Hey, I’m Uğurcan 👋
It’s not always straightforward to pronounce my name, so let me help you. In short, it’s pronounced roughly as “Oo-oor-jahn” in English phonetics.
But, if you want to do it properly, let’s break it down. It’s a compound Turkish word made from “Uğur” and “Can”.
- Uğur : The “U” is like the double “o” in “moon,” but it’s a little shorter. The ‘ğ’ is a soft g, a sound not typically found in English. It lengthens the vowel before it, making “uğ” is a prolonged “oo” sound. The “ur” is pronounced like the “ur” in “fur” or “purse.”
- can : The “c” in Turkish is pronounced like the “j” in “jam.” The “a” is pronounced like the “a” in “father,” and the “n” is as in English.
You can also call me ‘can’ — that works perfectly fine. 😉
So far, I have lived in 3 cities in Turkey, and have moved to Zürich, Switzerland. The first is Tekirdağ, where I was born and raised. It’s a lovely city located in the northwestern part of Turkey, on the northern coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. It’s primarily known for Rakı, Meatballs, and Sunflowers. And yes, it’s close to İstanbul.
After that, I moved to Edirne for high school and stayed there for 4 years. Not far from Tekirdağ, it’s still in the Thrace region. Edirne is the European border town of Turkey, adjacent to Greece and Bulgaria.
Then I moved to Ankara, the capital city, to study electrical and electronics engineering at METU. I stayed there long enough to meet amazing people, deep dive into computers/electronics, and initiate my career as a software engineer.
Check my CV to learn more about that!