English is everywhere in Istanbul. Very rarely did I find myself in a situation in which my supreme lack of language was a problem. Although the symposium had a majority of Turkish participants and presenters, all of the major presentations that I heard were in English. Istanbul Sehir University conducts all of its classes in English, as do a large number of universities in Turkey. ISU is particularly focused on English because it wants to distinguish itself as a major research institution. In order for students to be on the cutting edge of research today, they need to learn English.
Everyone involved in the tourist trade in Istanbul has a passing familiarity with major expressions in English, and I encountered scores of people who were completely fluent. Once I went to a restaurant (the one recommended by Rick Steves mentioned in an earlier post) that had a large group of Chinese tourists. They spoke in broken English to the waiter, who himself only spoke in broken English. It was comical in a way, but a definite sign of the globalized world that we live in and the role of the English language.
People may debate the declining influence of the United States as a world power today. From my experience the complete dominance of the English language, however, is undeniable.
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