# Learning Turkish Language



## Miss Maha (Jun 8, 2010)

Hello


i want to learn turkish so bad :clap2:


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## arakat (Oct 2, 2011)

So bad ?


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## daniel87 (Mar 8, 2012)

If you're very well disciplined then get a course to learn from home or go to a Turkish class.


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## t&a (Apr 18, 2012)

Miss Maha said:


> Hello
> 
> 
> i want to learn turkish so bad :clap2:


turkish language is easier than english

there are 600.000 words in english and 150.000 words in turkish
Also we don't have present perfect tense and present past tense in turkish.

So we are not able to speak in present tense easily as turkish citizens. that is the biggest problem for us.

especially we use present simple and past simple


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## efzun (May 7, 2012)

sure, you can learn but it is much more difficult that english


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## tally71 (May 16, 2012)

I can suggest using Rosetta Stone turkish language course- it does cost - not sure how much currently.

Or I bought a Turkish dictionary and started at the beginning of the alphabet selected a few words that I would need in my day to day communication and wrote them down and practised remembering them each day.

Good luck with learning Turkish


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## istcan (Mar 3, 2012)

*Turkish is harder than average but definitely not among the hardest ones*

I guess learning a language depends on your ability, your motivation and the relation between your native language and the new one. No matter what, if you go for it, you will succeed.

My experience is, westerners living in Turkey usually fail at learning Turkish simply because they are not motivated and that they can get along with English. I am not going to argue that they miss a HUGE part of Turkish cultural landscape because of their not knowing Turkish but they should know about this.

Some best Turkish learners are from ex-Soviet countries, they often rapidly learn and speak fluent Turkish. There is no gender usage in Turkish and its simple and mathematical structure helps. However it is an agglitunating language but this poses no problem for a motivated learner.

From wikipedia :
"Turkish is another agglutinating language: the expression 

Çekoslovakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdanmısınız? 

is pronounced as one word in Turkish, but it can be translated into English as "as if you were one of those whom we could not make resemble the Czechoslovakian people." "

Don't let this frighten you. You can do it, we can speak as such but often we don't.

Because I spend huge time with Turkish as a second/third/fourth language speakers (my wife is foreign born) we often used to discuss what language is hardest. After much research (this is quite a subjective matter) I think :

Gender-free English is quite an easy language despite its numerous words, American English maybe even easier but its phrasal verbs can be quite confusing. Somehow harder are Italian, Spanish. French is harder than others.

Turkish is harder than the ones before because of its agglutinating structure like many Asian languages. As far as I know Turkish grammar is very close to Japanese grammar though the alphabet is MUCH easier to master.

Then comes Russian, Tagalog, Thai etc. As expected the hardest languages are the likes of Korean, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese etc.

No matter how many languages you speak if you speak and write proper, it is nice. If you speak and write with good-will, it is better. If you joke, you rule ! 

Please speak nice and positive.


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## Ozsubasi (Mar 18, 2010)

Many years ago when I was at secondary school, it was compulsory that we be taught French
It was one 35 minute lesson a day, 5 days a week throughout the school year, for 5 years.
I failed the '0' level with the lowest grade possible. I did get 7 passes in other subjects so I wasn't resistant to being taught, I just could not retain enough of a foreign language for some reason.
When I came here I really wanted to learn Turkish but 40 years on from my French failure I have even less retentive abilities. Teach me a word or short phrase, ask me to repeat it a few times and I have no problem. Ask me again 5 minutes later and it is gone.
When I first came to the office here the pc was all in Turkish, and what I found was that after a time I could recognize words and know what they meant, so that I could operate ok, but I couldn't tell you what the words actually were. What I mean is that when I saw e.g. the Turkish word for "print" I knew that's what it meant, but if you asked me what what the Turkish word for print was, I couldn't (and still can't) tell you.
Luckily for me the Tuks and Kurds I work with speak English, as do many of the locals.
For those that don't, I have managed to remember a few of the very basic words and with hand signals, drawings etc I have spent many an hour communicating successfully.
I am sure I am not the only one for whom my native language is all I can manage.


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## Bounty Hunter (Jun 29, 2012)

istcan said:


> I guess learning a language depends on your ability, your motivation and the relation between your native language and the new one. No matter what, if you go for it, you will succeed.
> 
> My experience is, westerners living in Turkey usually fail at learning Turkish simply because they are not motivated and that they can get along with English. I am not going to argue that they miss a HUGE part of Turkish cultural landscape because of their not knowing Turkish but they should know about this.
> 
> ...


I guess because I was foreign born, I am the exception. Mandarin Chinese was/is my first language. That is what I was raised on so that was the only language I knew. Not until I was about 12 yrs old, we moved to the US and I learned at a very quick pace, how to speak English. Now I am just hitting 40 and for the past 7 years, my Turksih wife speaks to me in Turkish and nothing else. I only answer her in English so she can better learn it too! It is easier to retain a language if you hear it all the time. Not living there...you seem to forget it. When I call home, my mother speaks only in Chinese. If I say an English word, she hangs up quick, fast, and in a hurry. So I practice Chinese and Turkish everyday. I think the easiest part was learning a few words, listening to people conversate, hearing the key words and then with what I already know, putting the words into a sentence.


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## Ozsubasi (Mar 18, 2010)

Bounty Hunter said:


> I guess because I was foreign born, I am the exception.


Many people move to other countries and are able to pick up the language in the way that you describe. Full credit to you for doing so and I wish I could do the same but I think that people like me are the exception rather than you.

When my son was born we moved from England to Wales. He went to Welsh schools where English was the main language but Welsh was also taught. Despite having parents who could only speak English, he was top of his class for Welsh. There was some gentle banter about him being English when he first went to the school, because naturally he had our accent. But he was able to pick up the language without it even being spoken generally, and I believe that it is just part of our brain that means some can do and some can't.

I can do silly mental arithmetic sums in my head but I can't retain another language. Before the advent of calculators and computers I arguably had some kind of gift, but it is now largely redundant except to show off when we are out and before I have had too much too drink

My point is that you either have it or you don't, and no amount of teaching or hearing it locally will help if you don't have it.


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## Bounty Hunter (Jun 29, 2012)

Ozsubasi said:


> My point is that you either have it or you don't, and no amount of teaching or hearing it locally will help if you don't have it.


That maybe the case but I think by hearing being spoken aloud everyday helps. I am not and have never been one to sit in front of a computer to learn or sit in a classroom to be taught. While I was there, I went out averynight and sout out locals to talk with. They practiced English and I got to practice Turkish.


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## Ozsubasi (Mar 18, 2010)

Bounty Hunter said:


> That maybe the case but I think by hearing being spoken aloud everyday helps. I am not and have never been one to sit in front of a computer to learn or sit in a classroom to be taught. While I was there, I went out averynight and sout out locals to talk with. They practiced English and I got to practice Turkish.


Sorry, I did not mean to sound as though I disagreed with your main point, i.e. that the best way to learn is by being there and taking part. I believe you are absolutely right, it is after all how we all learn our native language to begin with.
My French teacher had the endearing habit of throwing pieces of the chalk he used to write on the blackboard at those he felt were not paying full attention, and in extreme cases the blackboard rubber which was much bigger and heavier
I remember him explaining that he learnt the language properly not through his university education, but by working on public transport in Paris.
I was only saying that for some (like me) it makes no difference when it come to learning further languages, he could have beaten it into me with a baseball bat and it still would have fallen out the other side.
I am unable to think in a different language, I have to try to mentally translate everything back into English instead of accepting the words for what they mean in that language, and I think that is the difference between those who can and those who can't.


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## Bounty Hunter (Jun 29, 2012)

Ozsubasi said:


> Sorry, I did not mean to sound as though I disagreed with your main point, i.e. that the best way to learn is by being there and taking part. I believe you are absolutely right, it is after all how we all learn our native language to begin with.
> My French teacher had the endearing habit of throwing pieces of the chalk he used to write on the blackboard at those he felt were not paying full attention, and in extreme cases the blackboard rubber which was much bigger and heavier
> I remember him explaining that he learnt the language properly not through his university education, but by working on public transport in Paris.
> I was only saying that for some (like me) it makes no difference when it come to learning further languages, he could have beaten it into me with a baseball bat and it still would have fallen out the other side.
> I am unable to think in a different language, I have to try to mentally translate everything back into English instead of accepting the words for what they mean in that language, and I think that is the difference between those who can and those who can't.


I totally understand your point my dear...


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## cbau (Jul 3, 2012)

Hello 

to add something to the conversation: I felt learning Finnish was the hardest.

And I do not wish to learn Turkish at the moment, BUT I am looking for a teacher, who can teach Turkish in Narlidere.
It would be for a couple living there, whose native language is English.
Also I would need the books in large print since one is visually impared.
It would be ideal if the teacher could come to their place.

Any ideas?
Not speaking Turkish doesn't help with my quest to be honest.
Thank you very much in advance for your help


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## chefinla (Jul 27, 2012)

I think if you live in a country and plan to stay you might want to speak their language. I know it is a richer experience and of course why should the locals adapt to you when they are in their homeland? 
I lived in Miami for a coule years and was amazed at how many people live there and don't speak English. Quite shocking to me was going to the store and being spoken to in Spanish- after all it is the US.
I hope when I move ( to who knows where) I will be able to learn the language there.


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## Ozsubasi (Mar 18, 2010)

chefinla said:


> I think if you live in a country and plan to stay you might want to speak their language. I know it is a richer experience and of course why should the locals adapt to you when they are in their homeland?


No-one can really dispute that when living in a foreign country it is going to be a huge advantage to be able to speak the language.
But it depends on where you are as to how the locals view it if can't do it. Here they are very keen to learn English and want to speak it with foreigners because they recognize that it is to their own advantage.
But being able to just say a few basic words goes a long way to being appreciated.



chefinla said:


> I lived in Miami for a coule years and was amazed at how many people live there and don't speak English. Quite shocking to me was going to the store and being spoken to in Spanish- after all it is the US.
> I hope when I move ( to who knows where) I will be able to learn the language there.


If you go into certain areas of the UK you will find the same (not Spanish but other languages). But these are businesses catering to certain people and while I do not disagree with you it is just how it is.
In a perfect world we would all be multi-lingual but we aren't all the same and it isn't going to happen.


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## cbau (Jul 3, 2012)

Hello,
I am still desperately looking for a Turkish teacher in Narliedere and an English teacher in Istanbul.
The English teacher has to be female and ideally speaks a bit of Arab.
Suggestions of any kind are welcome


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## navalarc (Aug 30, 2012)

cbau said:


> Hello,
> I am still desperately looking for a Turkish teacher in Narliedere and an English teacher in Istanbul.
> The English teacher has to be female and ideally speaks a bit of Arab.
> Suggestions of any kind are welcome


English private teacher you mean ?


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## cbau (Jul 3, 2012)

No a teacher for Turkish Izmir/Narlidere for a couple.
They are native English speakers.
And I saw prices from 40TL - 150TL per hour, which I felt very confusing.
Any kind of help is appreciated


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## interg (Jan 31, 2013)

there was a teacher who put some adverts at turkish craiglist and some clasfileds such as 200 tl weekly (15 lesson turkish language for froigners)
last summer i saw many times his adverts. but he is living in istanbul.


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## tobefar77 (May 12, 2013)

I can help a few persons in learning Turkish. No, you won't have to pay me a penny. 
I am not a teacher. But I hold 2 degrees, one is from a university abroad.

I speak Turkish very well. You must note that Turkish is not spoken correctly by most of the people in Turkey. There are some very big geographical differences in speaking Turkish. You may look like so funny if you don't speak a language correctly.

I am willing to help for free of charge. I can have about 10-15 hours a week for this.
I think it can take about 4-6 months before you understand and speak Turkish correctly. You don't have to come alone, your 1-2 friends can join us if you want or need.


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