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

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

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!

Technorati Tags: Audio, learning turkish, turkish phrases, useful turkish phrases

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