As a native Turkish speaker, every single expatriate I have known or worked with has spoken about how hard it is to learn and understand Turkish at least onceas far as I can remember. Because of the reasons I am going to give you further, it totally makes sense considering the fact that all those people come from Europe or the USA.I also would like tonote that some of the best non-native speakers of Turkish were Japanese for the same reasonsin my personal experience.
Before expressing a general opinion about the complexity of Turkish language, one has to admit that everyforeign language is difficult to learn for most people but some languages are even much more challenging for learners depending on the relation between the learner's native tongue and the target language. There is obviously a number of factors that might have an effect on each learner's progress such as willingness to learn, concentration level, personal interests, learning environment or teacher's performance, however the most contributing factor is what portion of your native language you can associate with the new one. According to what I have experienced from studying English, German, Spanish and Japanese (complete failure), no language should be labeled as completely easy or hard when it comes down to learning.
Different language families always have an interaction as they borrow words from each other as a result of scientific or technological advancements, economicand commercialactivities, politicalor cultural relations. Otherwise, every single language would have to invent new vocabulary for new concepts such as "television", "internet","bank" or "museum" throughout history. In most cases,such loan words areborrowed as they are or withminor changes to comply withphonetics or alphabets of borrowing languages. The good news is that Turkish follows the same principle in this sense, but that is of course the easiest part. To me, what really determines whether learning any language will become a headache are how the grammar is structured,verbs are conjugatedand how many cognates (words which derive from the same origin andare written and pronounced in a similar way) are present.
I do not intend to step into linguistics with toomany details but have to giveyou some basic information to help you have a better understanding of the real challenges.Turkish language is a member of the Ural Altaic family and differs a lot from European languages most of which belong to the group of Indo-European languages.Although thereis some dispute (mostly ideological), Turkish, Japanese, Korean, Finnish and Hungarian are considered as Ural Altaic languages. Having this said, Turkish language borrowed many words from Arabic and Persian in the past due to historical and religious reasons , but a great deal of them were omitted from Turkish following modern language studies supported by Ataturk in the 1930s. Nonetheless , a number of words from both languages still prevail in certain terminologies such as law and accounting.
What should we understand from all of the above? If you do not speak any of the Ural Altaic languages, you are likely to have some difficulty in learning Turkish for grammar is much different than what you are used to. Instead of frustrating you, I will try to explain it with examples and comparisons with English and some other languages.
Like I said, I believe there is no language that is completely hard or easy to learn. Turkish is probably one of the easiest languages in terms of spelling and pronouncing words because it is fully phonetic, meaning it is written as it is read and vice versa. Once you know how to pronounce all the letters in the alphabet, you can read any Turkish textwithout almost zero pronunciation error.Both consonants andvowels are always pronounced the same no matter which letter comes before or after them. For instance, the letter "a" is always pronounced like the "a" we pronounce in the English word "dark" without any exception. Or the letter "e" is always like the "e" in the English word "bet".The consonant "c" always gives the "j" sound as in "job", it never transforms into two separate pronunciations like in "calendar" and "cell". Naturally, Turkish would be considered to be extremely easier than English by almost anyone if spelling and pronouncing were the only criteria.
Definite article "the" is a much simpler version of "Der,Die, Das" in German. We can use it without thinking about the gender of a word in English but to use theequivalentsin German correctly, one has to memorize them for almost every single word because there are too many exceptions despite there are some rules about how to use them.Besides, the meaning also changes in "dativ, akkusativ" cases of German as they are used to indicate direct and indirect objects. In contrast, "El" or "La" inSpanishare alsomuch easier to learn than "Der,Die, Das"because there are also few exceptions in Spanish. In Turkish? They simply do not exist, in other words we do not have a definite article in Turkish. How is that possible and how do we replace it? I know it might seem crazy to expresssomeideas,notions or situationswithout a definite article if you are used to it but there are also other ways to do it. We mostly use definitive clauses to do the same thing,it is nothing to be worried about. Not too bad, isn't it?
There is an indefinite article in Turkish doing the same jobwith"a, an"but it is not used as widely as in English. To give an example, we do not use it before professions as we do in English. Example, "Ben doktorum" which means "I am doctor", it is similar to Spanish in that sense. ("Soy profesor de ingles")
Plural and singular nouns are a bit different, but not more difficult than in English since countable or uncountable nouns are not too complicated.
Verb conjugations!Lets be honest to each other.Whatmakes English a popular second language is primarily a result the of the political, economic, and cultural impact made by the USA and Great Britain in the 20th century. In addition, English is the easiest languagein terms of verb conjugations and tenses which aredefining factors to learn a language with ease or difficulty. In mostcases, the verb isusedthe same wayexcept a change forthird person singular, which is even not the case in all tenses such asSimple Past. Turkish verbs just like Spanish, are conjugateddifferently for each personal pronounin every single tense. This is really tough. It still could have been ok if conjugating verbs were completelyregular with strict rules and no exceptions but unfortunately there are some irregularities resulting from Turkish sound rules. Ultimately, verb conjugation in Turkish is more difficult than German but easier than Spanish, and scary for an English speaker who does not have such concerns.
Another hassle with grammar is the sentence structure which is completely different compared to English. For someone who speaks Spanish, it is easy to understand the lack of subject pronoun is not an issuein a sentence because it is not required. Since all verbs are already conjugated according to the subject person, you do not need to use subject pronouns separately in Turkish unless you want to emphasize it strongly. And finally, the verb comes after the object in a sentence which is also tricky for English speakers.
The most challenging part of Turkish is that a verb conjugation combines subject, auxiliary (not exactly the same thing), verb, and tense conjugation in one word. More, indirect objects, direct objects and places are combined with prepositions in Turkish and it becomes more complex for the learner. To give an instance:
"Konsere gidiyoruz." meaning "We are going to the concert". Here is how it works:
Konser (concert)+ e (to) git (go)+i (no impact on the meaning)+ yor (ing)+ uz (present continuous conjugation for "we")
As you can notice, it is still irregular since "git" becomes "gid" when the verb is fully conjugated, an "i" is added (this is similar to changing thiefs to thieves in English)and these are due to the sound harmony rule in Turkish which is a totally different issue. However, do not feel discouraged about it for everyone will still understand you even if you say "gitiyoruz", that is not your true enemy.
One true challenge is learning new vocabulary in Turkish and naturally it is equally difficult for a Turkish speaker to do the same in English, German or another European language for the same reason. Historically, every language in Europe were influenced by or derived from Latin and it is the common essence of all Romance languages, English and it had some impact on German up to some extent. It does not require rocket science technology to figure out that "Family", "Familie" and "Familia" mean the same, but the same word means "Aile" in Turkish and it is nowhere near as similar as in the previous examples. "Schreiben" in German is "escribir" when translated into Spanish. Does that remind you the English word "scribe"? Although the verb "to scribe" is not used as the exact substitute of "to write"today,it rings a bell. InTurkish it is "yazmak" whichcannot be connected to any of the versions.
There are so much that the article does not cover, but the idea is to give learners of Turkish a quickie about some aspects of the language so that they can overcome some of the challenges more easily. I hope that it helps.
Learning another language always requires concentration, patience, practice, reading, writing, listening and speaking regardless ofwhat we learn. No oneshould expect miracles when they decide to learn a different language because languages are like living organisms and they evolve in time. Although there are rules and patterns in any language, it is not mathematics and two times two might not equal to four like in mathematics. If it worked like math, we would not have any literature terms such as symbolic or ironic because every word would have only one meaning and we wouldalways be sure aboutwhat we understand. None of us havelearned our native languages in a few months, why should it be different while learning a different language?
As an enthusiast with a deep understanding of language learning, I can relate to the challenges and joys that come with mastering a new language. My experiences in studying multiple languages, including English, German, Spanish, and Japanese (with varying degrees of success), have provided me with valuable insights into the intricacies of language acquisition.
Now, let's delve into the concepts discussed in the article about the complexity of learning the Turkish language:
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Language Families and Borrowed Words: The article mentions that Turkish belongs to the Ural Altaic language family, which differs significantly from European languages, most of which belong to the Indo-European language group. The borrowing of words from Arabic and Persian in the past is highlighted, with many of these words being omitted following language reforms in the 1930s.
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Phonetics and Pronunciation: Turkish is described as one of the easiest languages in terms of spelling and pronunciation. It follows a fully phonetic system, meaning words are written as they are pronounced. The article emphasizes that once you know how to pronounce the letters, you can read any Turkish text with minimal pronunciation errors.
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Definite and Indefinite Articles: Turkish lacks a definite article similar to "the" in English or "Der, Die, Das" in German. Instead, the language uses definitive clauses to convey similar meanings. The article contrasts this with the challenges posed by definite articles in German and the simpler structure in Spanish.
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Verb Conjugations: Turkish verb conjugations are highlighted as a significant challenge. Unlike English, where verbs are relatively consistent, Turkish verbs are conjugated differently for each personal pronoun in every tense. The article compares this complexity with Spanish and German, noting the difficulty for English speakers.
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Sentence Structure: Turkish sentence structure differs from English, with the absence of subject pronouns in many cases. The article compares this to Spanish, where subject pronouns are unnecessary due to verb conjugations. Additionally, the placement of the verb after the object in a sentence is noted as tricky for English speakers.
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Vocabulary Challenges: Learning new vocabulary in Turkish is identified as a challenge, especially for Turkish speakers attempting to learn European languages. The article highlights the historical influences on European languages, such as Latin, leading to similarities in vocabulary that Turkish lacks.
The article concludes by acknowledging that learning any language requires concentration, patience, practice, reading, writing, listening, and speaking. It emphasizes that languages are dynamic, evolving entities, and language learning is a process that takes time and dedication.
