Lately, you might have been thinking of learning Turkish, but you have no solution to doing it in the simplest and fastest way possible. This article will share the seven most effective ways to learn Turkish online that I have learned over the last five years.
Before diving deep into the tips, you need to note that it is a mistake for you to think that you can not learn Turkish. I have met many foreigners speaking Turkish fluently, even sometimes better than natives! 🙂
Speaking Turkish (or any foreign language) is possible for any age group, and many language experts testify to this.
But for you to learn Turkish, you will need some guidance, which is why I am here.
Below are some of the seven responses to the question how to learn Turkish fast. Putting your focus on these areas will ensure that you get to learn Turkish in a few months. But before that let’s answer some simple questions about Turkish:
? How Long Does It Take to Learn Turkish?
Of course, it depends on how motivated you are, what’s your native language, how frequently you study, and more. However, there are studies to give you an idea about how many hours it’d take to learn the Turkish language.
FSI (Foreign Service Institute) of the US government has done research on how many hours it takes for an English speaker to become fluent in a foreign language.
The research categorizes languages into five different groups depending on how close they are to the English language. The Turkish language is in the fourth group, which is considered profoundly different from the English language.
? Is Turkish Difficult to Learn for English Speakers?
For example, if an English speaker needs 1 hour of daily studying to become fluent in Dutch (very similar to English), she needs 2 hours of study for the Turkish language.
If you were to learn Korean or Arabic (considered in the fifth group), you’d need 4 hours of studying for the same amount of progress.
Don’t let this intimidate you because many things make learning easy for an English speaker. Below are some of them:
- Turkish grammar is very regular and easy to learn. It almost doesn’t have any exceptions or irregular verbs.
- The Turkish language doesn’t have genders or articles.
- Turkish spelling is phonetic. You have to read each sound of the letters. (It’s not like French.)
I want to mention that many ways and techniques are promising to teach foreign languages extremely fast without much effort. Learning a foreign language is unfortunately not possible in your sleep or 3 weeks… You need to make some effort to reach your goal.
“The longest way round is the shortest way home.”
Instead of losing time with ineffective apps and techniques, It’d be best if you can join a Turkish class without losing time and money. It’s just important to study grammar systematically and follow a curriculum that professional linguists prepare.
If you live in a big city, it should be possible to find a Turkish class near you. However, if you don’t or if you want to take online lessons, you can consider taking our courses online.
I can assure you of the quality of our classes because we received pretty positive feedback from all of our students. 🙂
1. Learn Turkish With Our Zoom Classes
As we transition into the ‘new normal’ during the crazy times of a pandemic, we started to offer Turkish classes for our students.
We started to form classes for four students to ensure plenty of interaction and speaking time for each person. We couldn’t believe how fun and practical these classes turn out to be!
Here’s a couple of feedback from our students:
Honestly, we didn’t anticipate these classes to be this effective! Almost all of our students continue the lessons with positive feedback and they form new friendships.
This is perfect because you learn faster if you are doing it with the people you like spending time with.
We highly believe that language and interaction are essential in language learning. The lessons are academic, and we focus on improving reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.
You can find more information and times of classes on the Turkish classes page.
2. Self-study Turkish
One important thing you must know is that no one or no technique will teach you Turkish magically. YOU will learn the language. So, self-studying is maybe the most important habit to form.
Make sure to study every day and take notes. To do this, you can utilize the short Turkish grammar videos on the website or even watch movies with subtitles.
You can apply the following tricks to help you in your self-study:
First, ensure that you learn the Turkish alphabet, master the pronunciation and build on your vocabulary.
Later practice the basic grammar and sentence structures and ensure you practice the language every day.
Also, make sure to talk to yourself using the Turkish language and constantly listen to podcasts. Listening to a podcast is helpful because it will help strengthen the language skills that you are developing through a formal course.
2.1. Self-Studying Package:
We have designed this well-organized course for those who want to study at their own pace. The course introduces up-to-date Turkish that is spoken today.
Because of this, you will start understanding the spoken language faster than any method.
The whole course has 53 units consisting of 50+ grammar videos, 70+ audio recordings, and thousands of interactive exercises. At the end of the course, you’ll be able to engage in conversations and be understood by native speakers.
2.2. Grammar Videos and Printable Notes (click here to watch the sample grammar video)
We are not babies and we don’t learn the same way they do. These 50+ videos will give you the structure and you’ll be filling it in with vocabulary.
2.3. Recordings With Transcript, and Key Explanations (listen to the sample audio recording)
You’ll hear conversational Turkish right from the streets of Istanbul. You’ll see a connection between the language and Turkish culture.
2.4. Thousands of Fun Interactive Exercises (download the sample notes)
When you see a new word or structure, you generally forget the next day. You just need to consider this fact and repeat what you learn regularly with these exercises.
Click here to see the curriculum of the course
3. Study Turkish With a Native Tutor
Learning a new language may take time; therefore, you may require some effort and resources to make it work.
Having a personal tutor is one such example of a resource. A native tutor will customize lessons for you and guide you through the learning process, making it more effective.
You can always consult your tutor if something did not come out clearly. They will constantly give you a report of your learning progress with your lectures and how far you are from achieving your objectives.
Studying alone is a must, but you also need to expose yourself to the spoken language.
Learning alone with a textbook without any professional help might result in you talking a language that doesn’t exist in real life.
However, be careful when choosing your tutor! Many online portals are letting you find a tutor, yet most tutors do not have a professional background there.
4. Make Turkish Part of Your Life and Find a Language Partner.
Language immersion is one of the easiest ways to learn a new language.
It involves exposing yourself to daily life situations in which you have to speak Turkish. If you don’t have that opportunity, you can expose yourself to Turkish through subtitles and translations.
Watching Turkish tv series with English subtitles will help you learn and understand Turkish more quickly. And there are tons of TV productions in Turkish out there! If you wish to learn Turkish better before visiting the country, this technique will be beneficial to you.
Additionally, you can also learn Turkish by learning Turkish culture. For instance, you can practice cooking delicious Turkish food. In turn, you will expose yourself more to the Turkish vocabulary, primarily that used to prepare the dishes.
It is also possible for you to improve your Turkish by changing your phone and computer language. It is always helpful! But you will not have a chance to learn anything that is not on your phone. So, let me tell you that only changing the language of your phone or watching Turkish series will not teach you Turkish.
I assure you that these things will help you backup your learnings, but they are not enough.
Language forming is a matter of forming a new habit. It requires studying regularly.
5. Listening Practice
Building on your listening skills is crucial when learning a new language. It helps you understand what people are saying, gain fluency and develop your listening skills.
Watching Turkish tv programs is one of the ways that can help you build on your listening skills. You can watch the programs on TV or YouTube.
Secondly, you can also listen to simplified stories/fairy tales for kids. It will help you improve your Turkish listening skills and help improve your reading skills.
Lastly, you can also consider taking Turkish online speaking classes. There you can develop your Turkish listening skills by asking questions and listening to the responses given by others. Speaking classes will help you build on your Turkish listening skills while improving your speaking skills at the same time.
Having to listen to a long text or other people talking is a must for the listening practice. So, you can watch the news in Turkish related to things that you already know would help you tremendously.
Finding a topic that you like and watching/listening to things related to that topic in Turkish will be fun and helpful! So, try to find audio recordings about cars, flowers, or your favorite Turkish drama (whatever your interests). Listen to it, over and over again, and try to understand it!
6. Read Short Stories in Turkish
If you are someone who loves reading, easy-to-read stories in Turkish are what you are looking for! Studying resources are hard to find and, most of the time, boring to read. For that reason, we have prepared a short story book consisting of 9 appealing short stories written in simple Turkish.
The authors include Ömer Seyfettin, Halit Ziya Usakligil, and Sadri Ertem. Reading each of the stories is assisted by a vocabulary section right at the bottom of each page. Reading these stories will help you practice Turkish grammar and learn many new words, but also, you will enjoy reading through real Turkish literature.
We recommend it for intermediate and advanced learners! Click here to view the reviews of the book.
7. Get Happy When You Make Mistakes
Many people avoid talking in order not to make any mistakes.
Not being afraid of your mistakes is essential if you want to speak Turkish and all the foreign languages. The more you speak and make mistakes, the faster you learn. Because when you make a mistake, you will not forget that moment, and the next time, you will not make a similar mistake. So get happy when you make a mistake!
Find a language partner who can correct your mistakes! It’ll just speed up your learning. If you are trying to learn a new language, you can’t get demoralized if someone corrects you. You need just the opposite if you want to progress fast.
Always utilize all the chances to practice your speaking skills without fear of failure, whether ordering your favorite juice, asking for directions, or even shopping at a mall.
Always take corrections positively and make sure to review again and again until you can speak better.
