit,

just tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do and so on. Mm. My name is Jocelyn, as I said, I'm 25 years old and I really love languages. It has always been a big part of my life. I was born in Colombia, but I grew up in Sweden, in a very small village where there were no other Colombians. So, it was a lot of Swedish at once, and that was the start of my language life. So there was a lot of overwhelmed when I grew up. That's what made me realize that I live in Turkey now, and I'm learning five languages.

Yeah, kind of. It feels like you never stop learning a language. Yeah, that's true. You never stop learning your mother tongue either. No, exactly. But five languages, which are they? I wow, why did you learn that? But in that case it's... Farsi sabat mikoni Yes, exactly! Are man farsi sabat mikoni

Are Yes, exactly. I love saying are. I mean, are comes out in all languages. And Yeni. Yeni is the best word ever. But it's like... And it's like... And it's like... It's both Turkish, Persian and Arabic. Yeah, because it feels like I heard it when I was in Turkey. That was a really good word.

But then I can... I can speak Spanish poorly. Because as I said, I grew up in Sweden and I didn't speak Spanish when I grew up. I never went to a country... or when I was little of course, but I don't remember that. And then Swedish, English... and then I can speak some French too. I learned that in school. But you don't speak Spanish with your parents? Of course, but I can speak it with my parents. But the language doesn't develop.

It's a certain level. So you haven't been there that much in your adult years? No, the last time I was there was actually 10 years ago. And then I was 15. It's like you see things in a completely different way. I think that... Or I want to go now, because it feels like I'm just going to see things in a completely different way. But how has it been for you to learn Spanish? Spanish?

Mm. What was it like for you to learn Spanish? Spanish? Yes, I've actually been to Spanish in most of my life. I started with it when I was like 10, actually, in school. Right. We had to choose a third language in school, in the fifth. i skolan i femman. Men alltså jag var ju inte speciellt bra på spanska. Jag var inte så intresserad. Vad sa du? Det blir man inte, förrän man blir tvungen att lära sig. Jag vet inte, alltså jag var ju mer tvungen i skolan nästan än när jag själv bestämde mig för att jag ville in school almost, than when I decided myself that I wanted to learn Spanish. So in school, I wasn't really good at it either. I had Spanish for five years.

I had it in fifth grade, then seventh, eighth, ninth and like a year in high school too or something like that. I don't remember exactly which years but I think I had a total of five years of Spanish school and I couldn't do anything after that. I could like, Hola, mi llamo Fredrik, vivo en Suecia, una cerveza por favor. Yeah. Typical. Yeah, but it will be like that. Yeah, so I've learned Spanish afterwards. I became interested in languages at an adult level, you could say. And when I worked at Volvo in the factory, I listened to a lot of podcasts and learned a language. Was it a Spanish-only podcast or a language podcast? No, I remember that Spanish was in different languages, among others, Persian actually.

There was a podcast called Chai in Conversation. Yes, I've heard of it. I've never heard of it. So there I learned some things about Persian. I think Persian is a very nice language and a very cool language. Yes, it's a very poetic language too. Everything, I mean, the way you express things in everyday life. For example, I miss you in Persian. My heart is empty for you. Oh! That's just how you say it. It's not to be extra affectionate. That's just how you say it. I miss you. Yeah. Yeah, that's nice.

Yeah. That's what I like about language. A language is not only a way to communicate, it's also a way to understand a whole group of people. It gives you so much. Do you feel different when you speak, for example, Percisca. Do you feel more poetic? I have to say that I feel more loving. I think that most of us who speak a language other than Swedish notice how much more you express your feelings in other languages. In Spanish, it was not strange that my parents, that my mom said, I'm your mom, that you just use a lot of love words in everyday life. In Spanish, it wasn't strange that my parents, my mom, my mom, my...

That you use a lot of love words in everyday life. But you should tell your child in Swedish, My love, do you want to come and eat some food? Oh, right, no. And it's like with Persia too, that it takes something out of me because that's the language. So I call everyone my as-is-ams and they say that I love people all the time, just because that's the culture. And I think that's good, that you can see yourself.

And there's this June as well. You can say someone's name and then you say June after, like, Dessaline June. Fredrikjun. And that's also in Turkish. And I think that's so nice that you can add that after a name. Exactly. And Djun means soul. Aha, shit. So that's... Yes, Fredrik, my soul. Yes.

Yes, but that's nice. That's what I think is so cool about languages. Yes. Turkish is actually a very cool language. I remember that when I learned Turkish, I was so fascinated by some things, especially this suffix, the mişmş suffix, mishmash suffix Yes, the suffix! I have to admit, mishmash destroyed life! Why was that exciting? What was so interesting? Because it's a concept that just doesn't exist in the other languages I know. So, and I remember when I learned about it, I started to hear it everywhere, so I worked at a hotel in Turkey. I remember, for example, if there was someone in the staff who told me something that had happened, but not, because this means something that you don't have first-hand information about, you haven't seen it yourself.

It might be something you've heard or read, and then you use this suffix, so I started to notice that they said blah blah blah mish blah blah blah mish mish blah blah blah mish. And then you know, okay, this person has not seen this themselves, but it is something that they have been told or read or heard. And then I thought it was so interesting that it kind of goes into the grammar. And that's what I think is cool about language. Exactly. It's like you can convey so much more in what you say. Yes.

That it's just with this little difference too, because this is a suffix of the present tense, so it's always present tense. Yes, exactly. There's also a regular present tense when you were with me about it. Yes, exactly. So those two differences make you understand that you weren't there when it happened. I can imagine that it's hard when you have to think about it yourself. Did I see that myself? Exactly. For those who want to learn Turkish, it's a fantastic language.

But wow, how much you should keep in mind. Really, really. But yeah. I remember that it often happened that someone said something and I understood all the words what they said. But I just, what? I don't know if it's a question or what. I didn't understand what they meant, even though I understood all the individual words. Yes, exactly. And it's a huge weight on these little suffixes. Yes, exactly. Because it really changes the whole thing. But there are many who, when I tell them that I live in Turkey,

there are many who are like, what? I mean, aren't you afraid? I mean, isn't it dangerous? Have you gotten that question too? I think many people say that it's dangerous to live in Turkey. Not that I can remember, but it can probably be... It can probably be that people have thought, I don't know, I don't know, I don't remember. I lived in Turkey ten years ago in Side, a small town outside of Manavgat. Manavgat is not very famous, but it's not very far from Alanya. Yes, that's where we might have people that know us. It's not that popular anymore, but it was very popular to go to Alanya especially when you're younger and want to go and party, but also as a family.

I don't know how popular it is now, maybe it's still popular? Yes, definitely. SIDE is only for resorts, all-inclusive hotels. Yes, that's exactly what I did. I worked at an all-inclusive hotel in SIDE. Yes, it's very nice. No, no, no. South Turkey is a completely different vibe. It's a foreign feeling. But Istanbul is more of a metropolis. Big city, a lot of business and shopping and so on. So my family was scared. I mean... It feels weird. I understand that they think that you are a parent in Colombia and that you are going to move to a place where you can give your children a future. And then they say, dad I am going to move to a country that is worse than Colombia in your opinions. So it was a bit saddening, I think. They were like, why would you choose to move to Turkey

when we have taken you here in Sweden? But then, is that a pretty common opinion, or, I mean, perception that it is dangerous in Turkey? I mean, I didn't really know before I moved here. I probably knew that there were worries and... You know, but I had the feeling that it wasn't the safest country in the world. It wasn't like I was worried about how things would be for me? No, no. But after I moved in, I think almost all the people I talk to have just said to me,

but oh, isn't it dangerous? I see. But I wanted to tell you about an interesting thing that happened, Kurt, after I moved in. We can say that Turkey doesn't feel... Okay, there are areas, maybe in the are not as safe, but what I've been to doesn't seem particularly dangerous. No, there are definitely areas where you... As you say, the borders to Syria and so on. It's very different there. But Istanbul and Antalya are not as dangerous as Spain. It's also difficult because I don't know what's happening. I'm not very updated with the news. The news of what happened was always bad here in Turkey. But it doesn't feel dangerous, that's what I want to convey. It's maybe a thought more.

Shortly after I moved here, I live in an apartment where there are stairs just outside my house. And then we sat for a day and heard a lot of people screaming. house. and he stopped him and he drove off in the car. And we were like, what? And then we saw how they just stopped him and just gave, I mean, pushed the phone out of him and gave it back to this girl. And I think that's such a good example of how, you can get an idea of what this country is like, you might think, oh, it's dangerous, and it's water or whatever.

But it's such a community in Turkey among the houses among the neighbors. You know each other and you take care of each other. So it doesn't feel dangerous. It feels like people have your back. That people are really... I mean that you are a little taken care of by your neighbors. And I think that's a really nice thing. No matter what you say... You can say what you want about Turkey. But one thing you can't take away from them is that they a really nice thing. No matter what you say about Turkey,

one thing you can't take away from them is that they have such a community, among themselves and such. So I think that's a nice thing about Turkey. So you know your neighbours a little bit? Yes, absolutely. I usually try to be in the squalor and what happens, but my Turkish isn't enough. That must have been a very good way to train in Turkish. Definitely. You get many chances in your everyday life to just speak small.

English isn't very strong. I work in the tourism industry and there we speak English or Russian, which is also quite common in the tourism industry. But among ordinary people it is not so prevalent, perhaps. No, not at all. And that was really something I got to learn pretty quickly. I lived with a Swedish friend who knew Turkish and then I thought, I have her, I need to learn Turkish. Because I'm learning Turkish, and that's what I wanted to focus on here in Turkey. And then I thought, I need to learn. Because I have a go-be-go-go-home, and I'm starting to learn, then I should celebrate.

See, I didn't fall. But then she was gone for two weeks, and then I realized how incredibly handicapped I get when you don't know the language. So I thought, no, I'm going to learn this language. Yes, it's a project. Yes, it's really a project. I was really right. So, okay, so of course there are a lot of differences between Turkey and Sweden. And that's a difference, because in Sweden it's pretty common that you don't know your neighbors very well.

Yes, that was it. I hope you liked the first part of this conversation. The next part will be soon. Take care until then, see you then. Bye bye.