As an American
teacher residing in Istanbul, I seek to learn Turkish through listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. Small insights into the Turkish language,
culture, and universal humanity always give me a happy buzz.
First, I focus on listening to Turkish songs. Powerturk Taptaze and Pozitif Radio mostly play Turkish pop music, and can be found in the international category on iTunes. While writing this article, I hear a catchy song on iTunes radio station. It is not possible to know the singer or the song name so I have to catch a few words of the lyrics. I searched YouTube for “olmuyor eskisi gibi” and found the song “Bir Pazar Kahvaltisi”, or “A Sunday Breakfast” in English, by the singers Emre Aydin featuring Model. I listen to all of the songs of Fatma Turgut, the lead singer of Model, because of her mesmerizing voice.
I listen to many Turkish singers on Spotify and YouTube. My playlist includes Ajda Pekkan, Aydilge, Bahadir Tatlioz, Bulent Ortacgil, Erdem Kinay, Eski Dostlar, Fikret Kizilok, Gokhan Keser, Gokhan Turkmen, Gokce, Hande Yener, Kenan Dogulu, Model, Murat Dalkilic, Nil Karaibrahimgil, Sertab Erener, Yildiz Usmonova. Spotify is great for language learning because you can save songs, browse artists, and create radio stations based on favorites. After listening, I read the song lyrics and translate the new vocabulary from Turkish to English using the Zargan website. As speaking practice, I sing along with the song and try out the pronunciation.
In addition, I greatly enjoy picking up new Turkish words and expressions while walking around Istanbul, visiting galleries and reading street flyers and posters. Art exhibits often post descriptions in both Turkish and English. I play detective with the new Turkish vocabulary to guess the meaning. For example, I recently learned a lot of new vocabulary from reading an art postcard about loss. Sözler means words. Söz means both word and promise. It makes sense, right? In English “I keep my word” means “I promise.” More concise, Turkish just requires “Word” to say “I promise.”
Written for https://languageguest.com/articles/18-blog-articles/guest-contributions/44-turkish-beckie
First, I focus on listening to Turkish songs. Powerturk Taptaze and Pozitif Radio mostly play Turkish pop music, and can be found in the international category on iTunes. While writing this article, I hear a catchy song on iTunes radio station. It is not possible to know the singer or the song name so I have to catch a few words of the lyrics. I searched YouTube for “olmuyor eskisi gibi” and found the song “Bir Pazar Kahvaltisi”, or “A Sunday Breakfast” in English, by the singers Emre Aydin featuring Model. I listen to all of the songs of Fatma Turgut, the lead singer of Model, because of her mesmerizing voice.
I listen to many Turkish singers on Spotify and YouTube. My playlist includes Ajda Pekkan, Aydilge, Bahadir Tatlioz, Bulent Ortacgil, Erdem Kinay, Eski Dostlar, Fikret Kizilok, Gokhan Keser, Gokhan Turkmen, Gokce, Hande Yener, Kenan Dogulu, Model, Murat Dalkilic, Nil Karaibrahimgil, Sertab Erener, Yildiz Usmonova. Spotify is great for language learning because you can save songs, browse artists, and create radio stations based on favorites. After listening, I read the song lyrics and translate the new vocabulary from Turkish to English using the Zargan website. As speaking practice, I sing along with the song and try out the pronunciation.
In addition, I greatly enjoy picking up new Turkish words and expressions while walking around Istanbul, visiting galleries and reading street flyers and posters. Art exhibits often post descriptions in both Turkish and English. I play detective with the new Turkish vocabulary to guess the meaning. For example, I recently learned a lot of new vocabulary from reading an art postcard about loss. Sözler means words. Söz means both word and promise. It makes sense, right? In English “I keep my word” means “I promise.” More concise, Turkish just requires “Word” to say “I promise.”
Written for https://languageguest.com/articles/18-blog-articles/guest-contributions/44-turkish-beckie