Turkey is a kind of bridge between the Middle East and Europe, so for many centuries its culture, traditions and language have attracted people from different parts of the world. In the era of globalization, the distances between states are reduced, peoples communicate with each other, maintain friendly relations, and establish business. Knowledge of the Turkish language will be useful for both tourists and entrepreneurs, managers, scientists. It will open the door to another world, introduce you to the culture and history of such a colorful and beautiful country.
Why learn Turkish?
Now, it would seem, why learn Turkish, Azerbaijani, Chinese or some other language if you can learn English and communicate with representatives of different nationalities only in it? Here, everyone should set priorities for himself, understand what and why he is doing. It is impossible to learn a foreign language if there is no desire and motivation. Indeed, in order to travel to Turkey, basic English is also suitable, Turks in resort areas also understand Russian well. But if there is a goal to move to live in this country, to establish business with its representatives, to go to study abroad, to build a career in a company collaborating with Turkish companies, then the prospects for learning the language seem very tempting.
Do not forget about self-development. Chekhov also said: “How many languages you know, how many times you are a person.” There is a great deal of truth in this statement, because each country has its own culture, traditions, rules, and worldview. Learning a language, a person trains his memory, slows down the aging of the brain, increasing its activity. In addition, there is an opportunity to read literature, watch films in the original, and how pleasant it is to listen to your favorite singer or singer and understand what they are singing about. Studying the Turkish language, people replenish the vocabulary of their native language, remember the rules for writing words.
Where to start learning?
Many have a legitimate question - where to start, what kind of textbook, tutorial video or audio course to take? First of all, you need to set a specific goal. You can’t just want to know Turkish, you need to clearly define what it is for. Motivation and irresistible desire will do their job and help to cope with critical moments, overcome laziness, unwillingness to continue their studies. In addition, there should be love for the country, its culture, history. If the soul does not lie to it, then advancing in the study of the language will be more difficult many times.
How to "plunge" into the Turkish language as quickly as possible?
It is necessary on all sides to surround yourself with appropriate materials. Some experts advise to go to Turkey to learn the language on the spot. It should be noted that without basic knowledge one should not even take such a step, since not every native Turk can explain the grammar, the rules for using certain words, etc. It is enough to learn the 500 most common phrases to speak. Turkish is not so complicated for a tourist. You just need to choose the most common words, learn them, get acquainted with the grammar (boring, boring, but without it in any way) and rehearse the pronunciation. Be sure to surround yourself with textbooks, dictionaries, films and fiction books in the original language.
Read, listen, speak
You can’t deal only with writing and reading, because the chances of speaking in this case will be void. Studying grammar, translating texts, reading, writing is all good and you can’t do without these exercises. But still, if the goal is to understand speech by ear and communicate with the Turks, then you need to learn Turkish a little differently. The study can be replenished with audio and video courses. It is best to print the text spoken by the announcer, write unfamiliar words on the sheet, trying to remember them. Listening to the dialogue, you need to follow the printout with your eyes, listen to the intonations, grasp the essence. Also, do not be shy to repeat words and whole sentences for the announcer. Let nothing work at first, a terrible accent will appear. Do not be upset or shy, these are the first steps. Turkish for beginners is like a mother tongue for kids. At first, only babble is heard, but with the practice of pronouncing foreign words it is becoming easier and easier.
When and where do you need to practice?
It is necessary to do small, but frequent approaches. Turkish language requires constant repetition, therefore it is better to improve it for 30 minutes daily than to sit for 5 hours once a week. Professional tutors do not recommend taking breaks for more than 5 days. There are days when you cannot manage to find a free minute, but still you should not give up and let everything go by its own accord. Standing in traffic on the way home, you can listen to several dialogs from an audio course or songs in the original language. You can also set aside 5-10 minutes to read one or two pages of text. Thus, new information will be received and the already completed information will be repeated. As for where to study, there are no restrictions. Of course, translating, writing, learning grammar is best at home, but you can read, listen to songs and audio courses anywhere: walking in the park, relaxing in nature, in your car or public transport. The main thing is that learning is fun.
Is it difficult to learn Turkish?
Is it easy to learn a language from scratch? Of course, it is difficult, because these are unfamiliar words, sounds, construction of sentences, its carriers have a different mentality, worldview. You can learn a set of phrases, but how to use them, what to say in a given situation, so that you can communicate clearly and not accidentally offend the person you are talking to? In parallel with the study of grammar and words, you need to get acquainted with the history of the country, its culture, traditions, customs. For rare tourist trips, it is not so important at what level the Turkish language is. The translation of individual texts, books can be carried out only with good knowledge of Turkey, its history, laws. Otherwise, it will be superficial. To be reasonably expressive, it’s enough to know 500 frequently used words, but you should not stop there. It is necessary to move on, to comprehend new horizons, to discover the unfamiliar sides of Turkey.
Do I have to communicate with native speakers?
Communication with the Turks will be useful if you already have basic knowledge. A native speaker gives good practice, because she can tell you how to pronounce a particular word correctly, which sentence is more appropriate in a particular situation. In addition, live communication allows you to replenish the vocabulary. Therefore, it is worth going to Turkey to improve your Turkish language. Words are so easily and quickly remembered, an understanding of the correct construction of sentences appears.
Turkish is one of the most beautiful languages in the world!
At the first acquaintance, many may think that the talk of the Turks is too tough, rude. Indeed, there are a lot of growling and hissing sounds in it, but they are also diluted with gentle, bell-like words. It is worth visiting Turkey only once to fall in love with it once and for all. The Turkish language belongs to the Turkic group, which are spoken by more than 100 million people, therefore it gives a key to understanding Azerbaijanis, Kazakhs, Bulgarians, Tatars, Uzbeks, Moldavians and other peoples.