The easy way to learn Turkish: a 4-step method

The secret: small, regular steps

Most beginners study for hours in the first week, get tired in the second and give up. The brain can only turn a limited amount of new information into lasting memory at a time; the rest is gone the next day.

That is why the daily goal on LinguDay is 10 words. Five to ten minutes is not tiring, fits into any day and adds up to about 300 words a month. Easy comes from doing a little every day.

Start with pronunciation

If you don’t know how to say a word, it’s harder to remember it. On LinguDay every Turkish word has its pronunciation written in letters you know, and you can listen to it in a natural voice.

Turkish grammar works with suffixes added to the end of words, which takes some practice, but pronunciation is easy because spelling is regular. On LinguDay every word comes with its pronunciation and audio.

See words in sentences, not alone

A word memorized alone is quickly forgotten; a word that is part of a sentence is remembered with its meaning. Every word comes with an example sentence, and short conversation lessons show words in real dialogues.

There are currently 7 Turkish conversation lessons; the introduction and everyday conversation lessons are free.

Keep moving without forgetting: short reviews

Trying to recall what you learned a few days later is the most effective way to make it stick. The daily test asks about words from recent days and shows which ones need review.

So you learn new words without losing the old ones. Your progress page shows your learned words and study days.

Tips for learning Turkish

• Watch out for c, ı and ğ

  Turkish “c” sounds like English “j” (cami “jami”), “ç” like “ch” and “ş” like “sh”. The undotted ı is a short sound like the “e” in “roses”, and ğ is silent: it lengthens the vowel before it.

• Suffixes and vowel harmony

  Turkish builds meaning by adding suffixes to the end of words: ev “house”, evler “houses”, evlerde “in the houses”. Suffix vowels change to match the word (vowel harmony). There is no gender and no word for “the”, and the verb comes last.