Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course (Turkish Edition)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've studied Turkish on and off for a few years, trying several different books, but this is definitely the best by a long shot. It presents the material in a very logical order, easing you into the conventions of the language, and explaining everything very clearly. Yet, it's also concise. The other books I tried were "Turkce Ogreniyoruz", a 4-part book that's publ. in Turkey and difficult to learn from since there are only grammar examples and no explanations, leaving you to derive the meaning; and "Elementary Turkish" - a little better but really more focused on grammar than on getting you ready to use the language conversationally and in everyday life, right from the 1st chapter, as "TYT" does. "TYT" also introduces the most useful vocabulary right away (such as politely refusing excessive food, which you'll need to do a lot with Turkish people!). I just wish I'd tried this book years ago. Also, I really wish they'd write another for the next level! You'll get there quickly and enjoyably with this book.

Teach Yourself Turkish is one of the best language books I have ever used. Each lesson builds on the previous one, and presents useful situations that apply what is being learned in context. Vocabulary building comes quickly, and grammar, syntax and verb conjugation are explained in terms very easy to digest. My only problem with the book was the authors' occasional inclusion of new grammatical elements without explaining them. Aside from this small flaw, the book is excellent and a must for anyone wanting to learn Turkish.

I lived in Turkey for seven months and used this book more than several others I had at my disposal simply because it gives useful and logical explanations of Turkish grammar (which is very different to anything you have seen in English or other European languages). It is a step by step book with conversational examples that both extend your vocabulary and your use of grammar in everyday situations, making it easy to apply what you have learned as you talk to shop owners, waiters, fellow commuters and others interested in learning where the yabanci (foreigner/stranger) comes from! I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a basic understanding and wants to teach themselves. It would also work well with a tutor but you dont need anything else, except perhaps some assistance with pronunciation, as vowel harmony takes some getting used to.

Listen to what your fellow reviewers are saying about this book! Despite what the title says, without tapes, this is in no way complete!

Make sure you ONLY get it if the tapes are available! As far as I can tell, the tapes are no longer available (checking with book distributors such as Baker and Taylor). If you have other good books with tapes, you may find this one helpful, but it isn't top on my list.

I've been teaching myself Turkish (slowly, painfully but I'm old!) for months and was excited to see this one, 7th of the books I purchased on this topic. Wish I'd skipped this one in favor of the last one I bought(which was the best!).

This book is good if you want to be able to take lessons and quizzes (which I do) but is extremely frustrating without the tapes as many of the exercises refer to the missing tapes.

Still glad I have it, but it isn't the best around.

I've been learning Turkish for six years now, and am reasonably fluent. In that time I've encountered many language courses and Teach Yourself Turkish is the best I've come across. It's also one of the best in the Teach Yourself series.

It provides a good grounding in the basic structure of the language and key vocab in the first 8 chapters. It explains things clearly without getting lost in complex grammatical terms. With a bit of determination you could probably get through this section in 6-8 weeks by yourself in a little spare time. Combine this with a few stock tourist phrases from a guidebook and Turkey is your oyster.

Where it does lose it's way a little bit is in the second half of the course, where it tries to cover a little too much material for the space it has. Because of this the explanation can get muddier, and the subject matter is presented a little bit too densely for easy self study.

While my Turkish is now well beyond the level of this course, it was an important part in helping me get to this level.

(...)

This is a good book for any beginner with little or no knowledge of grammar as the authors avoid almost completely grammatical terminology. The book contains very practical and interesting dialogues focusing on colloquial language which, in my opinion, constitute the very best of this book. I also found the cultural notes very interesting and useful. However it does not offer a full and systematic treatment of the morphology and syntax. It should be regarded as a first introduction for all who wish to get more than a basic understanding of Turkish.

Turkish is one of the most confusing languages for English speakers to learn in terms of grammar and vocabulary. Teach Yourself Turkish really does a good job of simplifying the grammar and vocab and really makes it accessible to English speakers.

I found this course very helpful for my recent 5 week trip to Turkey. I was able to get my basic needs met and understand most of what was said to me. Don't expect to sit back, listen to the tapes and become fluent, however. You should really spend about 30 minutes a day at it and a week on each chapter.

The only problem I had with the course was that the tapes were too short. Also, there were no oral drills on them. With more taped dialogues and oral drills this course would easily hit 5 stars!

I suppose there is not much in particular in my personal background that might qualify me to evaluate language-learning texts like this one, but I have to say that I am entirely satisfied (perhaps even delighted) with the way this book is organized and with the brisk, lively style the authors, both apparently accomplished linguists, use in presenting the material. In each unit (there are 16 units)they give an interesting dialogue, a section on grammar and usage, lots of well-constructed exercises, and a final short dialogue. I must confess that my initial interest in learning Turkish was born of selfish motives: the grad school I'll be attending in the fall requires knowledge of a non-Indo-European language, so I considered a whole bunch of(to me)unknown tongues and happily zeroed in, considering that the civilization of which it is a part is so much more interesting than the others, on Turkish. Despite my less-than-noble original motivation, I have, by using this fine book, come to appreciate the great beauty of the language, really quite extraordinary in its morphology and syntax as well as in its phonetics and phonology. If this book leaves anything at all to be desired, it might be that is does not overwhelm the student with examples, and I personally love being overwhelmed with examples. Don't get me wrong: Teach Yourself Turkish gives plenty of examples, a wealth of them. But I would like having still more. I guess that's a question of what they are now calling my own "learning style." This book can be used with profit by anyone seriously interested in language study. Highly recommended.

Unfortunately, this is the best language book I've found for Turkish. I say 'unfortunately' because the tape, at least in my copy (and apparently others') is absent. The tape is central to the lessons, and I found going without extremely difficult. I've tried picking up whatever audio materials my library has, and thats helped to some degree: its a real hassel, though.

Nevertheless, I think I'm slowly beginning to pick up the language. This book isn't a quick fix like most claim to be: it gradually teaches you the grammar of the language without your even knowing it: it has extremely helpful lessons, and is written very well, understanding that you won't pick up the language in one week, but will have to put effort and sacrifice into it.

I'll continue my quest for the tape; this book is worth it.

For us Greeks Turkish is quite easy from the point of its vocabulary- so many common words- and at the same time its grammar and pronunciation is so difficult..almost weird. Its a good book as long as you see it as a task to be done and completed..it doesnt help much if you see it just as a game. I managed to study 8 of its 16 chapters before travelling to Turkey..it proved to be surprisingly helpfull..I managed to talk in naif Turkish with some Turks who had no knowledge of English..I thank the authors for this. it takes about one week of study to fully comprehend and assimilate each of its chapter..this doesnt mean that you dont have to go back to previous ones all the time..but, after all, its a new language.