Speaking Turkish: Given my passion for Turkey, one thing I completely hate about living in the country is learning how to speak Turkish.
Do I have to know?
Well, it’s not.
Most expats stay in Turkey without knowing the language but I think when you learn the lingo, life is much simpler. And whoever wishes to be bilingual is going through three stages of learning a language.
Starter
Meanwhile
Progressive
I can speak, read, and write an intermediate Turkish level but I’ve got one big stumbling block. I can’t quite pronounce the words. I avoid using a lot of words because mistaking a vowel can change the sense of what I’m trying to say. So I had a strong excuse to give it a go when the guys over at Hands on Turkish asked me to review their product.
Hands on Learning how to speak Turkish
Their website says they are…
“A new EU-funded project which gives individuals and businesses the chance to acquire the Turkish language and gain a better awareness of Turkish culture and business etiquette. This course is equally valuable for people visiting the country, studying the language for personal development or wishing to learn more about this beautiful and rich language”.
Speaking Turkish: Their courses include more than 80 hours, 600 audio lesson files and some 300 web pages. The courses are available in smartphone and iPad apps as well, but the absolute best part is that it’s free!
There’s no charge and you don’t even have to sign up.
Using the Turkish Hands on Website
You can choose between two courses
Steps First in Turkish. A learning how to understand Turkish for absolute beginners
Turkish paws. A course complete for business purposes. (Although many of the concepts still refer to daily life)
Turkish: First move
This course consists of 3 modules on how to understand Turkish
Welcome to Turkey
Contacts First
A taxi inside the office
Each module is divided into lessons covering dialogs, phrases, audio tests, pronunciation, quizzes, cultural and linguistic notes.
An easy to use admin panel describes the task in hand, and marks your answers when completed for the quizzes. This course is great for beginners, as it includes daily greetings, words like items in your bathroom, and phrases you may use at the airport or in a hotel.
Hands on turkish
Speaking Turkish: As well as the first 3 modules from the course for beginners, Hands on Turkish contains a further 5 modules.
An initial business conference
The Supper
Heading back to the hotel
At Bursa
Get back to business
So I mentioned before that my main problem with Turkish is pronunciation and I was eager to see how the lessons deal with this.
Lessons on Pronunciation
Instructions were to listen to the audio recording, which at a normal pace tells the word or phrase first, and then repeat it slowly so that each letter can be heard. I then had to record the word saying to myself and compare it to the original document.
It succeeded, and I was able to talk like a Turk, although I think there is a need for repeat lessons to ensure it sticks.
TIP: When learning a new language, repeat is important. Say a phrase twenty times, to help you recall it.
Is the Turkish course appropriate for anyone to learn how to speak?
Speaking Turkish: Yeah. The lesson structure changed from single terms to complete sentences that someone would use for business or pleasure traveling by the end of this course. So if your goal of learning Turkish is purely for fun, don’t get offset by modules like the business meeting, because phrases like being in restaurants will still come in handy within that section.
Advantages of course
The course will also teach you how to speak Turkish and how to read and write it
The courses are easy to follow, yet comprehensive and cover a variety of everyday events
It is perfect for holidaymakers or people who want to progress to a medium level
Learn according to your own pace
Repeat lessons according to need
No books or stationary required, because everything from the admin panel is done
Yeah, and then it’s safe!
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