About Dina Street Expertise I am an 18 year American resident of Bodrum, Turkey with a daughter attending
the local seventh grade. I have started up two small businesses and currently
manage a gulet charter company. I am especially interested in answering
questions from female entrepeneurs, and persons interested in local Turkish food, customs and topics related to chartering gulets and wooden boatbuilding in Bodrum.
Experience I have a bachelor's degree in Turkish Literature from the University of California, Berkeley and have worked in the gulet charter industry for 8 years.
Question I have seen your question and answer from the American couple looking to relocate in either Bodrum or Antalya. my family and I are in the simular situation. we moved here from the US live in Izmit Turkey for the past 9 months my daughter and I dont speak much Turkish. I am trying to find a suitable school that will accomadate her. right now she attends a Atafen Koleji in Izmit but the language is a problem. we were looking to relocate to either Antalya or Bodrum. I checked online and saw that these places favor foreigners. you suggested that the school there dont favor english what about Istanbul? I see that the cost of living is very expensive. Can you help me out? about the school and relocating as I don't know where to go to accomadate my daughter's need. your help would be greatly appreciated thank you.
Answer Dear Anna,
Thank you for your question. Alas, it is indeed the case that there aren't schools which teach exclusively in English in Bodrum, and while I do not know first hand, I assume the same is true for Antalya. You could perhaps investigate the Tarsus American College (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsus_American_College) but I do not know if the instruction is entirely in English.
There is a link directly to the college towards the bottom of the page I sent you.
In Istanbul there is also the Uskudar Kiz Lisesi.
You did not mention how old your daughter is. I bring this up because the younger she is, the more quickly she will learn Turkish, even though there will be struggles in the beginning. In fact, a friend of ours relocated from the USA with a 14 year old daughter, and after two years, the daughter is now completely fluent in Turkish. There may be advantages to letting her assimilate in with the Turkish school system, but this is only my own opinion.
Wishing you all the best,
Dina Street
www.zephyriayachting.com.tr
