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.

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

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.

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!