What are the best resources for learning Turkish?

May 19, 2006 12:04 PM

What are the best books/dvds/cds/websites out there for Turkish learning? What did you use and recommend? Are there any tips or things that helped you?

Many years ago (when I was a kid) I was semi-fluent in the language and would like to re-learn it. I'd really like to stop getting the look from family members when I say I only can speak a little. I also think it could be helpful for job prospects in the future.

I have access to practice partners and have a general idea of how words should sound, but that's about it.

And I'm in Philadelphia if that helps at all.

Thank you!

posted by tozturk to Writing & Language (3 answers total)

i've used a few websites (1, 2) though I can't say how much they're good for as I have a tendancy to click elsewhere & become distracted. Likewise I tried learn-on-tape when I drove a delivery truck because I thought it would be good use of the time. Some words may have sunk in after a while, but mostly it was a blur.

In the end, my best luck came from actually being in Turkey and immersed, as they say. Honestly, I don't think there's any substitute to being there and taking classes, even for a short while.

Failing that, reading Turkish blogs (or trying to) or joining forums is nice for me because it's casual and the topics are usually more dynamic and interesting than tapes that reel off the names of thirty fruits and vegatables and leave me tossing and turning at night mumbling "çilek, çilek" in delirium.

In the end, my Turkish sucks, so maybe I shouldn't be giving advice.
posted by baklavabaklava at 12:26 PM on May 19, 2006

I have looked at the FSI Turkish Basic Course books and recommend them based on their structure, even though I haven't tried to learn Turkish myself - I've used similar FSI books in other languages and loved it. They may be a little stodgy but if you want to learn to speak fluently in good solid sentences I think you can't beat them. You can easily drop in any more modern vocabulary once you have the basic sentence patterns down well.

These thing used to be very cheap from FSI but now they seem to be offered only by reprinters who charge an exorbitant amount for the audio materials (which are, admittedly, very generous). If you have a nearby university they're very likely to have them in the government documents section.

The books alone you can often find used for a reasonable price. For example.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:49 PM on May 19, 2006

I picked up a copy of Teach Yourself Turkish and gained a pretty good understanding of the language, even without the tape it was supposed to come with and without being very disciplined about it. I haven't looked at other books, though, so maybe any book will do.

I also visit Turkey every year or two, and that has taught me more than a book could. Another thing that should help is to take a Turkish friend to lunch once a week or so and practice.

I've never really had to learn to speak the language, though, since I've always been with others who do. But I hope to make a trip over on my own, so I'll be watching this space for my own benefit.
posted by booth at 1:04 PM on May 19, 2006