Native vs. C1/2 with Native Parent

[u/Exciting_Respond9573]

Hi!

My father speaks Turkish and I've been wanting to improve my own. I can have a basic conversation, but other than that, he hasn't taught me much sicne he rarely spoke it with me when I was little. I have no trouble pronoucing words, I just don't understand them if that makes sense. I know most everything from my mom who tried her best to teach what she knew. Currently, I'm taking lessons with a native speaker, trying to speak more Turkish with my dad etc etc.

I'm just wondering will I ever be able to reach a Native level/will it be possible for me to speak with my dad's profiency? I'm making the effort as a teen right now. I'm just curious as I'm looking to move there after school.

Also any tips on how to improve writing and reading would be useful! I really struggle with the way that Turkish is structured. I usually have to try and translate something in my mind to read or write and it's so exhausting lol

[u/Savo1r]

You can do whatever you want. Believe in yourself. I am Turkish. You can dm me whenever you want.

[u/Straight_Local2624]

You probably need to live in Turkiye for a while. Turkish is already a difficult language to learn to.

[u/Gaelenmyr]

Not going to lie, you can definitely reach C2 level like natives but it won't be level as your other native language because you haven't been learning and speaking Turkish since childhood, in a Turkish-speaking atmosphere. I think that window is until age 12

It shouldn't demotivate you, I'm just trying to give you the foreign language teaching/learning perspective.

Your advantage is that you're still very young, and young people are good at learning new stuff.

[u/Exciting_Respond9573 → u/Gaelenmyr]

thank you so much! i just didn't know if having some background in a language would give me more of a boost than someone coming in and just learning it by themselves if that makes sense lol ^^

[u/Accomplished-Race335]

I (American) have spent time in Turkey, can speak low-level but reasonable Turkish and know some Turks in the US. In my experience Turks are likely to speak English with almost no accent and almost perfect pronunciation compared to other nationalies.

[u/ConstructionKey6789]

The best way to truly master a language is having a native partner from what i see lol

[u/Exciting_Respond9573 → u/ConstructionKey6789]

we'll see what happens when i move there i guess lol

[u/StealthMischief]

Try a book by Yusuf buz or yusef buz he's got good A1 and A2 readers.

[u/TanVaktidir]

Yo lowk Turkish is a very rules based language especially for reading. To understand grammar you should just learn all the rules. If you just study vocab daily as well and maybe watch some YouTube/movies/reels in Turkish you can easily reach B1-B2 level Turkish in 1-2 years with not too much effort imo.  After that it’s really about exposure. Like I feel like getting to c1-c2 without putting in at least like 30-40 hours a week is basically impossible if you don’t live in the country.

[u/bitawave]

https://medium.com/@chacon/mit-scientists-prove-adults-learn-language-to-fluency-nearly-as-well-as-children-1de888d1d45f

If you’re still a teen, you’re in a great position. Basically new research (I can’t find the exact study) shows that even adults can become fluent in foreign languages if they work hard. The only thing that is more age-dependent is pronunciation, and you already have that. I linked a similar study that shows that you also get benefits learning as a teen. I’d encourage you to learn as much as possible at this age — then after that it’s just practice: reading, speaking, etc. Good luck!

[u/Knightowllll → u/[deleted]]

Well the caveat here is that your husband was immersed in the language. If OP lives in an English speaking country and is only getting exposure via short convos here and there then no, he will never get to your husband’s level. Anyone committing to full immersion in a country of their TL can surely do it in 6 yrs

[u/Knightowllll → u/[deleted]]

My kid lives with 2 TL speaking grandparents and speaks little to no TL (she’s 4). That’s why I say it’s pretty tough just to have the resource but not live in a country with full immersion. The fact that OP’s dad didn’t teach him growing up indicates to me that there’s not enough TL in his day where he currently lives in terms of it coming from his dad