Turkish Phrases Blog

When my parents visited us in Turkey last April I couldn’t believe my ears.  My dear 67 year old mother was speaking Turkish phrases amazingly well.  She was speaking some even more accurately than me!  I couldn’t believe it.

There is a simple reason for her language learning success: before their visit I recommended the resource posted on the right side of this page.  My Mom ordered a copy of the Pimsleur Conversational Turkish program and listened to the CD in her car.

The really cool thing about Pimsleur is that it will teach you basic Turkish phrases without telling you what they mean in English.  I know that whole concept makes some people want to pull out their hair and run screaming away.  They would much rather write sentence diagrams, memorize verb conjugation charts and all the time know exactly what the translation is in their native language.  My lovely wife is one of those people so I’m not saying the left-brain approach is all bad.  I am telling you the approach Pimsleur takes is just the most effective way to actually learn how to understand and speak basic Turkish.  It is the way children learn.  It is the natural way to learn.

OK, this is starting to sound like an ad, so I’ll stop now.  Let me just say, you will learn basic Turkish phrases if you buy Pimsleur.  And if you buy it through this site you will help me keep writing!

Technorati Tags: Audio, Learning Tools, learning turkish

I learned another Turkish Phrase on the dolmuş (mini-bus) (see my previous post).  It was a word I had written down, but this time I heard it in a memorable way. 

The dolmuş was packed as usual, with a number of people standing up holding the railings.  A dolmuş (pronounced dole-mush) is a passenger van that drives a set route and picks up people along the way.  It’s a great way to get around Turkey!

As the dolmuş drove toward an intersection the driver turned around and started urgently telling the people standing to please get down.  “Hemen, hemen!”  (Right now!)  As we got closer to the intersection I saw what the urgency was.  There was a police officer standing at the intersection who must have been stopping dolmuşlar (dolmushes) with too many people.  The mini-busses probably aren’t allowed to carry people if there aren’t seats for them.

The people crouched down and we passed the officer without being stopped.  The people then stood up and we drove merrily along.

I’ll probably always remember “Hemen, hemen!” in the context of this dolmuş ride!

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I’ve been hearing good things about a site which does all kinds of translation, including translating Turkish phrases into English:

http://www.babylon.com

It’s a combination of download and Internet resource which enables you to click on words and phrases and get instant definitions.

Apparently you can use it for free.  I would have tried it but my computer operating system doesn’t quite match the requirements for the download.  If you’ve tried it, feel free to comment on how you like it here.

Technorati Tags: Learning Tools, online dictionaries

Let’s focus on a few especially useful Turkish phrases.  These are words and phrases I hear all the time in Turkey.

1.  Çok yaşa (Choke-ya-sha)  It literally means, “Live long” and is the same as German “Gesundheit” or English “Bless you,” said after someone sneezes.  The response is Sen de gör (sehn-deh-gour) meaning, “and you too.”

2.  Bakar mısınız (ba-kar mi-si-niz)  This means, “Excuse me!”  Use it to get the attention of a waiter.

3.  Geçmiş olsun! (gech-mish ohl-sun)  Said to someone who is ill.  It means “Get well soon!”

4.  Buyurun (booy-uroon)  Shopkeepers and sellers at the pazar (market) will always say this to you when you walk up to them.  It basically means, “At your service,” or “Can I help you?”

5.  Efendim (ehf-ehn-dim)  This is how a phone is answered–”Hello!”  It is used to respond to someone politely, like saying “pardon?”  Efendim also means “sir/madam.”  In this way it is tacked on the end of a sentence like, “blah blah blah, efendim.”

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Riding on the bus in Turkey is often helpful for learning Turkish phrases. (See my previous post).

Commuting on a bus is a new thing for me.  I’ve been on buses before, but never in a regular way until now that I’m in Turkey.  It’s actually very convenient to be able to jump on a bus and not worry about traffic or parking.  Get on the bus.  Get off the bus.  No worries, right?

Well… Turkish drivers on the one hand are much more forgiving and patient than drivers in the States.  On the other hand they also take many more risks and liberties which would be sure to throw American drivers into fits of road rage if they experienced them.

A number of times now I have been on a bus when the driver had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting a car which had cut him off.  Once a lady fell down and hurt her leg.

But the bus incident that stands out to me is a time the driver slammed on his breaks because a car pulled out in front of him and three elderly people slid right off their seats onto the floor! One middle-aged lady bashed her face against a pole and broke her glasses right in half.

The bus stopped and the driver came back to check on everyone.  A police officer was sitting right next  to me and immediately got up to help the sprawling people.  He looked at the woman’s bruised face to see if there was any glass or anything in her eye and pronounced, “Bir şey yok! Bir şey yok!“  “Bir şey” means “something,” or, “a thing” and “yok” means “not there.”  So the phrase “Bir şey yok” means basically, “There’s nothing there.”

The woman and elderly man next to her both starting yelling something at the policeman, who did not have a very obvious uniform on.  I was guessing they were saying something like, “Nothing?  Nothing?  We should file a report with the police!”  (I didn’t understand them, but I was guessing they were saying this because of the officer’s response.)

The policeman responded angrily by saying, “I am the police!  I work at such and such department!  I am the police!  Bir şey yok!”

At that the injured woman and elderly man quieted down and the police officer sat back down next to me.  The woman had a minor cut and bruise under her eye.

Now I’m a foreigner here and I don’t understand all the subtleties of the legal system, but I know for sure if that had happened in the States there would have been a lawsuit.  Especially since the car that pulled out in front of the bus in the first place was a police car!

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Can you let me know why you are interested in learning Turkish phrases?  Are you traveling to Turkey?  Do you have Turkish friends or family members?  Are you thinking about learning Turkish?  Please let me know!

(You can simply leave a comment by clicking here.)

Looking for more audio resources for learning Turkish Phrases?  There are four podcasts available for free download on iTunes from Sinan Akdeniz. (You can download iTunes software for free.)  Just do a search for “Turkish Language with Sinan.”

The podcasts include:

1. Restaurants
2. Direction, Time and Dates
3. Airports and Hotels
4. First Words

These podcasts are geared for the beginner.  The last podcast was posted a couple years ago, so we will see if more appear!

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Damaris Kremida writes in the Turkish Daily News about her experiences learning Turkish.  She includes these tips (for those who are seriously learning Turkish):

1)   Make friends with Turks who can’t speak English. Talk to Turkish kids as often as you can. You won’t be so nervous practicing with them.

2)   Try new grammar “live”. Have fun with it.

3)   Dust off your dictionary and translate sentences from English to Turkish. Becker said the search for words to make meaning is an old and useful tool.

4)   Become a Turkish TV show fan. Pick a show and get hooked.

5)   Think in Turkish. String sentences in the car or as you walk down the street.

Technorati Tags: learning turkish, turkish language

I’m finding more nice bits of audio to share with you from the Türkçe Öğreniyorum podcast.  Here is the audio and my transcription/translation of another Turkish greeting interaction:

Learning Turkish part 2

Ahmet: Merhaba.  Benim adım Ahmet.
(Hello.  My name is Ahmet.)

Ayşe: Merhaba.  Ben de Ayşe.  Memnun oldum.
(Hello.  And I’m Ayşe.  Pleased to meet you.)

Ahmet: Ben de memnun oldum.
(I’m pleased to meet you too.)

Technorati Tags: Audio, turkish greetings, Turkish hello, turkish phrases