Our story

I want to tell you a unique story. I grew up on the streets of Hatay, a magnificent city where different cultures come together, and my interest in foreign languages was born here. During my primary school years, while learning Arabic words from my neighbors, trying to speak English with tourists, and trying to learn German from my expat friends, I began to discover the power of different languages and cultures. I was a good observer, and even when I was a child, I understood the sadness of my expatriate friends at that time when they had difficulty speaking Turkish, and it hurt me.

Family ties have been the pillar of my life. With my mother fighting cancer and my father in a coma following a shipwreck, I deeply experienced the fear of losing my loved ones. These difficult experiences made me realize how vital it is to hold on to my roots and take care of my loved ones, even though I had a lonely childhood. Years later, when I became a mother, I aimed to raise my daughters as individuals who adhered strictly to family values.

The difficulties my own children experienced in their language learning journey triggered my desire, as an educator, to develop language teaching techniques specific to children. As a teacher aware of the value of serving society and sharing knowledge, I completed my master’s degree in “Teaching Turkish as a foreign language” and my doctorate in “Educational Sciences and Management”. Thus, I would not only reserve these child-specific language teaching techniques for my own children, but would also help them eliminate the language barrier and strengthen family ties by teaching my native language, the language I know best, to our children living abroad.

With the pandemic and online education entering our lives, I enabled our children from 33 different countries of the world to learn Turkish with fun. These children were faced with the need to preserve their native language and culture. As I got closer to them, an emotional bond formed between us, and this led me to find my own life purpose: To connect children of Expat families to their own identities and roots by teaching them their native language.

By establishing Starlykid in 2021, I started to achieve this goal with talented teachers who have the same mission as me. Starlykid, which aims to teach children their native language in a fun and effective way, has also become a meeting point for families who need to protect their cultural heritage.

When I survived the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Hatay on February 6, 2023, I once again felt deeply how important it is to stick to the roots and take care of our loved ones. This event further strengthened both my mission and Starlykid’s mission. Even though the streets where I spent my childhood have disappeared, I know that a trace from my childhood is still with me; my own identity. For us, each child is a carrier of heritage, and my biggest goal is to remind them of their roots with their own voices and to ensure that they preserve their own identity. We can all come together, depending on our roots, and build a stronger and more colorful world.

Starlykid Founder and Education Coordinator
Gamze BEYAZ