Why Turkish is Easier to Learn Than You Think
Turkish isn’t hard to learn. That’s partly because there’s no such thing as a “hard language”. Every language becomes accessible with the right learning methods. But, Turkish is especially easy compared to other languages. Here are a few reasons why Turkish is easier, and why you shouldn’t be worried about the difficulty of learning it.
How Long Does it Take to Learn Turkish?
Well, how long it takes to learn a language is a complex answer. It depends on you, your target language, and the resources you use. The closer your target language is to your native language, the faster you can learn it. The more difficult it is to learn Turkish for you, the longer it will take.
If your native language is English, there are some estimates for you. The US Foreign Service Institute ranked all the languages based on difficulty. Then, they assigned a number for how long it takes to master it, and Turkish may surprise you. According to them, Turkish is a category IV language. This means that you need 44 weeks, or 1100 hours to reach Turkish fluency.
But, please don’t take these numbers seriously. The Foreing Service Institute doesn’t know you. They don’t know your motivation, enthusiasm, and drive. And they certainly don’t know if you’re using the right language learning methods. You can learn Turkish much faster if you know the best way to learn it.
Is Turkish Close to English?
Well, the FSI Category IV ranking means that Turkish is not that close to English. English is a Germanic language, while Turkish is in the Turkic language family. Turkish is more closely related to Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Qashqai, and Gagauz.
Turkish and English grammar is quite similar. You’ll definitely find common grammatical rules in the two languages. However, one aspect of Turkish English students find difficult is the lack of the verb “to be”. There’s no “to be” in Turkish. Instead, they use suffixes to replace it. This can he a hard concept to grasp when you’re learning Turkish.
The sentence structure is also different than in English. While English is an SVO (subject-verb-object) language, Turkish is SOV (subject-object-verb). For example:
- Mary eats an apple. – Mary bir elma yiyor.
“Mary” is the subject, “eats” (yiyor) is the verb, and “an apple” (bir elma) is the object. As you can see, Turkish puts the object first, and then the verb. This isn’t hard, but it’s definitely something you need to get used to when you learn Turkish.
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Turkish Has a Latin Alphabet
The Turkish alphabet will look very familiar to you. In 1928 Turkey changed its writing system from Arabic script to Latin letters. So, today, Turkish uses the same alphabet as English. Well, almost the same. There are a few extra letters in the Turkish alphabet, which are just modified Latin letters. Ö, ü, and ç are just a few of the accents that Turkish uses. These represent different pronunciations, so they’re helpful overall. So, learning the Turkish Alphabet should be an easy task.
Turkish People are Extremely Helpful
This may be a strange reason why Turkish is easy to learn, but hear me out. Turkish people are very nice. They’re friendly, welcoming, and helpful. But, when they find out that you’re learning Turkish, they’ll be overjoyed. They’ll appreciate your efforts, and do everything they can to help you. I guarantee you’ll easily make Turkish friends just by learning Turkish.
Having a local help you learn a language is amazing. They can show you the correct pronunciation, and give you pointers on how to speak more fluently. Learning slang and everyday expressions from them is also a fun activity. So, Turkish hospitality definitely makes learning Turkish easier.
Have the Right Motivation to Learn Turkish
Learning Turkish won’t be hard if you’re enjoying your lessons. It’s one thing to choose the right language learning resources. It’s another thing to have the right motivation and enthusiasm to carry you through to fluency. Keeping up with your language learning will be much easier if you’re dedicated.
If you’re learning Turkish for travel, the thought of your upcoming trip is great motivation. Or if you’d like to master the Turkish language to do a language exam, the accomplishment that brings is nice. Motivation like these can make learning Turkish much easier.
Learn Turkish with the Right Resources
Ultimately, the only thing that makes learning Turkish easier is having a fun and effective resource. Using scientifically proven methods is the best way to learn a language. So, if you want to make learning Turkish easy, all you have to do is download the best language learning app: OptiLingo.
OptiLingo can get you to fluency the fastest. It gives you the vocabulary that everyday Turkish people use. So, you can learn exactly how Turkish locals speak. Your dream of speaking Turkish fluently doesn’t have to be far away. Achieve Turkish success by downloading OptiLingo today!
