Tool #7: Language

Language skills are essential for building: whether it’s building a personal network or a computer program. I love the language learning process and I think it broadens my perspective by showing different ways to say the same thing.

My native language is Turkish, I attended a French school for 12 years and have been living in Los Angeles since 2014. In addition to English and French I am also learning Italian and Russian. The reason I am learning Italian is to have a chance to understand the elements of the Italian design philosophy which I admire. The reason I wish to learn Russian is because it has a completely different structure and alphabet compared to the ones I already speak. I think learning languages is both cognitively and intellectually stimulating. I also try to use my language skills to ease access to information. I translate TED talks, especially STEM and entrepreneurship related ones, from English or French to Turkish so that more people, especially young students searching for a career path, have an opportunity to learn about current topics and people’s experiences. Here is a video on entrepreneurship which I translated from French to Turkish.