Self-guided Turkish language lessons. Turkish language: self-study vs

A selection of useful sites to explore Turkish. Save it for yourself so you don’t lose it!

turkishclass.com. Free English language website for learning Turkish. Turkish language lessons include sections: pronunciation, vocabulary, chat, stories, poetry, site rules and contacts. The site is convenient for practicing vocabulary. In addition, there is a lot of information about Turkey, photographs, detailed reports from students and travelers, sketches and essays. The user must log in and then select a lesson from one of the teachers on the desired topic. There is both theoretical material and homework to the lesson. The site will be of interest not only to students, but also to teachers. After authorization, the teacher can post his version of the lesson.
turkishclass101.com. Free English-language site. The material is divided into levels - from zero to intermediate. The menu contains the following sections: “Audio lessons”, “Video lessons” for pronunciation training, and a dictionary for vocabulary. There is a support service and user instructions. It is possible to take notes in special form during the lesson. Lessons in PDF can be downloaded. There are iPhone, iPad, Android Apps free. Content is divided into free and paid. To work with the say, authorization is required. Quick user registration is available.
umich.edu. English language site. The University of Michigan has prepared a selection electronic lessons, textbooks, tests, training exercises, here you will also find literary works, And reference materials. You can download audio and video files that are used in different universities around the world when studying the Turkish language. There are a lot of materials, there is content for learning the Old Turkish language.
sites.google.com. An English-language site that contains theoretical information on Turkish grammar. There is an interesting application that conjugates Turkish verbs.
lingust.ru. Free Russian-language site, suitable for beginners and beginners. Theoretical material is arranged by lesson, which makes it easier to find the desired topic. There are no training exercises, but there is audio support and lessons from Radio "Voice of Turkey" (TRT-World).
cls.arizona.edu. An English-language online textbook developed by the University of Arizona for learning Turkish from beginner to high level. After authorization, the user works with DVD lessons; after each video there is training exercise on grammar topics, pronunciation or listening comprehension.
book2.de. English and German language site. Simple and convenient interface. You can use the main services of the site for free and without authorization. The main sections are vocabulary, pronunciation examples, flash cards for strengthening vocabulary, you can download audio for free for work. There is an iPhone App and an Android App . The textbook can be purchased. Suitable as additional material.
internetpolyglot.com. Free website, Russian version of the menu is available. It is an interesting and convenient additional tool in language learning. The site offers to memorize words and expressions by performing lexical games. There is a demo version. Authorization will help you track your success and allow you to post your materials on the site.
languagecourse.net. A free website for learning Turkish with an intuitive interface, suitable for vocabulary training. Ukrainian and Russian language versions of the site are available. Suitable for vocabulary training. Levels from beginner to advanced. You can choose the desired topic for training - work, travel, transport, hotel, business, romance/date, etc. When registering, success is tracked and learning results are saved. Available educational material for downloading and working on a PC. The service also offers to buy a language trip to the country or pay for a course in language school in any corner of the world.
franklang.ru. Russian-language free site, extremely easy to use. Contains a lot useful information– Turkish language textbooks in PDF, a library of texts in Turkish, Turkish language via Skype with teachers from the I. Frank school, texts for reading using the I. Frank method and useful links to Turkish channels, radio stations, TV series.
www.tdk.gov.tr. Free Turkish site where you will find different types dictionaries, publications by Turkish bloggers and an online library of works of various genres.
www.w2mem.com. A free site with a Russian menu, but before you start you need to log in. Very simple interface. The site was created for practicing vocabulary - you compile your own dictionary, and then consolidate your knowledge by completing tests.
languages-study. A free site that contains links to services that allow you to study the Turkish language from all aspects - grammar, aphorisms, poetry, crosswords, different types of dictionaries.
seslisozluk.net. Free online Turkish dictionary. Working languages: Russian, Turkish, German, English. Services that are provided for in the rules for using the site - translation and decoding of words and expressions, text editor, correspondence, pronunciation. The site offers training exercises in the form of online games to reinforce vocabulary.
onlinekitapoku.com. Free Turkish site where you will find books, reviews, overviews, information about the author. Quick search available. The site contains electronic and audio books of different genres.
hakikatkitabevi.com. Free Turkish-language site where you can find and download free audio books in Turkish.
ebookinndir.blogspot.com. A free resource where you can download books in Turkish in PDF format in different genres.
www.zaman.com.tr . The website of the daily Turkish online newspaper, the main headings of the publication are politics, sports, economics, culture, public and social blogs politicians, video reports.
resmigazete.gov.tr. The website of a Turkish online legal newspaper that publishes laws and draft laws, legislative acts and other legal documents.
evrensel.net. Official website of the Turkish newspaper. Lots of sections, reviews and applications.
filmifullizle.com. Free Turkish site where you can watch or download films with Turkish translation or dubbing. Each video has short description plot. A review section is also available.

In many ways it is extremely logical, consistent and understandable, despite the fact that it differs significantly from the system we are used to European languages and therefore at first glance it seems frighteningly confusing. Today we will look at those aspects of Turkish that are easiest for those who start from a “zero” level, and we will tell you how to make your life easier in mastering Turkish.

A beginner's guide to learning Turkish

I spent several days looking through textbooks and manuals from the point of view of understandability for someone learning a language from scratch, and I realized that, undoubtedly, the best option will be “Colloquial Turkish: The Complete Course for Beginners” (authors Ad Backus and Jeroen Aarssen).

This textbook provides the most necessary grammar and basic vocabulary in all areas and topics in a logical sequence, which allows you to read full-fledged original passages in Turkish after the first chapters. In addition, the focus is precisely on, in contrast to the formal “academic” version of the language.

This manual does not repeat answers and translations of what has already been explained or analyzed once, which encourages you to turn to information that has already been studied and assimilated.

Reading Turkish is very easy

The first thing to note is that Turkish is a phonetically written language, and modern Turkish uses the Latin alphabet. Before the Atatürk Revolution and the reform of 1928, during which the Latin alphabet was adapted to Turkish pronunciation of sounds, the Turkish language used the Arabic alphabet.

So, in Turkish, each letter corresponds to one sound, there are no combinations of consonants (such as sh, ch, ght), so each letter is pronounced separately. Pronunciation generally matches what you see in written text, with the following exceptions:

- c pronounced like English j (j am), so the word sadece(only, only) pronounced like sah-deh-jeh.

- ç pronounced like English ch (ch arge), not to be confused with French ç , which is pronounced like s.

- ğ – unpronounceable letter (lengthens the previous vowel sound)

- ş pronounced like English sh .

- ı - looks like i without a dot. What's confusing is that Turkish capitalizes ı - this is I (like I is capitalized in English), but capitalized in Turkish I- This İ , so the city where all the tourists end up is not I stanbul (Istanbul), and İ Stanbul. ı pronounced as a neutral vowel sound.

Umlauts ö/ü pronounced as in German.

Once you know these rules and exceptions, you should be able to read something in Turkish, although be prepared for the fact that locals may pronounce words slightly differently. For example, I discovered that the letter “e” in words was pronounced by many as “a”.

Many Turkish words you already know

I was very happy to find many familiar words in Turkish that I recognized instantly. As with all languages, you typically start with a base of thousands of words before you even begin learning the language. The Turkish language has borrowed many brands and technology terms from English, like most other languages.

But what I found much more interesting is that Turkish has a huge number of borrowed words from other languages, the most surprising (and useful for me) are borrowings from French. One source I found claims that there are approximately 5,000 words in Turkish that come from French. By comparison, 6,500 words came from Arabic, 1,400 from Persian, about 600 came from Italian, 400 from Greek and about 150 from Latin. In many cases, borrowing has a Turkish counterpart, which is considered more preferable in everyday communication, but in some cases the loanword is the only designation of the word or concept, and sometimes both words are used (as şehir And kent for "city", where şehir is a non-Turkish word).

Loanwords that I have personally encountered include kuaför, şans, büfe, lise (lycee), bulvar, asensör, aksesuar, kartuş, ekselans, sal ...and I'm sure there are many more. Of course, they are sometimes difficult to recognize, because they are written in accordance with the rules of Turkish transcription, but when pronounced they are very similar to French words (although they do not have French nasals). Even if you don't speak French, you will certainly recognize many of these words, since many of them are well established in English.

It's funny that I even recognized the Spanish word banyo in Turkish!

As for the vocabulary, which is unique and originally Turkish, it can be learned surprisingly quickly if you just apply effective methods memorization by or download a selection of basic vocabulary, load it into the application for memorizing and practicing words and launch it regularly to get used to new combinations of sounds as quickly as possible. The roots of words in Turkish, as a rule, are short, which makes them even easier to remember and then, based on them, to decipher more complex derivative words.

Suffixes will help you expand your active vocabulary

Returning to derivative words, it is important to note that a key skill in working on expanding your vocabulary will be an understanding of how the structure of a word works and how the language “works”. In this regard, vocabulary and grammar are quite closely related to each other: you will not be able to look up most words in the dictionary as they are written in the text, but if you know the basic grammatical structures, you will immediately determine the root of the word and be able to look up its meaning in the dictionary.

One of the most quick ways expand your lexicon- remember standard suffixes. Many of them perform important functions: turning nouns into adjectives (or vice versa) or verbs (infinitives ending in -mek/-mak), or designation of a person who belongs to a particular profession, for example, using suffixes -ci/-ci (öğrenci– student from the verb öğrenmek- study).

Another important suffix is the possessive formation suffix. You will encounter it everywhere, so learn to recognize it. For example, Istiklal is the name of the main street/avenue, or cadde, next to which I lived, so the street is called Istiklal caddesi. Suffix -si here reflects the meaning of possessiveness, and the word Istiklal means "independence". (Consider English example: it turns out that in Turkish they prefer to speak Avenue of independence, but not Independence avenue). In the same way, the names of all universities (üniversite) in the city have university si .

Thus, Turkish suffixes express meanings that would be conveyed in other languages in separate words, for example, prepositions.

Another important observation regarding all suffixes and words in general: the laws of vowel harmony, which you just have to get used to. I also encountered this in the Hungarian language, but in other languages this phenomenon practically does not occur, so it is necessary to accustom yourself to a completely different way of thinking. Like many other aspects of Turkish, vowel harmony is easier than it seems, but takes time to develop the habit of lining up the vowels. in a certain order. By the way, at the initial stage in the conversation you will still make mistakes, but in most cases people will still understand you.

Put words and sentences together like a jigsaw puzzle

One point that requires some “restructuring” of thinking with an orientation towards the Turkish language is that the usual verbs “to be” or “to have” simply do not exist in the Turkish language. This may sound absurd, but once you get used to saying “my car exists” instead of “I have a car,” you’ll understand what’s what.

Another "weird" aspect of Turkish is word order. For example, verbs tend to come at the end of sentences. So, you say: Türkçe öğreniyorum- “I’m studying Turkish.” In my opinion, this is even more logical than in English, because what you study is more important than what you study it. It is very important to remember that languages have different ways of “processing” information, and not to panic if something in the language does not fit into our usual thinking model.

Once you think about some of the designs and understand how they work, they will become logical and obvious. For example:

Nerelisin(iz) means "Where are you from?" Let's look at it in parts: Ne-re-li-sin(iz): -sin= you, -siniz= you (polite form/form plural), -li= from, place suffix, -ne= what (or just nere= where). Because there is no verb be, the meaning of a phrase consists of individual significant components of the word.

The same is the case with the word nereye, which means “Where to?” ( nere+ e (To) and letter "y" to separate two vowels).

The grammar will seem extremely logical to you

How it happened to me. There are so few exceptions in the language, and the conjugation and word formation are so consistent, that the system of grammar is very easy to get used to: simple past tense, two present tenses (one similar to the English continuous tense, the other is the standard present tense), future tense, etc.

One example of the formation of the present tense using the ending -er there will be a verb donmek(rotate), which is in third person form singular sounds familiar to everyone doner.

Yes, there are differences with English or Russian, but based on my experience of learning other languages, Turkish has far fewer exceptions and completely unimaginable and illogical constructions.

Moreover, Turkish has no grammatical gender, definite or indefinite articles and also no irregular shapes plural (in some cases you don't even need to add a plural suffix -ler/-lar, if the meaning of the plural is clear from the context, for example, when used with a numeral).

The only case that may cause you some problems at the beginning is the accusative, which has already frayed a lot of my nerves in German. If the very idea of the accusative confuses you, then I strongly recommend that you study Esperanto for at least a few weeks: using the accusative in Esperanto helped me understand it better than any theoretical explanation in Turkish or German, plus it is almost the only “difficult” » to understand grammatical construction throughout the language.

Using ĉu in Esperanto also helped me intuitively understand the suffix/particle issue mi/mı/mü in Turkish. This particle is added to questions that require a simple yes/no answer (in English we would simply show this difference using intonation). This is actually very easy to understand, but not easy to get used to, so studying this phenomenon first in more in simple language can really give you a "jump" in understanding.

For example, the word çalışıyor means “it works” and çalışıyor mu? - "she works?"

Mastering a foreign language is a rather complex and time-consuming task. Studying one of the most common languages in the world was no exception. Arab world– Turkish. Today it is spoken not only in Turkey: you can hear this rich language in Northern Cyprus, Macedonia and Bulgaria, Greece and Iran. Those who have ever visited Turkey are fascinated by the rich culture, ancient traditions, hospitality of the residents and the melodious sound of local speech. I would like to learn as much as possible about this wonderful country, and getting to know the language is The best way get to know Turkey.

Learn Turkish in a short time

Many people think that Turkish is an unusually difficult language to master, because most words are extremely difficult to hear. How to quickly learn Turkish? It is important to choose the right type of training and persistently pursue the goal.

Master the basics of the language - learn the alphabet and basic rules. The letters of the Turkish language are written in the Latin alphabet and will not cause difficulties for those who are familiar with English. However, there are several specific letters that you should pay special attention to memorizing.
Good language courses will help you. You can choose as general program training and individual form. The efficiency of the latter is an order of magnitude higher. Dialogue language courses are profitable and convenient, and a conversation club will help you consolidate your knowledge.
Speak Turkish out loud from day one. You should not be afraid that phrases are constructed incorrectly and words are distorted. With a little practice, your level of language proficiency will improve every day.

Tips to help you quickly master the basics of the Turkish language

So, how to learn Turkish on your own?

Install the Turkish language on your gadgets - new words will be an excellent exercise on the way to your goal.
Watching films and TV series in Turkish will help you quickly learn Turkish at home. At first, it is better to choose films with Russian subtitles, and after gaining experience, move on to films with subtitles in Turkish. With a little practice, most of the dialogue will be understood by ear, and there will be no need for subtitles. In addition, Turkish TV series are not only useful, but also very interesting.
Listen to songs in Turkish. Another way to help you master the basics of the language at home. Listening to the same song over and over again will improve your pronunciation and memorize phrases. On the Internet you can find translations of your favorite compositions, this will make it easier to learn grammatical structures.
Read books in Turkish. You can start with children's books, and, developing your level, move on to more complex reading. If at first you need a translation of literally every word, then after a month or two of daily lessons from scratch, you will turn to the dictionary much less often.
More communication. It's great if you have a trip to Turkey planned - you can practice your pronunciation.

You can meet a native speaker at social network or chat in our conversation club. Don't forget that spoken language may differ from the language in movies and TV shows. In addition, there is a whole mosaic of adverbs and dialects even within Istanbul itself - do not panic if you do not immediately begin to understand what the interlocutor is telling you, over time your hearing will adapt and any dialect will become intelligible.

Learning foreign languages can be a fun experience, whether we learn it in a classroom or on our own. Each language is not just a set of lexemes, but also a special grammar with the help of which speakers construct speech. A way of combining words into sentences, categories of time, gender, number, various shapes cases and other features take time to master, but it's worth it. If you decide to start learning Turkish on your own from scratch, take advantage of the unique opportunity that the Internet provides. Video lessons, online courses, communication with native speakers via Skype, dictionaries, films and books - this will help you absorb large amounts of information with ease. Previously, people did not have the same opportunities to study as they do now.

Learn Turkish from any level on the site for free

This electronic resource – a great opportunity Start learning Turkish from basic, intermediate or advanced levels. If you have not yet dealt with the languages of the Turkic branch, then here you will find Better conditions for easy assimilation of the phonetic, morphological and lexical composition of Türk dili. On the site, users have at their disposal many video lessons for beginners: they will allow you to learn basic conversational phrases and the words on which everyday speech is based. A businessman who is constantly in contact with carriers within business communication , will be able to learn Turkish easier, because... he had already heard the sound of living speech. Here are some reading materials to help you improve your vocabulary. In the future, it will be easier for the user to understand business partners and easier to navigate and other official documents.

What you need to know about the Turkish language?

Turkish is one of the languages of the Turkic subgroup, the oldest on the planet. The Turkic languages include numerous extinct languages, including Pecheneg, which at one time had a great influence on the formation of the lexicon of Russian and other Slavic languages.

Some words have etymologically common roots with the languages of the Turkic dialects. Turkish is morphologically close to the Azerbaijani and Gagauz languages, and if you have heard or understand their sounds, this will help you master Turkish easier.

A little grammar... For a Russian-speaking person, Turkish may seem quite difficult. It's not just a different root system, but also a different morphology. Turkish is an agglutinative language, and phrases in it are built from words using affixes that are attached to the root of the word. It will make learning Turkish online easier by the fact that in any sentence there is a strict word order, and each suffix has its own meaning. There are few exceptions in the grammar, so various types of tables irregular verbs

You won’t have to learn other complex rules either.

In Turkish there is no category of gender, as in Russian, but there are five moods, seven complex tenses, and five voices. Inversion of words in a sentence, which is often found in our country, is absent in Turkish, which also makes learning easier.

As for vocabulary, the language in its entire history has absorbed the most borrowings from Arabic, Persian (Farsi) and Greek. Modern languages have many roots borrowed from French, English and Armenian. Lively sociocultural exchange led to the fact that many lexemes from Turkish entered the lexicon of the Balkan peoples.

Good opportunities to learn Turkish

The site provides the user with many opportunities for learning the Turkish language: free video lessons, phrase books, online dictionaries, song collections and other assistants. They will be useful to everyone in mastering a new lexical system and morphology, which is still alien to perception.

Where does language acquisition begin?

The alphabet and writing of Turkish is a pleasant surprise for beginners. The alphabet of the modern Turkish language is based on the Latin alphabet, which can facilitate learning to read and write. A beginner will not have to learn complex and incomprehensible symbols, hieroglyphs and styles, for example, such as in Armenian and Georgian. The character set of the Turkish alphabet is almost no different from English or French. The speech sounds of Turkish almost completely coincide with the letters of the alphabet, which will also eliminate problems in learning Turkish for beginners (unlike, for example, French, English and German, in which phonemes are conveyed using 2-3 letters, which makes learning to read much more difficult for beginners).

With the help of simple written tasks, each student will be able to quickly learn new words by seeing the roots and affixes of lexemes. This will help you easily understand the principles of constructing phrases and sentences that are fundamentally different from Russian or English.

What else will be useful for learning Turkish for free?

The website for learning Turkish also offers a large number of materials for mastering information by ear. Colloquial speech in sound recordings, videos, films, songs, short dialogues– all this will complement the information received through the visual channel.

The main problem for many who have studied foreign language from scratch, there is a gap between the understanding of written speech and the perception of oral speech. To learn Turkish easily and correctly, it is important to combine reading and writing with listening to live speech. One of the most important and valuable ways to improve your language competence is to communicate with a native speaker. The site provides many free video lessons that can be used as a basis for mastering phonetics and diction of the Turkish language.

This is the ninth post dedicated to a selection of good language resources on the Internet (Links to the rest will be opened in the coming days:)

This post is the fruit of the collective wisdom of the participants of the Language Heroes project - the guys and I are exchanging really good, favorite, active and proven resources (and not just some selection of website addresses).
So - hand-picked for you by Language Heroes (Babylon!), thanks to my beloved Babylonians and special thanks Alena And Tanya

All books on grammar by Eyup Genish (in Russian)
Olga Sarygoz “Turkish language grammar in tables for beginners” and “Turkish language grammar in tables final course”

http://www.labirint.ru/books/148223/ Oleg Kabardin: Turkish language. Self-instruction manual for beginners. The most easy-to-follow Turkish tutorial good selections vocabulary by topic, ideal for beginners
An excellent and interesting course “Turkish for the (not) particularly gifted” from a girl who teaches Turkish herself and guides us. The lessons are written in lively language and are often based on song analysis. 3 courses have already been released, we are waiting for 4. Hurry up! The author promised 1001 lessons, and after that she will “erase everything”, since she views this project as an adventure that happens once in a lifetime)) 06/13/2016 was posted new lesson at number 329. Here are the links to all 3 courses, don’t pass by: http://turkish4dummies.com
Istanbul textbook series A1, A2, B1, B2, C1-C1+ - on this moment, the most professionally compiled textbooks, are suitable for beginners and intermediate students for independent study. Up to B2 can be found in contact, paper copies can be ordered from amazon.com
Hardcore for those who already speak German - textbooks from the Kolay gelsin series! levels A1-A2 and B1 from the German publishing house Klett - well-written, communicative methodology, smooth presentation of the material. If you're ready to read about Turkish grammar in German, this is for you. You can find it on amazon.de

https://www.seslisozluk.net/ The translation is mainly Turkish-English, the dictionary itself is very good and complete, everything is there, it works offline with a limited set of words.
http://www.ruscasozluk.gen.tr/index.php?lang=ru This dictionary is adequate, which is rare in the Turkish-Russian pair, but it is very small and often does not find words. But if there is a word in it, then everything is fine.
Another Turkish-Russian dictionary https://ru.glosbe.com/tr/ru/
http://slovari.yandex.ru
http://www.tdk.gov.tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1 - official state reference-dictionary of the spelling of Turkish words

https://eksisozluk.com - a forum-encyclopedia beloved by the Turks themselves, where you can find information about everything down to the etymology of certain words and expressions.
http://www.zaytung.com is again the favorite “online newspaper” of the Turks, ridiculing events from all over the world. We recommend reading by first installing the Readlang extension in your browser so that unfamiliar words can be immediately highlighted and translated in the text.
The Gate magazine http://www.tavhavalimanlari.com.tr/en-EN/Publications/Pages/Gate.aspx - bilingual Turkish-English magazine, it’s like reading according to Ilya Frank’s method))
https://vk.com/turkcem?w=wall-62013260_19482- all Harry Potter in Turkish
“15 stories for home reading” by O. Mansurova - slightly adapted stories by famous Turkish writers (children’s, intended for primary and secondary schools) + consolidation exercises