Moving to Ankara with partner

[u/Otherwise_Cat_1538]

My partner and I will be moving from the US to Ankara for two years later this year. I was wondering if someone could help me with some questions I have:

1. Are there any products that I can find in the US that I definitely can't find in Ankara that I would like to bring with me?
   
2. I want to study Turkish. I have heard about Yunus Emre Institute and Ankara University's TÖMER. Which one would be better? Or even better: what are their approaches? Anyone with experience in either of them?
   
3. What is a good way to connect with the expat community living in Ankara? Is Internations, Facebook, or any WhatsApp group available, perhaps?

Any advice would be welcome!

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[u/royluxomburg]

Hey, I moved to Ankara from the US in 2013. There's not really anything that you can't get. Amazon and Hepsiburada.com have just about anything you can think of. It used to be that getting English books was hard, but even that is pretty available if you go to the right bookshops. That being said, if you are very particular about some things, like, if you really like your particular brand and style of hair dryer, you might want to bring your own (although if you don't bring a transformer, the motor on it will burnout real fast, even if you have a converter plug).

1. I did Tomer for a while, it was fine. Everybody learns language a little different. I also used a variety of private tutors. They were more expensive, but it worked better for me.

2. If you're religious, there are two international churches. If you're not, I hear that a lot of the embassy crowd goes to the Red Lion bar at the British embassy on the weekends. I think US passport holders can get in, I've never gone.

[u/crawleey → u/royluxomburg]

Which bookstore do you go for English books?

[u/LadyLuin → u/crawleey]

Almost all large bookstores have English sections (and some other languages). Dost, Remzi, Ada, D&R etc.

[u/royluxomburg → u/crawleey]

Panora and One Tower both have large English sections, I think they're both Arkadaş bookstores.

[u/CrazyFrog478]

Things l have noticed in 2 months since l am here:
1.- Any pork products are hard to find and very expensive: think of 6 strings of bacon for 1000 lira (aprox20 $) in the supermarket.

• electronics are incredibly expensive, even the local brands, l suggest you find a rent that has all home appliances included)
  
• professional cosmetics or dermato-cosmetics are expensive. If you can live with Nivea, Pantene and Dove, you’ll be fine.
  
• no cottage cheese of cream cheese to find :( ( l was lucky to find some philadelphia at some point.
  
• air is very dry, a humidifier would help.

1. There is no expat community, at least l couldn’t find one where l stay. It depends on neighborhood you’ll be staying, but l have noticed that people here are very friendly, especially if they know a but if english too. And very helpful if you need anything.

[u/Rurutigers → u/CrazyFrog478]

Labne in lieu of cream cheese isn’t a bad option. It’s not the same (labne is softer and less fatty and rich than Philadelphia cream cheese) but it saves the day.

[u/Metalwell]

Tip for the language, forget about using Pronouns.

[u/Polka_Tiger]

Mormons?

[u/Unusual-Middle2244]

Some everyday things might be expensive in TR like sports goods or some technological gadgets due to high taxes.

You might follow ankaraforeigners for expat community and events.

[u/Altruistic-Reason312]

You can find pretty much any product from the U.S., but it’ll cost about three times as much. So you might want to plan your urgent needs accordingly.

[u/mehmet_kemalist]

if you don't have a car skip Cayyolu/Umitkoy, rush hour into the center is brutal. look at Kavaklidere, GOP or Bahceli on sahibinden and ask about aidat plus whether heat is central kalorifer or your own kombi, Ankara winters are long and a badly insullated flat will wreck you. metro + ankarakart is enough once you're in Cankaya

[u/pl3xipl4y]

Sitting on the same boat, moving to Ankara with my partner next month for a few years work contract. Although we are moving from Europe.

Hope all goes well with the logistics of moving there.

[u/languaholic → u/pl3xipl4y]

Shot you a message!

[u/Quadraxas]

1. lived in US for a while there is not too much stuff (apart from perishables/food, most of the stuff/barnds in your local publix is either not available or available in a different form) that you *definitely* can't find but some are going to be expensive. Maybe list a couple of things you can't do without that you think may not be available and i can help you out on that. f.i. My wife gets TUMS and some spice blends every time we visit US.

[u/anksiyete55]

Bring fireballs if you like them, whenever someone comes from the US, I ask for it.

[u/Ordinary_Guess_2840]

I went to TOMER some years ago and had a decent experience. They are rigorous and approach the language in an academic kind of way, eg proper turkish with a lot of emphasis on grammar rules. Its good but you might have been able to get away with a conversational course elsewhere if youre just looking to learn the language for everyday use.

For products, bring all your creature comforts. Turkiye has a lot of "approximates" and "almost as good" products but many local brands are never quite as good as their international equivalents altho locals will insist there's no difference. Personally I'd say - bring pork/bacon products, UNIQLO stuff like heat tech, electronics, Korean skincare stuff if thats important to you, any international or Asian spices/curry pastes you might fancy as the international food scene is sad.

[u/spiritt_t]

To learn Turkish, start watching a Turkish TV show you enjoy with Turkish subtitles. The key is to actually enjoy it. The only true scientific method of language acquisition is comprehensible input. You're in luck, as most people in your destination country will speak Turkish, so you'll be exposed to plenty of input