Lonely Planet Turkish Phrasebook (Phrasebook Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jim Masters (Author), Perihan Masters (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Ever wanted to try those Turkish baths? Better still, to chat with the locals as you while away the hours in the steam? If only you knew to say 'saatler olsun!' - 'May it last for hours!' - the common expression Turks exchange after the baths, you might cross the first hurdle to conversation. Try it, and many more, from this phrasebook, to take you into the culture, not just passing through it.

• extensive two-way dictionary
• all the language you need to travel, shop, catch the sights and meet people
• plenty of colloquial usage and common expressions to help you understand
• conversation is easier with sections on family, interests, politics, and sports
• thorough pronunciation and grammar chapters will help you actually learn the language

Language Notes

Text: English, Turkish

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 2nd edition (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864424361
• ISBN-13: 978-0864424365
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 3.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,235,749 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Lonely Planet Phrasebooks Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A necessity for a traveller to Turkey (but you also need...), April 8, 2001

By	vcrs (Madison, WI, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is excellent for many reasons but three are paramount: (1) it includes an EXCELLENT explanation of the grammar, without which I would never have been able to go beyond memorization to actual comprehension & interaction; (2) it includes Turkish phrases that you will really use, relevant to actual situations you will encounter in Turkey (including conversation on topics like politics and social issues!); (3) the dictionary in the back is truly comprehensive.

If you're travelling to Turkey, you need this book--outside of Istanbul, and off the beaten path, few people speak workable English, and efforts to speak Turkish are not only warmly welcomed, but help tremendously in getting through the day.

There was only one thing I found problematic with this book. The book I was using was NOT the one with the incorrect pronunciation (at least, I don't think so), but I just found the pronunciation (the phonetic rendition of each phrase) really hard to read & use, and I didn't think it produced an accurate rendition of Turkish sounds (if I just read the phonetic phrase, no one would have understood me).

My strong recommendation to other prospective travellers: also get the "Berlitz Turkish Phrasebook" with its audiotape, and listen to the tape about a thousand times--then you won't need the pronunciation guide--you'll know how to pronounce the Turkish words, and more important still, you'll be able to hear & understand quickly-spoken Turkish. You will, however, still need this Lonely Planet phrasebook for your actual travel in Turkey, because the Berlitz one has some fatal flaws (read my review of that book for more details).

Two suggestions for the authors: 1) If you create an audiotape to go with your book, people wouldn't have to buy the silly Berlitz audiotape to learn how to listen & speak! 2) There was one section in the Berlitz book that I really thought was useful: a diagram of a car and labels for all its parts. The same might be good for a bicycle too. Just a thought.

In sum, this phrasebook is a necessity for the traveller, and since they apparently read these reviews, I would like to thank the authors for helping to make my trip to Turkey one of the best of my life.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars February 2001 Announcement -- New printing of the 2nd Ed., February 17, 2001

By	"jimmasters" (Izmir, Turkey) - See all my reviews

When ordering our Phrasebook, be sure to specify that you want the *most current* printing of it (in which the ISBN designation on the publisher's information page [inside the book] *exactly* matches the ISBN on the book's back cover --- 0-86442-436-1). This latest printing has been cleaned of all those embarazZing prinnting erroz, found in the initial printing of the 2nd edition...Jim and Perihan Masters

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lonely Planet Pronounciation Warning.., October 3, 2000

By	George Sharpe (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Well we were headed to Turkey so we obtained The Lonely Planet book on Istanbul. No problems there and we read up on the phrases and did some practice with the phonetics..

Then we said, Well.. there is a New Lonely Planet Phrase Book for Turkish and so we brought that and really did a lot of practice and memory work for the trip.

Well, two hours inside Turkey and we realized that the Phrase Book is wrong.. in particular the phonetic for that odd turkish i (without the dot) !!

It appears that the Lonely Planet Istanbul version is the accurate one.

Eg: Lonely Planet Istanbul Pg 207 : How are you = NAHS suhl suh nuhz (Correct by the way)

Lonely Planet Turkish Phrase Book Pg 36 : How are you = nah sihl sih nihz ( Not only wrong but embarrassingly so)

Unfortunately this renders the Turkish Phrasebook by Lonely Planet a waste of effort as this incorrect use of the short i (without the dot) is perpetuated throughout the phrasebook and will confuse and embarrass the user.

My Turkish friends were rolling on the floor laughing at the wierd combinations of using these form incorrectly.. How would you sound in english if you were told to pronounce the A sound as an O sound instead :0)

Lonely Planet should be aware of the significant descrepancy between the two books and how they differ in pronouncing this important sound in Turkish. They both can't be right :0)