turkish words, Istanbul

The Foreign Service Institute is a branch of the US Department of State, so all their materials are copyright-free--anybody can use them without charge.

Some generous people who owned the tapes or manuals have started digitizing them and uploading them to the net at the website below. One of the languages is Turkish. It won't replace the handbooks with the "top ten phrases you'll need," but it's great for picking up the sound and inflections of the language.

The audio portions are in rather small segments, which is great for those with slow connections though a minor frustration for those with faster ones.

The materials were designed quite a while ago so don't have contemporary terms about technology, entertainment, and so on, but that's a small limitation.

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Some fundamental words:

Hello = Merhaba (sounds like maarhaab)
Please = Lütfen (pronounced lyootfen)
Thank you = Teþekkür (Teshe coolen)
Bye = Horskal (pronounced Horsha kaal)
Affedersiniz = excuse me

SHOPPING:
Kaça = How much? (is it)
Bu pahali = this is expensive
Büyük = big
Küçük = small

FOOD:
su = water
sut = milk
Çay = tea
Ekmek = bread
Peynir = cheese (similar to Hindi!)
Balýk = fish
Sebze = vegetable (similar to Hindi!)
Çorba = soup
Tavuk = chicken
Dondurma = ice cream

Basic signs:
Deniz = Sea
Kara = black (same as the Gujarati word with the same meaning!)
Marmara = Sea
Carsisi = market/bazaar
Cami = mosque (sounds like chaami)
Havalimani = airport (hava in Hindi is also 'air'!)
yeni = new

Miscellaneous:
Kanoon = law (same in Hindi!)
duniya = world (as in Hindi!)
zamana = period (Hindi too!!!)

And 1 for the photo: Chestnuts = Kestane ;)

A lot of people ask me why on earth I chose to study Turkish. I mean it is only spoken in Turkey, isn't it? Wrong! Turkish is spoken in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, as well as in parts of Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Syria and Iran. I found Turkish incredibly useful in parts of Georgia, and Turkish is related to languages spoken in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Western China and even parts of Siberia. Turkish words crop up in unexpected places as far apart as Sudan and Bosnia, and of course there are large Turkish communities in Germany, Britain, the US, Australia and elsewhere. With Turkey negotiating to join the EU, Turkish is certainly not the waste of time many friends have called it!

Although in Istanbul, the big cities and most tourist resorts, you'll find people who speak English, French, German, Russian etc..., knowing just a little Turkish will make your trip to Turkey that little bit more interesting. Survival Turkish is fairly easy to pick up...just buy yourself a phrasebook and maybe a cassette or CD to help with pronunciation, and you'll be able to introduce yourself, order things in restaurants and cafes, and read basic signs. But to go any further, you really need to enrol on a course. (continued in tip below...)

Wherever I travel, I always try to pick up a little bit of the local language and happily I found Turkish easy to pick up and remember.

Try this link for a brilliant video with a whole heap of useful Turkish phrases. Fantastic!

Here's a few examples:
Hello = Merhaba (merharba)
Good Morning = Gunaydin (goo nay dun)
Goodbye (person leaving) = Allaha Ismarladik (ala ushmall a duk)
Goodbye (person staying behind) = Gule Gule (gooleh gooleh)
Please = Lutfen (lewtfen)
Thank you = Tesekkur ederim (t shek a ed erin)
What is this? = Bu ne? (Boo nay)

My phoenetic spelling isn't great - check out the link for more helpful and accurate phrases!

You could also try Before You Know It who offer free downloadable software for just about every language in the World and use a flashcard system to teach languages. BYKI Lite is free - be warned they will keep sending you mail to try to get you to upgrade but it's harmless junk and well worth it for the free software.

As an English speaker I encountered that English is not well spoken there. BUt you may find
some turks that speak Spanish. But here are the words that I used the most during my stay:

* No = Yok
* ok = Tammam
* Sharwma or kebab = Doner
* Cheers = Sherefe
* Ice = Buz
* Tea = Cay
* One Beer = Bir Bira

Dont try to speak any Arabic to Turks. They are fans of their own country, it feels like an insult if you try to speak this language. Even though some of their words come from Arabic, they just dont like it. I never heard Marhaba in any place.

Good morning Gunaydin
Hello Merhaba
Have a nice day Iyi gunler
Good evening Iyi aksamlar
Good night Iyi geceler
Welcome Hosgeldiniz
Good-bye (to be said to the person who leaves) Gule Gule
Good-bye (to be said to the person who stays) Allahaismarladik
How are you? Nasilsiniz?
Thank you Tesekkur ederim
How much does this cost? Kac lira?
Good Appetite Afiyet olsun
O.K. Tamam
Too expensive Pahali
Cheap Ucuz

There are two schools for foreigners to learn Turkish in Istanbul. The one I studied at was called Dilmer, which takes you right from beginners' level to advanced where you sit for the Turkish Universities' Language Certificate. Each course lasts one month, with four hours of lessons five days a week (20 hours a week). You can choose to study mornings or afternoons, or spread one course over two months by only studying three days a week. They also have weekend and evening classes. A one month intensive course costs 280 Euro.

Some of the teachers are excellent, others less so. I was just lucky. Most of them know at least one other language (usually English German or Greek) This is obviously useful in the beginning, but foreign languages are discouraged in class, everything explained in Turkish. Classes are never huge, but are rarely as small as they are advertised, usually around 10-12. The best thing about Dilmer is its localtion, just off Inonu Caddesi, the road which runs from Taksim Square through Gumussuyu to the Besiktas Stadium and Dolmabahce Palace. Taksim Square is just 5 minutes walk away, making Dilmer easily accessible from all parts of the city.

An alternative school is Tomer, which is run by Ankara University. There are branches all over the country (Trabzon, Kayseri, Bursa, etc.) but don't get too excited, as the Turkish courses are really only available in Ankara, Istanbul and possibly Izmir. The school in Istanbul is in an area called Sisli (s is like sh both times...shishli), not the most attractive part of istanbul, but fairly central (half hour walk from Taksim Square, 2 stops by metro). The courses there are similar in price, but students who had 'defected' to Dilmer complained about the very strict exam system.

While searching for the websites above, i came across this school, which I haven't heard of before; Concept Languages in Etiler Maybe worth investigating...

Turkish is not an Indo-european language like French, Russian, Farsi or Hindi; neither is it Semitic like Arabic and Hebrew...it is a Turkic language, with a grammar system completely different to anything else (although I'm reliably informed that Japanese and Korean are similar). 2 things stand out in Turkish. The first is the way suffixes can be added and added, so you can have a whole sentence consisting of one very long word (a good example is bilgisizliklerindenmis which translates as I gather that it is from their lack of knowledge). The second unusual thing about Turkish is the word order...for a native English speaker, it is like having to think backwards! Instead of I am going to the market to buy bread, you have to start thinking I bread to buy for market to going am I, which doesn't always come naturally!

Turkish is a comical sounding language to my ears. The intonation is almost Scandinavian the way it goes up and down, it is nowhere near as guttural and harsh as Arabic can sound, and is full of ch and sh sounds. The grammar is quite logical and regular, but difficult for foreigners to get used to because it is so different from other languages. Speaking is a nightmare at first!

Anyone who is considering spending a bit of time in Turkey, or who fancies learning a very different language just for the fun of it, then the following tip is for you...

Try to learn these basic words. Most of the vendors speak English in te touristic areas. But when you tell couple of word to them in Turkish you can get their sympathy :))

Merhaba ( Mer- ha - ba) Hello

Gunaydin ( guen-eye dhun) Goodmorning

Evet (Eh-vet) Yes

Hayir (h -eye-uhr like higher) No

Lutfen (lewt-fen) Please

Tamam (tah-mum) OK

Bir su lutfen (beer soo lewt-fen) 1 water please

Tesekkur ederim (teh-sheck-kewr eh-deh-reem) Thank you

Bu kac lira?(boo catch lee -rah) How much is this?

Cok pahali !(chock pa-ha-lu) Very expensive!

Anlamiyorum. ( un -lah - muh-yo-room) I don't understant

Hoscakal (Hosh -cha -kull) Goodbye

Also check this link below This is a page with audio that you can listen some of the words.

Anything and everything for sale - cheaply - from street sellers. Take this case of Viagra - or perhaps not. Not unless you want to stand out from the crowd. The cigarettes are probably more likely to be what they claim - no need to buy a packet - steet sellers will happily sell you just one.