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Why Turkish Isn’t as Hard as You’ve Been Led to Believe

Jumping into the depths of the Turkish language with zero prior knowledge might sound like setting sail into stormy seas, but let me lay it down straight: Turkish is not the monster some make it out to be. Having thrown myself into Turkey's cultural whirlpool, aiming to steer clear of the expat life rafts, I've navigated through the language's currents and come out with some clear insights.

Why Turkish Isn’t as Hard as You’ve Been Led to Believe
Blog
By joy
moving to turkeyturkish

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk fundamentally shaped modern Turkish during the 1920s as part of his broader modernization efforts for Turkey. He initiated a significant Alphabet Reform, switching from the Arabic script to a Latin-based alphabet, that involved introducing new letters with diacritical marks to better represent Turkish sounds. These efforts made Turkish clearer and more direct. Turkish is a very new language, and for the most part, the newer the language, the more simple it is, the more similar it is to other language, and the more logical it is.

I will, in complete acceptance of the controversy, explain why people claim that Turkish is a tough:

1. The Age Factor

It’s widely acknowledged that young brains are sponges for language learning. Research suggests that children have a neurological advantage in acquiring new languages, given their developing brains are essentially primed for this kind of learning. So older folks are likely so throw in the towel. I believe that the challenge is different, but certainly not insurmountable.

2. Latin Language Learners

If you’re cozy with Latin-based tongues, Turkish’s structure might initially seem like you’ve stepped into a linguistic bazaar of the unknown. A lot of folks who know some common languages to learn say WTF is this?! It’s just something foreign to them, and what they don’t know is that uncomfortable feeling wears off quickly. (I’m especially talking to folks from the US who studied two years of Spanish in high school)

3. ‘Backwards’ Language Syndrome

English speakers often baulk at Turkish’s Subject-Verb-Object (SOV) structure or Subject-Object-Verb structure, fearing the cognitive flip from their native SVO. For example, “I eat apple” in English would be “Elma yerim” (apple eat I) in Turkish. Yoda! It’s just a different dance, not a harder one.

4. Monolingual Mindsets

Dipping your toes into a new language pool when you’ve only ever swum in one probably seems daunting. And if you’re in your adulthood and don’t have much curiosity in learning a second language, well, then, it leaves me to my fifth and final reason folks don’t learn the language..

5. The Will to Learn

At the end of the day, it’s not about the mountain’s height but your willingness to climb it.

I started learning Turkish at 28, knowing only English and a bit of Spanish and French from high school. Despite being mostly monolingual, I was committed to mastering Turkish within a year. However, my high expectations met with the reality of burnout from intensive classes and some personal challenges that slowed my progress.

Nonetheless, I gradually came to appreciate the straightforwardness of Turkish. Its phonetic consistency is particularly helpful—each letter corresponds closely to its sound, with a few exceptions like the “â” in ‘kâğıt’ (paper) or ‘hâlâ’ (still). And they’ve recently removed the “â”, leaving very few exceptions in the language, unlike the numerous ones that ESL learners must navigate.

Turkish grammar is remarkably logical, avoiding the frequent exceptions found in languages like English or French. Its vocabulary is large but efficient, with many words serving multiple purposes, such as ‘yüz’, which can mean face, hundred, or swim. This efficiency makes learning more productive. Turkish, with just five more letters than the English alphabet and many shared words, especially loan words that are continually increasing, is accessible for English speakers but might disappoint pure language enthusiasts.

So, am I fluent? Not by a long shot. I’ve gotten to a comfortable enough spot to keep me going until I’m ready to sit down and give the language a bit more of my time. My vocabulary definitely wobbles in the face of complex conversations, but the progress is consistent and still, after a decade, I’m learning things that remind me of how simple and well-crafted Turkish is.

Check out Local Lingo and Phrasebook Plus – they were made with the fun side of Turkish in mind.

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