Learning Turkish

Merhaba!

I have started to teach myself Turkish in preparation for my trip. So far, it has been a little tough to learn. Turkish is a language in the Turkic language group, so it isn’t related to English at all. Also, it has a few letters that many English speakers might not recognize: ı, ö, ü, ç, ş, and ğ.

Here is a list of some common Turkish words and phrases that I have learned:

Merhaba - Hello

Nasılsın? - How are you?

İyiyim - I am fine.

Yorgunum - I am tired.

Teşekkürler - Thanks

Güle güle - Goodbye

I have mainly been learning Turkish online, but I have a book (Elementary Turkish by Lewis V. Thomas) and I am planning on buying more. Some of the sites that I have been using allow me to chat with native speakers of Turkish. I plan on doing some intense language study this summer because I can tell that I will need it!

P.S. Don’t forget to donate to my trip, I would very much appreciate it J