We recommend that you spend as much time as possible learning 1) 'special' Turkish vocabulary and 2) the Turkish idioms. For the first learning need, we provide the Essential Turkish Headwords, Turkish Conjunctions, and Geopolitical and Historical Dictionary pages. For the second need, have a look at our 'weird and wonderful' Turkish Idioms -- from A to Z pages.

In the way of tools, we also provide Mike Thomas' Turkish-English-Turkish Interactive Dictionary for Windows, Taner Nalbat's WinMekMak Verbs Conjugator for Windows, and Turgut Kalfaoğlu's Vocabulary Builder for DOS -- that you can download from our website, *free* of charge!

And when you take a break from vocabulary and idioms, try...
1) Watching Turkish movies on video -- so you can stop and 'rewind' when necessary. Why...depending on where you live (or what cable service you have) you may even be able to watch Turkish movies on broadcast TV! For more on the subject, see 'Introduction to The Whole Earth Catalog of Turkish Movies'.

2) Using Turkish self-teach courses with or without cassette tapes...
We like G.L Lewis, so we suggest his edition of "Teach Yourself Turkish". (1992 or later, if there is one). Lewis gives more insight into the language than others do -- and he is, on the whole, very readable. There is no better source than this book. And his companion book, "Turkish Grammar", is a revelation for those who really want to plumb some of the depths of the Turkish language...

But, for a lighter read, we also suggest (by the same publisher) a more recent book with exactly the same title and general format of G.L.'s book, but by two new writers on Turkish -- Asumen and David Pollard. If you overlook the audaciously extravagant claim they make (that you'll be able to converse at an intermediate level in Turkish after completing their book), then you're in for a very good read and you'll be pleased with this modern, helpful self-teaching guide.

Three other products of note are...
a) Turkish Headstart -- Modules 1 thru 12 (with 14 cassettes)
b) Turkish -- Basic Course Units 1-30 (with 14 cassettes)
c) Turkish-- Basic Course Units 31-50 (with 13 cassettes)
... which are produced by the US Defense Language Institute, and found at Amazon.com or directly from the US Govt. Printing Office. These are extremely dry (we're talking arid) -- but they are very thorough.

Some others, for example...
The series, Türkçe Ögreniyoruz (We're Learning Turkish) I through VI, is readily available in Turkey at bookstores like Net and Haşet and *may* be available online at the IdeeFixe Turkish Online Store or from Ohio State University.

And, we also have to mention the "best" compact Turkish language reference on the market...the "Turkish Language Phrasebook" by Tom Brosnahan (and we too) for Lonely Planet Publications. It's a truly modern phrasebook for the new-age 00's...

If you're a real 'computer-person', you're sure also to like the Redhouse, Turkish-English-Turkish Talking Dictionary on CD ROM. It's a great product with over 75,000 headwords and more than 20 hours of recorded sound...(Note: It's also available at Turkish Computer stores and sometimes you get it free in Turkey -- when you buy other Turkish Software or Internet products.)

Still another way to improve your Turkish is to sharpen your pronunciation skills by listening to the voice recordings on our website. For example, "Accent on Turkish" is quite a good, albeit basic, introduction to Turkish accenting, stressing and phrasing. See the Sounds of Turkish Index page for other recording-rich pages...

Finally, we suggest your consideration of our Enhanced 'Learning Practical Turkish Website on CD'. Among other things, it's got a lot more voice recordings than we provide online. And we think you'll find it very effective to browse our entire site (plus the enhancements) -- without having to be connected to the Internet!!! Let us know if you'd like complete information about it...