Turkey is a beautiful country. From breathtaking beaches to natural wonders and amazing archeological sites, there’s a little bit of everything. However, tourists might have a hard time finding their way through Istanbul’s bustling streets because only 17% of the locals know how to speak English. But learning Turkish will get you more than just a stress-free vacation. The American government has designated Turkish as a critical language. It’s actively recruiting Turkish speakers for various roles in the government and offering scholarships and fellowships to students pursuing the language. Plus, learning Turkish helps you understand other languages spoken in the region, such as Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek. Of course, learning a foreign language has plenty of other benefits, like helping you improve your memory and boost your creativity.
Turkish can be hard to master, but it isn’t as difficult as Russian or Japanese. The main reason is that Turkish grammar is logical and regular. Unlike English, you don’t need to memorize any rule exceptions, making Turkish increasingly easier as you progress. Still, language learning software will help you get a grasp of the basic rules.
Since Turkish is a phonetic language, words are pronounced exactly as they’re written. Of course, for you to know how a word should sound, you need to learn the Turkish alphabet first. Language learning apps with speech-recognition software help tremendously, as they tell you where you need to improve your pronunciation.
Additionally, language learning software is perfect for expanding your vocabulary. Even though Turkish has around 6,000 loanwords from French, English, and Latin, you’ll still need to learn a lot. With flashcards and perfectly timed review exercises, language learning apps make sure you quickly retain thousands of pieces of vocabulary. Finally, most language learning apps organize exercises in easy-to-follow curriculums, which is essential to study Turkish efficiently.
With millions of active subscribers all around the world, Babbel sits at the top of the industry as one of the best-selling language learning apps. The courses use real-life situations, which means students are ready to have conversations within the first three weeks. Babbel offers complete writing, listening, and speaking exercises to teach vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and cultural trivia. There are also various extras, such as games, podcasts, and live classes. Unfortunately, Babbel only teaches 13 different language courses, but they’ve been carefully created by a team of over 150 language experts. You can try one class for free, but to gain full access to Babbel's teaching methods, you’ll need to subscribe. There is no free trial but you can take advantage of the 20-day money-back guarantee.
Launched in 1992, Rosetta Stone has over two decades of experience in teaching students a new language. The result is one of the most thorough and effective language learning apps in the industry. The software covers over 20 languages, tackling reading, writing, listening, and speaking with an immersive approach. It’s so intuitive that we didn’t even notice we were learning new vocabulary.
While courses are on-demand, Rosetta Stone does provide 6-week personalized study plans that consider students’ goals. In addition to the usual classes and exercises, the language learning platform also offers live sessions with native speakers and expert tutors, interactive stories, an audio companion, and much more. Prices start at $10.95 per month, and there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee to try out Rosetta Stone risk free.
Pimsleur was one of the first self-instructional language learning courses to hit the market. Back in 1963, Dr. Paul Pimsleur released his very first reel-to-reel tape with a Modern Greek course. Nowadays, Pimsleur offers programs for more than 50 languages. Though the time of reel-to-reel tapes is long gone, there is one thing that Pimsleur maintained: the Pimsleur method. By combining graduated interval recall, the principle of anticipation, core vocabulary, and organic learning, Pimsleur helps people speak a language in no time. It’s possible to get the various learning language courses by purchasing each level of the program, or by subscribing to a monthly billing cycle that provides full access. Either way, unless you get the CD version it’s possible to use the software both on desktop and mobile, or to download the lessons in MP3 format for offline use.
The first thing Turkish students will notice is that the language doesn’t follow the same sentence structure as English. While most Latin languages use an SVO (subject-verb-object) word order, Turkish uses an SOV (subject-object-verb) structure. Additionally, the alphabet is a bit different. Even though it’s based on the Latin alphabet, Turkish students will need to learn a few more characters, such as ç, ğ, ö, and ş.
Turkish is also an agglutinative language. In other words, new words are created by adding suffixes. For example, the English translation for göz is ‘eye’. By adding the suffix lük, you get gözlük, which means eyeglasses. The biggest challenge comes when the agglutination starts creating sentences. For instance, you can say ‘I wonder if I should sit down for a while’ just by using the word ‘istahtaisinkohan’. On the bright side, after you get the hang of word construction, you’ll easily understand new vocabulary without even needing a dictionary.
Indeed, when it comes to vocabulary, there are many words that you’ll have to learn from scratch, as they don’t share the roots or sounds of more common languages. Fortunately, teaching new vocabulary is where language learning software shines the most.
While doing regular language learning exercises is necessary to learn Turkish, you should also try to have as much contact with the language as possible. Speaking with native speakers, either through social media or a language learning app, is a great start.
You can go even further by watching Turkish television or listening to Turkish music. One of Turkey’s biggest cultural exports is soap operas. An excellent example is the popular TV series Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), which has aired in more than 46 countries. YouTube also has a large Turkish community, with some channels – like Enes Batur – having more than 10 million subscribers. The best part is that most Turkish content has English subtitles thanks to YouTube’s automatic captions. And if you like to read, there are some excellent Turkish books to improve your vocabulary and reading skills. From The Museum of Innocence by the Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk to Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak, there’s a lot to sink your teeth into.
The Best Reviews team researches and tests all products first-hand. We've been reviewing products and services since 2012 and are proud to only publish human-created content.
Share your thoughts, ask questions, and connect with other users. Your feedback helps our community make better decisions.
©2012-2026 Best Reviews, a clovio brand –
All rights
reserved
