Beginning Turkish
for English-speakers...
Start your Turkish studies here!
One of the most 'Frequently Asked Questions' we receive from website visitors is...
- How can a 'basic' beginner get started learning Turkish at Learning Practical Turkish? The reply that we've developed (and kept updated) during more than a decade now -- which seems to have met most site visitor needs -- is as follows:
Oftentimes, it's better to think of our learning Turkish website as a Turkish Grammar Study Guide -- where you dive in as the spirit moves you! Visitors in such a diving mood may prefer browsing through the comprehensive index of all our website pages. But if you are just beginning Turkish, we'd recommend that you get started by taking the links to...
After that, we suggest the following step-by-step Turkish study approach...
As we mention in our Learn-Turkish Home-Page 'opening statement', we see certain 'obstacles' that English speakers face when they first begin to study Turkish -- obstacles that have to be overcome. What are they?
1) Difficult Turkish vocabulary
2) Odd structure of Turkish sentences
3) So many suffixes (Turkish agglutination)
4) Unusual ways of expressing thought in Turkish
Turkish for Beginners Topic #1:
Turkish Words (Vocabulary)
For overcoming the first Turkish Study obstacle (difficult Turkish vocabulary), we recommend:
- The Really Quick and Basic Turkish Language Phrasebook
- 'The Merciless Turkish Vocabulary' page...
- Essential Turkish Headwords
- Turkish Verb Tenses - examples with Gelmek (Come) [Turkish verb conjugations, you will find, are very consistent, unlike our 'English' verbs.]
- The Turkish Verb 'To Be
- Turkish Numbers Revealed -- all the ways there are to use numbers in Turkish...
- Sounds of Specialty Turkish (where you may wish to take the link to Accent on Turkish, in preference to some of the others)...
- Turkish Tongue Twisters -- to help you get the rhythm of the language and...to make you smile.
- Turkish idioms -- starting with A, B, C, Ç, D, E, F, G, H, etc...
- Intimate Turkish -- which is not for everyone, we know...
But if you are unaware of it, you may be left in the dark
at very *crucial* points of certain Turkish 'conversations'.
- Turkish First Names -- the Plain English meanings
- An Online Turkish-English English-Turkish Dictionary
(See the Turkish Downloads page for an offline-dictionary...)
- Mini-Tips for speaking, reading, writing better Turkish
[While we're on the subject of vocabulary... An as-big-as-you-can-afford bilingual Turkish dictionary is essential to your language learning success. We recommend the Redhouse Turkish-English Dictionaries (they have 4 or 5 different sizes), but they are not easily found in the states (although Amazon.com may have some in stock). If you can't find a Redhouse Turkish-English dictionary, the large Turkish-English Langenscheidt is acceptable (though curiously weak in places). The one to avoid is the Concise Oxford Turkish English Dictionary -- it's very misleading and out of date. Do not buy this one if the original publication date is between 1953 and 1985. It's terrible!]
Beginning Turkish Topic #2:
Turkish Phrase and Sentence Structure --
and Turkish Language Ambiguity
For overcoming the second Turkish study obstacle (odd sentence structure, which can lead to Turkish ambiguity), we recommend:
- Turkish is reverse English!
- The 'Regular and Consistent' Turkish Language
- Turkish Ambiguities
- Off-color Turkish Ambiguities (Beware the written warning!)
- Turkish Pronouns -- Keeping yourself... straight
- Turkish Adjective Heaven (or Hell) - Part 1
- Turkish Adverbs ad nauseam
Turkish Beginner Topic #3:
Turkish Suffixes, Prefixes, Particles and Buffers
For overcoming the third Turkish study obstacle (Turkish agglutination, Turkish Suffixes, etc.), we recommend:
- Too many Turkish suffixes -- agglutination
- The amazing -den Turkish suffix
- A Turkish Conjunction Celebration, where many of the entries are Turkish suffixes
- Turkish Prefixes and suffixes --
Turkish Adjective Heaven (or Hell) - Part 1 and Part 2
- Turkish Buffer Letters
- Turkish Language Personal-Endings,
which are Turkish suffixes too...
- Index to Essential Suffixes (and Prefixes) of Turkish
for English speakers
- The other various pages devoted to 'Turkish suffixes' found under 'S' in our Turkish Table of Contents
Turkish for Beginners Topic #4:
Ways to Express Yourself In Turkish Language
For overcoming the fourth Turkish study obstacle (unusual ways of Turkish expression), we recommend:
That's a pretty ambitious program we've laid out, we know -- and you ought not concentrate all your effort in one area. Skip in and out of each of the areas -- so you can get an overall 'appreciation'.
And don't let yourself be discouraged. Whatever you have time to learn, will pay big dividends.
And lastly, make sure you *enjoy* the Turkish language -- recognizing that it's got a very high *cool* quotient...
:^)
P.S. For Turkish study 'self-drilling' -- don't forget:
1) The *free* 'Talking Turkish' program, the Interactive Turkish Dictionary, the Learning Turkish Verb Conjugator, etc. that you'll find on our 'Downloads' page...
2) Our very own product, the Enhanced 'Learning Practical Turkish Website on CD'. Among other things, it's got 1,000s more voice recordings than we provide online.
Is there a good website like this one, for us...
to study Turkish too?
Ummm. I'm not sure... |
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