Five Tips for Learning Turkish as a Native English Speaker

I’ve found myself having the same conversation with various people over the past few months. It generally goes like this:

“It’s just different for native English speakers to go out there and learn foreign languages,” I say, frustrated yet again as an expat trying to learn and practice Turkish here in Istanbul. And while the response from my international friends almost always involves a lot of skeptical eyebrow raising and head shaking, the idea isn’t completely crazy.

English is widely accepted as the current universal language, and without going on a long, pathetic sounding tangent, it can be difficult to get out there and learn another language when so many people are racing to learn your native language as quickly as possible. But that can’t be an excuse. And I don’t say these things out of anger or any desire to finger point or shame, but to help all of us native English speakers find some honest inspiration for learning Turkish.

So here’s a list for the dejected English speaking expats out there looking for a little bit of inspiration to get over our monolingual mentality. I know, I’ve been there. I am there. But lets put our best ayak out there and try this one again, shall we?

1. Drink

Any list that has consuming alcoholic beverages as your number one priority has got to be worth a second look. Though seriously, they call it liquid courage for a reason. And after a long day of work, it can be hard to convince yourself to go out and try to socialize and practice a language. Without using this as an excuse for alcoholism, I’ve personally found that my ability to shake off grammar mistakes or intonation blunders while lightly intoxicated is much easier than when I am stressing about it sober, and have heard similar statements from friends learning English as well. So believe me, knock one back at the local pub and see what happens.

2. Surround yourself with the right crowd

Several years ago I had the chance to study abroad in France for a semester. Towards the end of my three-month stay, I started to get pretty down on myself about my French-speaking abilities. One night, locked away in my room after hours of chatting with friends from home back after a long day of hanging out with other expats, it hit me. I was hanging out with all the wrong people. While living in Cihangir or spending your nights at Irish pubs in Taksim can be fun, it may also be harder for you to get out and immerse yourself in the language. A German co-worker of mine who has been here for two years took learning Turkish so seriously that the first year he was here he completely refused to hang out with anyone who wasn’t Turkish and severely limited his talks with friends back home. By providing himself with an ultimatum he thereby forced himself to learn Turkish in order to be social. Two years later and the guy is the life of Turkish parties. While going so extreme may not work for everyone, surrounding yourself with close people who are supportive of your learning as well as making friends with native Turkish speakers can really give you that push you need to actually learn Turkish.

3. Sign up for a language course

So you’re hearing Turkish every day. Kind of hard not to. You’ve picked up some vocab and pleasantries but you are still struggling. While a lot can be learned in informal settings, don’t undervalue the power and helpfulness of a Turkish course. For visual learners (or really anyone looking for long-term retention) this is particularly important in being able to piece together the grammatical structure of sentences. Classes will also add to your confidence in speaking and understanding as well as build up your ability in reading and writing. Plus, taking a language course connects you to other like-minded people who are dedicated to learning – it’s helpful to spend time with “yabangees” who are going to support you in your efforts to learn Turkish.

4. Indulge in local culture and media

While learning a language can be hard work, there also has to be an element of fun to it. So, take all of your favorite activities and just start doing them in Turkish. Love listening to music? Try Teoman. Movie buff? Kaybedenler Kulübü might be right up your alley. Living in a big city means you can easily find people who are into the same type of stuff you are into. Explore the genres you like and see if something strikes your fancy. Plus, a bit of knowledge about Turkish arts or sports always makes for a good talking point.

5. Force yourself to go out

If you are an introvert like me, this might be the most difficult suggestion but also the most helpful. The simple fact is: if you’re not putting yourself out there, exploring and talking and learning, there is no way you can learn a new language. Of course, you already know that, which is why you decided to come and be culturally immersed rather than learning Turkish back home. Going somewhere like a bazaar not only gets you out exploring new things and meeting new people, but it also helps with simple things like solidifying numbers (crucial when haggling), or vocab (domates, lütfen?) or just the basics (teşekkürler).

What have you found to be the best way to improve your Turkish? Share your tips in the comments!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March of 2014. It was updated for relevance on December of 2018.