Innovation in Language Learning

This paper is the result of a research project, conducted between September 2022 and May 2023, as a collaborative effort between two secondary schools of the International Schools Association (ISA). It focuses on analyzing the reciprocal influences between the Turkish and Russian languages. The project aimed to explore the intercultural communication and etymological connections between the two languages. The proposed cause for the linguistic similarities is the Altaic language family, which includes Turkic, Mongolic, Koreanic, Japonic, and Slavic languages. Accordingly, the borrowing of loan words between Turkish and Russian has improved cross-cultural communication and fostered a deeper understanding and appreciation of each other's cultures. Thus, they share some similarities in the vocabulary like watermelon/арбуз/ karpuz, hazelnuts/фундук/fındık, and caftan/кафтан/kaftan. However, many of these words have come a very long way before they got into the Russian language, for example, they originated in Persian, Arabic or Latin, and with the help of other intermediaries, such as German or French, they turned out to be, already rather changed, in Turkish, and then in Russian. For example, the word "hazelnut" originated from the Latin nux pontica, then got into the Greek φουντούκια, later into the Turkish fındık, and finally into the Russian фундук. Therefore, loan words serve as markers of historical and social connections, reflecting exchange and mutual influence between languages and cultures. These shared words embody the interconnectedness of Turkish and Russian histories, contributing to a sense of shared heritage and cultural diversity. The findings of the project shed light on the complex relationship between the Turkish and Russian languages and their significance in the global linguistic landscape.