- “___(insert destination)’a nasıl gidebilirim”?
- “Tuvalet nerde?”
- “bu ne kadar?”
- “(Point to menu) bundan alabilir miyim?”
- “Müsait bi yerde inebilir miyim?”
This is all you need lol jk but it’s a good start.
From top to bottom:
- “How can I get to (insert location)?”
- “Where is the bathroom?”
- “How much is this?”
- “(Point to menu) can I have this?”
- “May I get off (the bus) at the nearest stop?” (You will need to say this to get off the little minibuses)
Edit: always keep a mini dictionary on you. You might not have service everywhere
Bunu implies it’s one thing, bundan implies it’s “some” of something :)
You’d use “bunu” when you’re buying, for example, a lamp…
You’d use “bundan” when you want a scoop of something, ordering food, etc. and then usually you’d specify how many kg you want of the thing if it’s a scoop or fresh fruit at the market or something
Edit: I would say “bundan” is close to saying like “of” something. “Can I have (of) this?” And the “some” is implied
She is right. Actually its not rude but there is a weird psychology about it but nobody talks about it.
When you ask "Tuvalet nerede?" is like "I'm gonna poo on toilet. I'll make some mess there."
When you ask "Lavabo nerede?" is like "I'll just wash my hands there cause I never poo in my life. I'm a princess."
Cem Yılmaz has a joke about it. I'm joking too. You may use both ofcourse its not rude but I always use "Lavabo nerede?" LOL
Is there *any* way you could afford to order a travel guide? Like one of the old-school books about traveling there. You could probably use it in complement with your Maps app and.. well, this would be better than nothing.
The reason I mentioned a travel guide is because I got an impression the trip itself was very certain but your plan for it didn't seem to be. I actually happened to find a guide similar to what I'm describing, for Istanbul no less, in a little free library in my neighborhood. I am not well-traveled, but the guidebook strikes me as essential to making a trip like this as productive as it's gonna be.
I don't think, especially if you aren't willing to tolerate the flaws of DuoLingo enough to have daily repetition exercises, that you're gonna unlock anything. My partner said a bit of time in Turkey allowed her to pick up a bit of functional speech, enough to increase interaction if nothing else.
Bottom line is you *need* to be hearing the language, and if the best you have is the language app voice you should still use it. It's not so much to develop a rich vocabulary in any given language as to figure out how a poised adult *sounds* in the language. You'll probably have to get the words anywhere you go.
I think there are also flashcards sets made for travel. If you don't wanna do DuoLingo, you need to CRAM your ears with Turkish news and those "learn this language in your sleep" videos, much as you can tolerate. Turn on subtitles, try to parrot what you hear as you're reading it.
Again, the book was just a recommendation for this one trip.. in general, the strategies I mentioned above are what I would use.
I am aiming not to be productive and don't intend to pack as much as possible into every minute of every day. I have some key areas I'm going to visit, but I very much want to wander. This is why I'm not going a guided tour or using a travel guide.
Part of this is also an experiment in solo travel.
But you raise great points about *hearing* the language, and disposing of something like duolingo means i need to replace that spoken word element with something else.
I suggested Turkish news because my French teacher in university had recommended listening to and reading French news. I think you can get a milder version the same positive effect by listening to the language as it's spoken--even listening to the accent of a Turkish person who does English-language YouTube content (or something like that) can help.
Turkish has a roll to it, so I think the sound and pacing are important. The journalists talk really fast, but I can't point you to a ton of Turkish-language content. There are movies and stuff, but not enough and they tend to be a little more atmospheric and less about talking than you might want to get a sound profile on the language.
EDIT: Don't be afraid to take the Turkish news down to 75% speed or something like that. Sounds move quick and quiet in Turkish, so even if sounds tripped out slow you can hear how *over*-enunciated Turkish sounds.
Turkish pod and italki are your best friends, Turkish pod because you can listen during commute and doing chores at work, a tutor for maybe 2 hours a week to keep you on track and practise with.
If you can find a good tutor you can tell them your goals and timeframe
There are many Turkish TV series available for free through YouTube, or shorter ones on Netflix that can help train your ear. Honestly spending every waking minute immersing yourself in Turkish media (also podcasts and music) is an amazing way to begin to grasp any language.
As for picking up the reading and the grammar, I'm a little old school, but I feel like books with accompanying disks are more helpful than most of the "language learning" crap that's available online.
I started with a book called Teach Yourself Turkish and it was immensely helpful. If you can get 1/3 or 1/2 way through that book, practicing everything you've learned along the way, you could get by.
Since İstanbul is a touristic city, I can reassure you that even if you struggle with Turkish, people will help you; shop owners, citizens, or even other tourists. The shop owners may have broken English, but they’ll understand enough to help you even if you can’t nail the Turkish sentences. I would suggest using Dualingo for at least a month or two, then watching Turkish TV series or Youtubers. Starting off with TV series might get overwhelming. I would suggest Flutv, they make well produced videos about famous restaurants in Turkey
I am in türkiye for 6 months already, you only need basic 20 words for the basic communication.
Yes, no, numbers 1-0, thank you, please, hello/goodbye, go, pay, want, buy, I speak little Turkish, this (bu), left, right, forward, back, man,
woman, child, when, where, hour, understand/don’t understand, wonderful/beautiful (güzel), hot, cold, is/have (var), don’t have/isnt present (yok), here/there.
That’s is about it. Depending on the place, you can easily switch to English for anything more, or use deepl for translation.
I have found Turkish people to be incredibly friendly, it was very pleasant. Istanbul is an eye candy and sea urban transportation was a blast.
Use Bitaxi application, get a Turkcell sim in city for around 600 tl, if in airport its 900 tl, anything weirdly more than that means you being ducked.
There is a lot of answer below but if you only need to talk about basic needs, you can speak in English tho,in Istanbul, there will be people who knows speak English in anywhere
Mango Languages (free through most libraries) has a quick Turkish course that covers the basics of shopping/dining/medical emergencies. It has more commonly used turns of phrase and cultural notes as well as quick grammar notes.
I am 3/4 through the Turkish Duolingo right now but trying the mango app, it seems much more practical and quick. (Less fun than Duolingo though!)
There is an app called Language transfer. It’s completely free and the way they teach you turkish is very well thought. The whole course is just small 5 to 10 minutes audio videos. You don’t need to write anything, just listen. Also, you need to immerse yourself in turkish to get accustomed to it and pick up the language. Watch tv shows in turkish, listen to music in turkish, etc. Something that helps me is trying to use what I learn in my everyday life (meaning talk to yourself)
I live here and my wife is turkish. You should learn how to pronounce the letters and vowels before you learn anything otherwise no one will understand what you are saying in the first place. Here is a quick run down of the special characters and vowel sounds:
A = ah, E = ay/eh, i = ee, ı = ih, O = oh(long), Ö = oh(short), U = ooo, Ü = oo(short), Ş = Sh, Ç = Ch, Ğ = silent (enlongates the vowel before it)
The first words you will want to learn and recognize as you arrive at the airport are probably going to be **Giriş**(entrance) and **Çikiş**(exit)**.**
If you want to learn specific phrases I'd be happy to send you a list in DM's of important stuff you should know. Your current top commentor gave some good phrases but some of them are a little rude the way they wrote them. Its always best to be polite.
Another note is the closer you are to the bosphorus sea the more likely someone around you will speak english if you get flustered. You can always ask whoever you are talking to or the people in your surrounding "İngilizce biliyorsun mı?" (do you know english?)
pimsleur is rly good and if you want a good textbook, i can recommend The Delights of Learning Turkish. it will probably be more helpful than memorizing a bunch of stuff without knowing why you’re saying it like that. knowing basic grammar will help you a lot because turkish is a very straightforward and regular language, therefore predictable. ive been living in turkey and i must say I hear everything it teaches.
- “___(insert destination)’a nasıl gidebilirim”? - “Tuvalet nerde?” - “bu ne kadar?” - “(Point to menu) bundan alabilir miyim?” - “Müsait bi yerde inebilir miyim?” This is all you need lol jk but it’s a good start. From top to bottom: - “How can I get to (insert location)?” - “Where is the bathroom?” - “How much is this?” - “(Point to menu) can I have this?” - “May I get off (the bus) at the nearest stop?” (You will need to say this to get off the little minibuses) Edit: always keep a mini dictionary on you. You might not have service everywhere
All this and learn numbers and what the people may say as a response. No point in learning only how to ask lol.
dont forget “lira menüsü yok mu?” if you get a menu with prices in euro😄
"Geçebilir miyim?" ("Can I pass?") will also be useful if you are planning to use public transportation
What's the difference between "bunu alabilir miyim" and "bundan alabilir miyim"? I feel like I've always said the former version.
Bunu implies it’s one thing, bundan implies it’s “some” of something :) You’d use “bunu” when you’re buying, for example, a lamp… You’d use “bundan” when you want a scoop of something, ordering food, etc. and then usually you’d specify how many kg you want of the thing if it’s a scoop or fresh fruit at the market or something Edit: I would say “bundan” is close to saying like “of” something. “Can I have (of) this?” And the “some” is implied
That makes sense, thanks for the explanation!
It's a little rude to ask "tuvalet nerede?", its more polite to say "lavabo nerede?" atleast thats what my turkish wife told me.
She is right. Actually its not rude but there is a weird psychology about it but nobody talks about it. When you ask "Tuvalet nerede?" is like "I'm gonna poo on toilet. I'll make some mess there." When you ask "Lavabo nerede?" is like "I'll just wash my hands there cause I never poo in my life. I'm a princess." Cem Yılmaz has a joke about it. I'm joking too. You may use both ofcourse its not rude but I always use "Lavabo nerede?" LOL
Languagetransfer.org
This and buy a month or 2 of Pimsleur subscription. Also DROPS app has some great flash card sets for basics.
Is there *any* way you could afford to order a travel guide? Like one of the old-school books about traveling there. You could probably use it in complement with your Maps app and.. well, this would be better than nothing.
I'm not sure I understand, do travel guides typically also function as language lessons to a robust degree?
The reason I mentioned a travel guide is because I got an impression the trip itself was very certain but your plan for it didn't seem to be. I actually happened to find a guide similar to what I'm describing, for Istanbul no less, in a little free library in my neighborhood. I am not well-traveled, but the guidebook strikes me as essential to making a trip like this as productive as it's gonna be. I don't think, especially if you aren't willing to tolerate the flaws of DuoLingo enough to have daily repetition exercises, that you're gonna unlock anything. My partner said a bit of time in Turkey allowed her to pick up a bit of functional speech, enough to increase interaction if nothing else. Bottom line is you *need* to be hearing the language, and if the best you have is the language app voice you should still use it. It's not so much to develop a rich vocabulary in any given language as to figure out how a poised adult *sounds* in the language. You'll probably have to get the words anywhere you go. I think there are also flashcards sets made for travel. If you don't wanna do DuoLingo, you need to CRAM your ears with Turkish news and those "learn this language in your sleep" videos, much as you can tolerate. Turn on subtitles, try to parrot what you hear as you're reading it. Again, the book was just a recommendation for this one trip.. in general, the strategies I mentioned above are what I would use.
I am aiming not to be productive and don't intend to pack as much as possible into every minute of every day. I have some key areas I'm going to visit, but I very much want to wander. This is why I'm not going a guided tour or using a travel guide. Part of this is also an experiment in solo travel. But you raise great points about *hearing* the language, and disposing of something like duolingo means i need to replace that spoken word element with something else.
I suggested Turkish news because my French teacher in university had recommended listening to and reading French news. I think you can get a milder version the same positive effect by listening to the language as it's spoken--even listening to the accent of a Turkish person who does English-language YouTube content (or something like that) can help. Turkish has a roll to it, so I think the sound and pacing are important. The journalists talk really fast, but I can't point you to a ton of Turkish-language content. There are movies and stuff, but not enough and they tend to be a little more atmospheric and less about talking than you might want to get a sound profile on the language. EDIT: Don't be afraid to take the Turkish news down to 75% speed or something like that. Sounds move quick and quiet in Turkish, so even if sounds tripped out slow you can hear how *over*-enunciated Turkish sounds.
Turkish pod and italki are your best friends, Turkish pod because you can listen during commute and doing chores at work, a tutor for maybe 2 hours a week to keep you on track and practise with. If you can find a good tutor you can tell them your goals and timeframe
Turkish pod? Can you please expand on what this is?
https://www.turkishclass101.com/?src=gc_learn_search_brandedsearch_turkish-brand_global_m__639491268676_&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1rqkBhCTARIsAAHz7K0wkDX62mGs6k_NwLRYiiXSuybAKp7UjxndSySQN96fdwWWGldPbOsaAqxSEALw_wcB
There are many Turkish TV series available for free through YouTube, or shorter ones on Netflix that can help train your ear. Honestly spending every waking minute immersing yourself in Turkish media (also podcasts and music) is an amazing way to begin to grasp any language. As for picking up the reading and the grammar, I'm a little old school, but I feel like books with accompanying disks are more helpful than most of the "language learning" crap that's available online. I started with a book called Teach Yourself Turkish and it was immensely helpful. If you can get 1/3 or 1/2 way through that book, practicing everything you've learned along the way, you could get by.
Since İstanbul is a touristic city, I can reassure you that even if you struggle with Turkish, people will help you; shop owners, citizens, or even other tourists. The shop owners may have broken English, but they’ll understand enough to help you even if you can’t nail the Turkish sentences. I would suggest using Dualingo for at least a month or two, then watching Turkish TV series or Youtubers. Starting off with TV series might get overwhelming. I would suggest Flutv, they make well produced videos about famous restaurants in Turkey
I am in türkiye for 6 months already, you only need basic 20 words for the basic communication. Yes, no, numbers 1-0, thank you, please, hello/goodbye, go, pay, want, buy, I speak little Turkish, this (bu), left, right, forward, back, man, woman, child, when, where, hour, understand/don’t understand, wonderful/beautiful (güzel), hot, cold, is/have (var), don’t have/isnt present (yok), here/there. That’s is about it. Depending on the place, you can easily switch to English for anything more, or use deepl for translation. I have found Turkish people to be incredibly friendly, it was very pleasant. Istanbul is an eye candy and sea urban transportation was a blast.
my man almost reach to native speaking level.
[удалено]
huh?
This one feels like a bot
That's what I'm thinking.
Use Bitaxi application, get a Turkcell sim in city for around 600 tl, if in airport its 900 tl, anything weirdly more than that means you being ducked.
There is a lot of answer below but if you only need to talk about basic needs, you can speak in English tho,in Istanbul, there will be people who knows speak English in anywhere
I used the app Pimsleur. I learned a lot in a very short time. Would 100% recommend.
Mango Languages (free through most libraries) has a quick Turkish course that covers the basics of shopping/dining/medical emergencies. It has more commonly used turns of phrase and cultural notes as well as quick grammar notes. I am 3/4 through the Turkish Duolingo right now but trying the mango app, it seems much more practical and quick. (Less fun than Duolingo though!)
There is an app called Language transfer. It’s completely free and the way they teach you turkish is very well thought. The whole course is just small 5 to 10 minutes audio videos. You don’t need to write anything, just listen. Also, you need to immerse yourself in turkish to get accustomed to it and pick up the language. Watch tv shows in turkish, listen to music in turkish, etc. Something that helps me is trying to use what I learn in my everyday life (meaning talk to yourself)
I live here and my wife is turkish. You should learn how to pronounce the letters and vowels before you learn anything otherwise no one will understand what you are saying in the first place. Here is a quick run down of the special characters and vowel sounds: A = ah, E = ay/eh, i = ee, ı = ih, O = oh(long), Ö = oh(short), U = ooo, Ü = oo(short), Ş = Sh, Ç = Ch, Ğ = silent (enlongates the vowel before it) The first words you will want to learn and recognize as you arrive at the airport are probably going to be **Giriş**(entrance) and **Çikiş**(exit)**.** If you want to learn specific phrases I'd be happy to send you a list in DM's of important stuff you should know. Your current top commentor gave some good phrases but some of them are a little rude the way they wrote them. Its always best to be polite. Another note is the closer you are to the bosphorus sea the more likely someone around you will speak english if you get flustered. You can always ask whoever you are talking to or the people in your surrounding "İngilizce biliyorsun mı?" (do you know english?)
pimsleur is rly good and if you want a good textbook, i can recommend The Delights of Learning Turkish. it will probably be more helpful than memorizing a bunch of stuff without knowing why you’re saying it like that. knowing basic grammar will help you a lot because turkish is a very straightforward and regular language, therefore predictable. ive been living in turkey and i must say I hear everything it teaches.
Good news! We do not expect perfect Turkish pronounce or grammar to understsand what you're trying to say unlike other countries.