Turkish Phrases Blog

I’m looking for fresh ginger root in the pazar.  A Turkish pazar is basically a bazaar; near our house it’s a farmers market, usually with an incredible array of mouth-watering fresh fruits and veggies.  And there is often one within walking distance, which is nice.  I often have an interesting cultural experience there too.

I find a kind of knobby root which sure looks like ginger root.  but it doesn’t really have that tingly ginger smell to it.  I ask the the seller what it is and he says, “sldfiusdf.”  I ask him again and he says, “yaframler.”  OK, I’m not getting it, so I move on.

yerelması

ginger root

Another guy has a bunch of spices and things.  I find what I’m pretty sure is dried ginger root in a plastic bag and I hold it up.
“Bu ne?” I ask.
He says, “fjskislsd.”
I ask again and he points to the words marked on the bag: “zencefil.”
“Is zencefil used in cooking?” At this he raises his eyebrows in the Turkish way that means, “No!”
“What’s it used in?”  At this he rattles something off about herbal remedies and such.  I didn’t catch all the details, but I know he is being pretty emphatic that “zencefil” is not used in cooking.  Then I spy a bag with what looks like ground ginger in it, and it also says, “zencefil” in red marker.  I pick it up and smell it.  This is definitely ginger.  “You don’t put this in food?” I ask.
“No.”
“Well, we do.”
“What kind of food?” he asks incredulously.
“Chinese food.”
At this he starts asking where I’m from.  Turns out he is a Kurd from Urfa (Şanlıurfa).  He whips out his phone and shows me pictures of some kind of place commemorating the prophet Abraham, because evidently Urfa is the place know as Harran in the Bible–where Abraham was from.
So after a nice chat with my new Kurdish friend I go off again to ask about the knobby root I saw.  “Is this fresh ginger root?” (Bu taze zencefil mi?) I ask the first guy, picking up and sniffing one of these roots.
“Nooo.  This is yerelması.  You have to go to a baharatçı to find taze zencefil,” he replies.  (Yerelması literally means “earth apple” and is sometimes called “Jerusalem artichoke.”)

I go back home without fresh ginger root (taze zencefil) but with a new friend and some more experience with Turkish language and culture.

Technorati Tags: learning turkish, useful turkish phrases

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

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!

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