--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Actually, I've taught creative writing in…" description: "\"Actually, I've taught creative writing in Turkey, at an English language university, where the students were native Turkish speakers, but they were wri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/elif-batuman-2172_creative-writing_actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in_3015609.png" --- # Actually, I've taught creative writing in Turkey, at an… ![“Actually, I've taught creative writing in Turkey, at an English language university, where the students were native Turkish speakers, but they were writing their essays in English, and they were very interesting - even the sense of structure, the conventions of writing, the different styles of…” quote by Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/elif-batuman-2172_creative-writing_actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in_3015609.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/elif-batuman-2172_creative-writing_actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in_3015609.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/elif-batuman-2172_creative-writing_actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in_3015609.png) > “Actually, I've taught creative writing in Turkey, at an English language university, where the students were native Turkish speakers, but they were writing their essays in English, and they were very interesting - even the sense of structure, the conventions of writing, the different styles of writing.” [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Batuman describes teaching creative writing to Turkish students writing in English, noting the unique structures and styles that emerge from cross‑lingual practice. **In simple terms:** Teaching English essays to Turkish speakers reveals distinct writing habits. Key Takeaway Leverage cultural differences to enrich writing instruction. Themes education cross‑cultural communication language learning Mood analytical inquisitive Type academic educational When to use this quote - designing curriculum for non‑native writers - analyzing essay structures - encouraging diverse voices - adapting feedback - facilitating multilingual workshops Key Concepts linguistics pedagogy identity formation Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape narrative style? - What strategies help students think in English? A Different Perspective Students may default to native patterns, limiting fluency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creative writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-writing/) [English language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/) [Essays English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essays-english-3990138/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-different-450782/) [Writing essays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-essays/) [Writing Turkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-turkey-4855961/) ## Related quotes > [“Hairwoman is torturing us with essays. Do English teachers spend their vacations dreaming up these things?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/hairwoman-is-torturing-us-with-essays-do-english-teachers-spend-their/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [“The first time I read Isaac Babel was in a college creative writing class. The instructor was a sympathetic Jewish novelist with a Jesus-like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/the-first-time-i-read-isaac-babel-was-in-a-college-creative-writing/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I don't write political plays in the sense that I'm writing essays that are kind of disguised as plays. I would really defy anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-don-t-write-political-plays-in-the-sense-that-i-m-writing-essays/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [As far as I can tell, writing the essays didn't change the way I wrote poetry. Although the essays contain scattered passages that might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/as-far-as-i-can-tell-writing-the-essays-didn-t-change-the-way-i-wrote/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [Since childhood, I wrote a lot of fiction, a lot of stories, but I most loved writing essays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/since-childhood-i-wrote-a-lot-of-fiction-a-lot-of-stories-but-i-most/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [ Maybe someone's who's a different kind of writer \[would think otherwise\] - someone who'd be just as comfortable writing essays on what their novels… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/maybe-someone-s-who-s-a-different-kind-of-writer-would-think/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [Doubt is my boon companion, the faithful St. Bernard ever at my side. Whether writing essays or just going about daily life, I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lopate/doubt-is-my-boon-companion-the-faithful-st-bernard-ever-at-my-side/) [Phillip Lopate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lopate/) > [I enjoy writing personal essays in the way of Charles Lamb because it goes back to the school days when I was good in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/i-enjoy-writing-personal-essays-in-the-way-of-charles-lamb-because-it/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [Writing essays and teaching composition have helped me immensely in writing poetry, because they've forced me to focus on the structure of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-belz/writing-essays-and-teaching-composition-have-helped-me-immensely-in/) [Aaron Belz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-belz/) > [Autobiographical writings, essays, interviews, various other things... All the non-fiction prose I wanted to keep, that was the idea behind this collected volume, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/autobiographical-writings-essays-interviews-various-other-things-all/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“The world is full of educated derelicts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/the-world-is-full-of-educated-derelicts/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [I sort of was good at writing essays. I was never very good at mathematics, and I was never very good at algebra. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-cilento/i-sort-of-was-good-at-writing-essays-i-was-never-very-good-at/) [Diane Cilento](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-cilento/) > [If my father were still writing essays, every full-grown 'girl' would probably be transformed into a'woman'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-fadiman/if-my-father-were-still-writing-essays-every-full-grown-girl-would/) [Anne Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-fadiman/) > [I usually dread writing non-fiction. I don't feel comfortable or confident writing essays and the like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-g-tremblay/i-usually-dread-writing-non-fiction-i-don-t-feel-comfortable-or/) [Paul G. Tremblay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-g-tremblay/) > [Seneca devoted much of his time to writing essays in praise of poverty, and in lending money at usurious rates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/seneca-devoted-much-of-his-time-to-writing-essays-in-praise-of/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) ## More by Elif Batuman > [My parents were born into a secular country. They met in Turkey's top medical school, moved to America in the nineteen-seventies, and became researchers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/my-parents-were-born-into-a-secular-country-they-met-in-turkey-s-top/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I leafed through the phrase book. If a Martian read it, the Martian would probably decide to avoid Hungary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-leafed-through-the-phrase-book-if-a-martian-read-it-the-martian/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [You can't invent something you have no epistemological access to. In a way, it's all recombination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/you-can-t-invent-something-you-have-no-epistemological-access-to-in-a/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Poetry is another space, like love, where we extend that extra credit to the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/poetry-is-another-space-like-love-where-we-extend-that-extra-credit/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Svetlana said that she identified with that Madonna more than with any other woman in any other painting. She kept asking me what painting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/svetlana-said-that-she-identified-with-that-madonna-more-than-with/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [One of the most painful parts of a breakup is having the feeling that your life is a story, and then the other person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/one-of-the-most-painful-parts-of-a-breakup-is-having-the-feeling-that/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Dracula visited the Wolf Department at the Zoological Gardens. "These wolves seem upset at something," he observed. The next morning the cage was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/dracula-visited-the-wolf-department-at-the-zoological-gardens-these/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I like to think that I know a lot of words, but I definitely don't know all of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-like-to-think-that-i-know-a-lot-of-words-but-i-definitely-don-t/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I don't know if I ended up siding with the academics just because I happened to end up in graduate school, or if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-know-if-i-ended-up-siding-with-the-academics-just-because-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [People don't become writers because they love having spontaneous, real-world interactions with living people as bodies with clothes in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/people-don-t-become-writers-because-they-love-having-spontaneous-real/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Each work of criticism is supposed to build on the body of work, to increase the total sum of human understanding. It's not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/each-work-of-criticism-is-supposed-to-build-on-the-body-of-work-to/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Humor is really important to me. All my favorite writers are writers I consider to be funny, including Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, even though that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/humor-is-really-important-to-me-all-my-favorite-writers-are-writers-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Every time a meteor comes close to the earth, we all think about the end of the world - but our internal soundtrack doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/every-time-a-meteor-comes-close-to-the-earth-we-all-think-about-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I felt grateful to Ataturk that my parents were so well educated, that they weren't held back by superstition or religion, that they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-felt-grateful-to-ataturk-that-my-parents-were-so-well-educated-that/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“For a moment it felt like we weren’t in the Danube at all but in the river of time, and everyone was at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/for-a-moment-it-felt-like-we-weren-t-in-the-danube-at-all-but-in-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) [Explore all 182 Elif Batuman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## More Creative writing quotes > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Take care of your costume and your confidence will take care of itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/take-care-of-your-costume-and-your-confidence-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [I've always written. When I was in school, the only teacher who ever liked me was my creative writing teacher. I used to enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-ve-always-written-when-i-was-in-school-the-only-teacher-who-ever/) [Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/) > [When I was at UCLA, a professor there encouraged me to write, and so I looked into specializing in creative writing in the English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-park/when-i-was-at-ucla-a-professor-there-encouraged-me-to-write-and-so-i/) [Randall Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-park/) > [A creative writing workshop will contain students whose ambitions and abilities, whose conceptions of literature itself, are so diverse that what they have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-creative-writing-workshop-will-contain-students-whose-ambitions-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“The smell of the sweat is not sweet, but the fruit of the sweat is very sweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/the-smell-of-the-sweat-is-not-sweet-but-the-fruit-of-the-sweat-is/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Start dating someone who is funny, someone who has what in high school you called a "really great sense of humor" and what now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/start-dating-someone-who-is-funny-someone-who-has-what-in-high-school/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Creative writer has artistic sensibility. He observes the world like any common men. But his vision observes the world quite differently. He can perceive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/creative-writer-has-artistic-sensibility-he-observes-the-world-like/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [I really think that if there's any one enemy to human creativity, especially creative writing, it's self-consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/i-really-think-that-if-there-s-any-one-enemy-to-human-creativity/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [“We are taken through the pursuit of the American dream, the establishment of the American family, and a smattering of suspense and intrigue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-allgire/we-are-taken-through-the-pursuit-of-the-american-dream-the/) [Nikita Allgire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-allgire/) > [“Because at night when others are sleeping, I drown myself in poetry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/because-at-night-when-others-are-sleeping-i-drown-myself-in-poetry/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“Don't compare the size of your roof with the size of the sky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/don-t-compare-the-size-of-your-roof-with-the-size-of-the-sky/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Metaphors are not user-friendly. They're difficult to find and difficult to use well. Unfortunately, metaphors are a mainstay of good lyric writing-indeed of most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-pattison/metaphors-are-not-user-friendly-they-re-difficult-to-find-and/) [Pat Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-pattison/) > [All the elements of good writing depend on the writer's skill in choosing one word instead of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/all-the-elements-of-good-writing-depend-on-the-writer-s-skill-in/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) [Browse all 424 Creative writing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-writing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Actually, I've taught creative writing in Turkey, at an English language university, where the students were native Turkish speakers, but they were writing their essays in English, and they were very interesting - even the sense of structure, the conventions of writing, the different styles of writing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elif Batuman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in-turkey-at-an-english/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creative writing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in-turkey-at-an-english/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/elif-batuman-2172_creative-writing_actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in_3015609.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/elif-batuman-2172_creative-writing_actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in_3015609.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f11/elif-batuman-2172_creative-writing_actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in_3015609.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Actually, I've taught creative writing in Turkey, at an English language university, where the students were…” — Elif Batuman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elif Batuman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Actually, I've taught creative writing in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in-turkey-at-an-english/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/actually-i-ve-taught-creative-writing-in-turkey-at-an-english/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```