I 'll be in Turkey for 4 months studying at an American University. I want to integrate into the culture, learn the language, etc. How hard is it to learn, and what is the best way??
2006-12-18 15:11:07 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ Europe (Continental) ➔ Turkey
If you're in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir or Adana, you'll probably be OK even from the beginning; a significant percentage of the merchants there speak English. When you get out into the residential neighborhoods, or into smaller towns and villages, there will be less English spoken and you'll need some basic "restaurant and supermarket" Turkish.
In answer to your basic questions: Turkish itself is pretty simple: the verbs are all regular, the spellings are all phonetic, there's no gender in nouns and prounouns, and there are no articles in the language. What's difficult about it is that so much of the vocabulary is different from English, because it's not an Indo-European language. That, and "vowel harmony," which I'll let a book describe to you (but vowel harmony isn't a big deal if you goof it up; the Turks will understand what you mean and work with you).
A couple of suggestions: learn some conversational Turkish from this small book, which a lot of American military personnel stationed in Turkey use: "Just Enough Turkish," available from Amazon or other major booksellers: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Enough-Turkish/dp/0844295183/sr=8-1/qid=1166507434/ref=sr_1_1/102-3924244-8205718?ie=UTF8&s=books .
Also, consider getting a free membership in the website http://www.turkishclass.com/ . You can learn and practice some Turkish there.
It's a great country full of generous people. In general, they'll be flattered that you try to speak their language. Even if you make a halting attempt at some basic statement in Turkish, they'll be pleased, and say, "oh, your Turkish is very good." Enjoy your stay and your studies there. E-mail me if you have specific questions.
2006-12-18 16:58:08 · answer #1 · answered by Rusting 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
If you don't know Turkish at all then you definitely take a few classes to learn the basic things. Then you must practice every day. This is very important. Get a dictionary and try to communicate with Turks. Start with simple sentences. Go shopping by your own or try to get around by your own. The best way to learn is when you really must communicate for to do something. You will surprise yourself how fast you will learn, and you will be proud of yourself that you can do things by your own without any help.
These are the tips I can give you.
By the way I have learned 6 languages this way.
Enjoy your time in Turkey..wish you the best!
2006-12-19 02:06:02 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have to disagree wth the posters above. For native English speakers, Turkish is one of the more difficult languages to learn due to the grammar structure. Some people pick it up fairly quickly, but most people struggle with grammar. The structure is almost "backwards" or the opposite of English grammar, for example:
"I love you" in Turkish is "Seni seviyorum," which if you take it apart,
seni = you
seviyor = love
um = I
Unless you are taking an intensive course, 4 months is not enough to learn the language. You'll learn the basics, but don't be frustrated! It's a difficult language to learn and even more difficult to master.
I took a course at Tomer (Ankara University/in Istanbul), but I can't recommend them. A course will help you though. The 2 most well-known are Tomer and Dilmer in Istanbul, if that's where you are coming.
(**But you'll be fine if you DON'T know Turkish! Turkish people are incredibly helpful and you'll get along without difficulties)
2006-12-19 19:14:13 · answer #3 · answered by tikilady 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No manner is this question written by means of a Turkish National If this is a critical query then I suppose you'll have a hazard to get a 6 month visitor visa however until you're married there's usually no manner you'll get a running visa
2016-09-03 15:46:45 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Let me tell you what, foreign footballers learn Turkish in months. And they can talk Turkish with news reporters. It's never hard to learn. Don't worry. If you're in university you're smarter than most people in the world.
As Rusting said
Check this site out. It also has a forum section which you can practice or ask questions or meet fellow learners like you
http://www.turkishclass.com/
2006-12-18 21:34:47 · answer #5 · answered by Cyberpunk 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
if you are going to Turkey, don't worry...people will help you..and also at university everybody will help you to teach Turkish and practise it.But I must recommend you that you should always try to use Turkish if you want to learn it...I mean learn it by experiencing....If you cannot cope with it, attend a course...
2006-12-20 08:07:39 · answer #6 · answered by Angelica 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i know its hard to learn...my bro in law is a turk but luckily he speaks english...but i learned some turkish from him also like the basic ones.....like san nasilsiniz? ( how are you?).......try these websites for simple Turkish
www.turkishclass.com
http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/index.htm
http://www.linguanaut.com/english_turkish
iyi şanslar! ( good luck)
2006-12-20 16:47:07 · answer #7 · answered by AndyPandy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You could get a Butterball to interpret for you
2006-12-18 15:19:18 · answer #8 · answered by RottinDog 2 · 0⤊ 8⤋