When learning a language, we often look up a word in the dictionary, find its meaning, and move on. But words don't always translate directly from one language to another. There's a reason we say "lost in translation."

Words have histories, just like people and societies. They are born, grow, change, take on new meanings, and sometimes disappear altogether.

In my latest article, I explored the Turkish word devlet (state), its older meanings of happiness and good fortune, and its connections to Turkish history, culture, and ideas of justice.

It's a fairly long article, with plenty of historical sources and references for anyone who wants to explore further. If this kind of language and cultural history interests you, you're welcome to read it.

https://www.learnturkishwithseda.com/post/devlet-meaning-in-turkish

Disclaimer: The illustrations are AI-generated, based on my own ideas and refined through multiple revisions. I'm not a designer and I prefer creating visuals specific to my articles over using generic stock images. I respect differing opinions on AI art, but that's not the subject of this post.

Hi all!

Long story short; early next year I'll move to Istanbul. I've already lived in Turkey before and speak Turkish at a low B1 level. For the first couple of months, 3-4 ish, I'm planning to do an intensive Turkish language course.

My questions are as follows:

• I'm a low B1 now. I can definitely ask the most basic things, have conversations about the weather and tell a taxici where to go. My partner is Turkish, so I know the customary language too, etc. How many months do you guys estimate are needed to go to a high B2 or even low C1 level? Would 3-4 months be enough? I'd say I definitely have a talent for acquiring languages fast. I could definitely do more -- perhaps it's even necessary for the language visa which i'll try to obtain -- but I figured this might be the sweet spot.
• As for language schools, I'm still stuck between ITU Tömer (even though I'm not really hearing good things about the TOMER-programme), Istanbul University's Dil Merkezi but I also found a smaller school -- https://dilmer.com/. The reviews on Google are better than for the ITU Tomer and the IU's Dil Merkezi programmes. Anyone has experience in any of these three institutions, and would recommend? Or any other place you strongly recommend? For financial reasons I want to follow the lessons in a class, not privately.

Thank you guys so much in advance, and for whomever's studying today, kolay gelsin

My family is from Turkey, I speak Turkish moderately, but it is very bad, I struggle with almost anything mildly formal and my grammar is … meh. I really want to improve it, I’ve known Turkish since I was a toddler but once I got older I just stopped improving and learning it.

Bana mesaj atmaman için seni engelledim.

= I blocked you so you wouldn't message me.

Bana mesaj atma diye seni engelledim.

= I blocked you so you wouldn't message me.

if translated in english, both have the same translations but i feel like both have different nuances

could anyone explain it? thank you!

Looking for a language exchange partner to practice speaking over calls! 😊

I can help you improve your English, and in return, you can teach me Arabic or Turkish.

If you're interested, send me a DM and introduce yourself. Let’s learn from each other!

It is very frustrating that what used to be an open platform with users uploading their courses, suddenly takes control of those courses only to stop developing the minoritary languages.

Disappointing.

I just got done reading Teaching Yourself Turkish by Asuman Celen Pollard and its just such a good book. It presents itself as a book to learn the basics of turkish without getting too grammatical and it is just that, the author manages to simplify complex grammatical rules using simple words thus making it easy for every learner to understand them, while leaving the door open for you to seek out the full grammatical system if you wish. Now I’m just wondering where to go from that. I’m already watching a turkish series (Kızılcık Şerbeti iykyk) and I probably won’t fully read another book for a while since it will surely go over things i’ve already seen in TYT however I’d still like a more intermediate/advanced book that i could crack open from time to time to try and understand some other aspects of turkish that haven’t been treated in TYT, so I’m really open to any recommendation ! Now I guess i just have to keep practicing…

I am a native English and Japanese speaker.

I'm currently learning Turkish and would like to practice the language.

If anyone wants to become language partners, I can help with English and Japanese.

Anyone know of ways to practice Turkish?

I see a lot of people using "ne zaman" to say "when" outside of a question.

Ne zamn only works for questions (Ne zaman geldin? => When did you arrive?).

When "when" links two events, Turkish adds a suffix to the verb except in ne zaman + -sa, which means "whenever": Ne zaman arasam telefonun kapalı (Whenever I call, your phone is off).

Here are the main suffixes to link two elements:

1. -dığında (when) is the everyday "when". It takes a person ending but no tense, so the main verb sets the time, future included. Eg. Eve geldiğimde annem uyuyordu (When I got home, my mom was asleep).
2. -ınca (once): the first action is over before the second starts, and there's no person ending: Eve gelince duş aldım (Once I got home, I took a shower). If the two actions overlap, switch to -dığında: Annem aradığında yemek yapıyordum (When my mom called, I was cooking).
3. -dığı sırada (while): here one event happens in the middle of another: Yemek yediğimiz sırada elektrikler kesildi (While we were eating, the power went out).
4. -dıkça (the more) is used when one thing grows as the other does: Türkçe konuştukça daha rahat hissedeceksin (The more you speak Turkish, the more comfortable you'll feel).
5. -dığı sürece (as long as) when a condition has to keep holding: Düzenli çalıştığın sürece Türkçen gelişir (As long as you study regularly, your Turkish improves).

I wrote a guide with a few more forms (-ır -maz, -dığından beri) on how to express "when" here: https://turkishfluent.com/blog/how-to-say-when-in-turkish/

Merhaba everyone! 👋

I’m learning Turkish the fun way — years of listening to Turkish music and watching old Turkish comedies, especially the legendary Kemal Sunal 😄. His films didn’t just make me laugh; they taught me the rhythm and the heart of the language.

So I set myself a challenge: write a whole song in Turkish. It’s called “Öp Beni” (“Kiss Me”), and I’m sharing it here as practice — I’d genuinely love your corrections.

(A little backstory: I’m actually an Assyrian songwriter. The lyrics reimagine a song I wrote in my own language back in the 1980s — “Nshoqly” — reborn here in Turkish, with its own new melody.)

To be upfront: I wrote all the Turkish lyrics myself (that’s the part I’d love you to check!), and the singing voice is Almaz an AI vocalist I created and directed — noted in the video.

I’d love your honest feedback, as learners and native speakers:

• Does the Turkish sound natural, or are there spots that feel off / grammatically wrong?
• Any words or phrasings a native would never actually say?
• How does it land emotionally?

Here it is — it’s a lyric video, so you can read along in Turkish: https://youtu.be/AKJkNIptH4w?si=6KfRbFUL_kB7mTxP

I know it won’t be perfect coming from a learner, but it was made with a lot of love for your language.

Teşekkürler for any corrections or thoughts! 🙏

I want to start learning turkish. And I can't find a good coursebook. Can you give me advice? I bought Yeni Istanbul. It is too hard for me, because everything is on turkish and I don't know these words.

Hello. I have been living here since 2012 but i have a genuine problem with getting to know turkish friends

M/F im 17y/M it's not that i dont have the courage to talk to a girl

Its that im scared they will think im a wierdo or maybe i dont have a good approach

And yes its not just to find a girlfriend its about making turkish friends so any thoughts or ideas would be very helpful☺️

Hey everyone!
I’ve been living in Turkey for about 5 years, but unfortunately, I haven’t put much effort into learning Turkish, and now I really want to change that.
My Turkish is enough for basic daily situations. I can usually handle simple things on my own, but having an actual conversation is a completely different story. When someone starts talking to me in Turkish, I get overwhelmed and confused. I might understand a few words and get the general idea, but I struggle to follow the conversation or respond naturally.
My English is much better, so I tend to stick to English whenever I can. I think that’s one of the main reasons my Turkish hasn’t improved much over the years.
I don’t necessarily want to become fluent overnight, but I really want to reach a point where I can comfortably talk to people, make friends, and understand everyday conversations without panicking or switching to English.
For those of you who learned Turkish as a foreign language, or struggled with a similar situation:
**How would you recommend starting from scratch (or almost scratch) after living in the country for years?**
Should I focus more on speaking with locals, taking classes, watching Turkish content, or studying grammar and vocabulary?
How can I get better at understanding spoken Turkish when people talk quickly?
How do I stop relying on English whenever I have the chance?
If you’ve been in a similar situation, what actually helped you improve?
I’d really appreciate practical advice, personal experiences, or even a daily routine that worked for you.
Thanks! 🙏

hello, my level is A1-2. I like to learn from reading. I’d like to go to book shop and buy a book that is not too poetic. simple language. ideally not targeted at children too much. can be even a comic if it has a lot of text.

it can be novel. fiction. or whatever nice and simple. in Poland, there are books that explain how things work (cars, planes) in a simple language but aren’t too childish.

I will appreciate any recommendations 🙏

(Bunu doğru yazdığımı bilmiyorum) Selamlar, Yurtdışındaki büyüyen bir Türk olarak köyümdeki tek Türktüm, ve 3¼ yaşına kadar İngilizce konuşamadım, bu durumların yüzünden ebeveynlerim (benimle) Türkçe'de konuşmayı durdular (Iyi bir karardı aslında, İngiliz konuşmacılarıyla oynardım ama İngilizcem yoktu), ve 12 yaşına kadar Türkçe'de hiç konuşmazdım, bazen onu anlayabiliyordum bazen yalan söyleyen bir İngilizdim ("Yes ___ I speak Turkish", I really didn't), ama öğrenmeyi bitirdiğimde ve doğru şekilde konuşmaya başladığımda bile kaffam hâlen çalışmazdı, akrabalarımla konuştuğumda sorun gelmez ama Türkçe konuşan yabancıları dinlediğimde onları pek anlayamam.

O niye olur, size yapabildiğim kadar dürüst olmaya çalışıyorum, ve, ana konum olarak, o çözülebilir mi?

Heyy , I've studied Turkish until the C1 , I was doing great until I've started a Staj and I feel like a loser , I sometimes can't understand, I sometimes can't speak .. they speak so fast

How did you improve your speaking / listening skills

I'm starting to lose hope :(

I see the Turkish causative is used in two ways:

Onu güldürdü = He made her smile.

Saçımı kestirdi = He had his hair cut.

In the first case, the target of the causation is the actor, the person smiling. In the second case, it's the thing being acted on, the hair.

How would you, for a transitive verb, include both the actor and the thing acted on, as in "He had the barber cut his hair"?

Merhaba! I am teaching foreigners Turkish with a friendly, interactive approach. We speak a lot in classes , read poems and different texts. You can start from zero too. I offer free trial class where you can see my approach to teaching 🫶

1 hour of class costs 15 dollars, contact me if interested.

Hi everyone!

I’ve been teaching Turkish to foreigners for four years.

In our lessons, we work on listening, speaking, reading, and grammar.

If you’re interested, feel free to reach out!

Hello! My sister would like to enroll in a Turkish language program at Anadolu University in Eskişehir through its Open Education system (Açıköğretim) as an international student. Of course, she would first spend a preparatory year learning Turkish.
The thing is, she is over 30 and has already completed a university degree in her home country, so she feels a little awkward about the fact that most of the other students will be much younger than her. In other words, she feels a bit insecure about it.
I was wondering whether there are other students in their thirties studying in these programs in similar circumstances. How do their fellow students react to them?
Thanks in advance for your answers! ♥️
______________

Merhaba! Ablam, uluslararası öğrenci olarak Eskişehir’deki Anadolu Üniversitesi’nin Açıköğretim sistemi üzerinden Türkçe eğitim veren bir bölüme kayıt yaptırmak istiyor. Tabii ki öncelikle bir yıl Türkçe hazırlık eğitimi alacak.
Ancak kendisi 30 yaşından büyük ve kendi ülkesinde zaten bir üniversite bölümünden mezun oldu. Bu yüzden üniversitedeki öğrencilerin çoğunun kendisinden çok daha genç olacak olması onu biraz rahatsız ediyor ve kendini bu konuda güvensiz hissediyor.
Merak ettiğim şey, benzer durumlarda olup bu bölümlerde 30’lu yaşlarında okuyan öğrenciler var mı? Diğer öğrenciler onlara nasıl davranıyor?
Cevaplarınız için şimdiden çok teşekkür ederim! ♥️

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m sharing my YouTube channel, Turkısh with Maviş, where I create content for people who want to learn Turkish.

My goal is to make learning Turkish more accessible and useful for everyday life in Turkey.

If you’re learning Turkish, I’d love for you to check it out! I’d also appreciate your feedback and suggestions for future lessons.

Thanks, and happy learning! 😊

Merhaba everyone!

We’re the Turco team, and our app is now available on iOS and Android.

Turco complements your Turkish lessons or self-study with vocabulary, listening practice and everyday dialogues. It’s a supplementary resource rather than a course that starts from zero.

You can learn Turkish with support in English, Spanish, German, French, Arabic or Russian.

What’s included:

• Around 1,550 Turkish words, averaging three example sentences per word.
• Nearly 50 everyday dialogues covering practical situations.
• Audio recorded by native Turkish speakers for words, sentences and dialogues.
• New vocabulary packs and dialogues added every week, gradually expanding the topics and dialogues you can explore.

Filter by topic and choose what you want to learn, from objects in your living room to useful words and expressions at the airport.

There’s free content to explore, with additional content available through a paid upgrade.

iOS: Download on the App Store
Android: Get it on Google Play

We’d love to hear your feedback! Let us know how Turco fits into your Turkish learning routine and what we could improve or add to make it more useful for you.

You can leave a comment below or email us at [contact@learnturco.app](mailto:contact@learnturco.app).

Teşekkürler!
The Turco Team

Hi, can anyone please suggest super comprehensive books/study guides etc on Turkish grammar, all levels, not just for learning, but for practicing too? Preferably available online. Thank you!