פנים

– a face – means literally “facets” or “sides”. That’s because a face has two sides that face or “turn” in a direction. Thus פנים

is related to the simple verb לפנות

– to turn.

Here’s לפנות

in context:

אחרי הכיכר, צריך לפנות ימינה או שמאלה?

After the roundabout, do I (does one) need to turn right or left?

Giving and understanding directions is one of the core skills we teach in our Level 1 Hebrew course (for when Google Maps doesn’t work, for example).