Product Description
The 201 most commonly used Turkish verbs are transliterated into the Roman alphabet and presented one to a page. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

very helpful to me
so I've read some unfavorable reviews of this book, and I decided to buy it anyway and see what I thought...As a beginner learning Turkish, I've only found "201 Turkish Verbs" very helpful.The preface has a list of other sourcebooks to use. The forward gives some very useful and interesting information about the Turkish language. The introduction goes into more technical depth - but it's still a quick overview.Even so,I still don't understand everything that is explained there.Then, there are the 200 verbs conjugated in present, present progressive, future, definite past, indefinite past, necessity, subjunctive (groan), conditional, and imperative.Yes, Turkish is very regular in its verb conjugations - the book is showing me the way and letting me learn how this works...The last sections of the book go over conjugation of negative and interrogative forms, a list of compound and auxiliary verbs, and "permutations of the past tenses," which I have yet to understand and figure out. Finally there is a Turkish-English verb index, and an English-Turkish verb index...well, to me, the beginner can learn a whole hell of a lot from this book as well as have a reference for the times when she/he needs to figure out a tense or doesn't remember the way to conjugate that tense... the most useful verbs are included... if you can't find the verb you are looking for, you can use the examples provided to figure out what you need.I'm very happy with this book, as you can see...The one thing I thought was cheap was the font...!But you know what? who cares?

Useful to a degree
The 201 verbs in this book are all conjugated in the affirmative.Only sample conjugations are provided for affirmative interrogative, negative, and negative interrogative forms in all tenses.

Still a useful learning tool and reference, but not complete in the way that "fully conjugated in all the tenses" might lead you to believe.

turkish verbs conjugated, hmmm interesting...
I did not see this book - ever. So what I am writing here??? Well, I am a native speaker of Turkish, soI decided to add some comments here.
I read all the comments and I have to agree that tenses-wise, Turkish is very complicated, because we have many many tenses all are expressing different things (or maybe it seems so, because all can, must, shall etc are embedded in the verb itself when tenses are applied and a conjugated verb is self-sufficient to express a full sentence. eg. I could have done it. Yapabilirdim.) In primary school when we learned the conjugation, our book only had a full page of different tenses for the same verb. And the list was applicable to every Turkish verb with adjustments of the vowel harmony. So if you want to learn Turkish, first step: start with vowel harmony (don't worry if it comes difficult, because even some native speakers find it difficult, just a tip, try to see differences by applying the wrong letter and you will see that it is difficult to pronounce the word with wrong letter.)(though there are some small exceptions, generally Turkish is a very by-the-book language, exceptions exist but either because the origin of the word is foreign or root has changed and vowel harmony applies to the original root) But the exceptions do not apply how the word is conjugated, it is fixed for all. So one is enough to see how it is done, you must know the root of the word and how harmony effects the structure. I know, it is always easier said than done =)) I believe what you would need is a very good and detailed Turkish dictionary (preferably one showing how to understand the root of the words, because if you know the root and how suffixes and prefixes work, you can easily identify the meaning of words and build your vocabulary quickly. And for verbs, better prepare a chart that can easily be seen from your work area and that would be just what you will need to work on your verbs.

If you have learned the rules you don't need this book!
The 201/501 Verb Books are great for languages like Russian, Portuguese, French, German, etc., but not for Turkish.I have perused this book several times in stores but have never been foolish enough to buy it. Considering the regularity of Turkish verbs and the simple rules of vowel harmony (which you will have to master anyway, even to speak in the simplest language) anyone who has learned the rules for forming a tense could fill out these tables by him/herself.If you want to increase your vocabulary of verbs you can buy a dictionary (Redhouseand Langenscheidt both have good ones). Let's face it, you're not going to have time to look in this book while conversing with someone in Turkey, so learning the rule for forming the tense and exercising it, is time much better spent.

Useful book
Turkish has the wonderful distinction of being one of the few languages I've seen with completely regular verbs, unlike Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Russian, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and most of the world's other major languages that I've seen books on. Japanese and Chinese are the only other ones I know that come close, as the number of irregular verbs can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

It would be interesting to know how many are like this, and perhaps some of the other Uralic languages like Turkish are too. As I said, Japanese is the only other one I know like this, and in fact there are only two irregular verbs in Japanese. Chinese, if I remember right, is also very regular since it doesn't even inflect for person or number, and I suspect the other Han Chinese family languages are similarly regular because of this, but I can't speak for the other tonal languages such as Thai and Vietnamese, but I assume Cantonese and Hakka are very regular too like Mandarin.

I also don't know how the other southeast Asian family languages compare, such as Mon, Khmer (Cambodian), Burmese, or the many other language groups and dialects in southeast Asia such as Hmong in the Mon-Khmer group. The other groups are the Bahnaric group, which includes languages like Sedang and Halang; the Senoic group, which includes Semai and Temiar; Nicorbarese, which includes Trinkat and Bompaka, Munda, which includes Juray and Remo, and the north Munda group, which includes Kork and Sora.

Actually, come to think of it, Arabic is pretty good. It has ten different verb conjugation categories, and once you know those, you're all right. In fact, they're so regular the dictionaries actually refer to them by numbers I-X.

But getting back to this book, as someone noted previously, because the verbs are completely regular, this book could probably have been about 15 pages long. The only other thing to learn is vowel harmony in Turkish, which isn't that difficult and fans of linguistics will recognize this concept from other languages where it occurs, such as in Hungarian, where it's very important. In phonetics, vowel harmony is a type of assimilation which occurs when vowels take on features of contrastive vowels elsewhere in a word or phrase. Once you know how this works, it's very difficult to misspell a word in Turkish, so even that's not really a problem. So overall, a fine book on Turkish verbs despite all the wasted wood pulp. :-) ... Read more

Product Description
Incorporating much new material, this new edition of the standard work presents an authoritative, lucid, and engaging text, setting out every form and construction of pre- and post-reform Turkish that may be encountered in print, as well as colloquial usages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

turkish grammar
I have begun to study the turkish language and this grammar has help me to know better the structure of this language. It is easy to read, with examples and by this way, you can understand the theorical principles.

Exhaustive and Great
Lewis's Turkish Grammar is advancing in age, and Turkish is evolving rapidly as ever; however, the material presented is as important as ever. This book is excellent for a second or third year student that wants to use the variety of Turkish postpositions and subordinate clauses more naturally. Along the way, they'll also probably correct a few incorrect artifacts that remain in their speech. There are plenty of examples to make every point clear. The book is an excellent reference.

A must have for anyone wanting to undestand Turkish Grammar
I'm living in France and I already know the Turkish Grammar books that we can find in French. Especially those from Jean Deny and Louis Bazin. I wanted to compare them with the one written by Geoffrey Lewis in English.

I was really delighted by this book. It gives very clear explanations about most of the points of Turkish Grammar without being too theoritical. It gives also some insights about the evolution of Turkish language in the 20th century. A big advantage of this grammar is that it has been revised in 2000. This way it can be considered as a grammar of modern Turkish.

This is a must have for anyone speaking English and starting to learn Turkish language.

The standard Turkish grammar for speakers of English
Geoffrey Lewis' TURKISH GRAMMAR, first published by Oxford in 1967 with a second edition in 2000, is *the* reference grammar of Turkish for speakers of English. Besides the usual paradigms of substantive declension and verb conjugation, it covers a host of other concepts that present a challenge to the foreign learner. The chapter on word formation is excellent, and understanding word formation is vital after nearly a century of commonly deriving new lexemes from pre-existing Turkic roots. The chapter on number, case and apposition cover matters which prove very difficult for English speakers to tackle, things like agreement of plural nouns and verbs (or lack thereoff) and when to use izafet linking (and when not). A very nice extra is a chapter which gives a word-by-word demonstration of how one sets about translating a complicated sentence. Would that more grammars include such material.

The second edition of the book gives a much vaster view of the impact of language reform on contemporary Turkish, much of which is distilled from the research which led to Lewis' great monograph of 1999: The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success. It's a pity that Oxford set this section edition in a sans serif typeface, which is rather hard on the eyes.

Basically, if you study Turkish, you need this book. Yes, it's an academic book and goes for a high sum, but you'd be wise to make the investment.

no other misleading reviews
This book IS NOT a grammar the way one means when does a search here in amazon for grammar books. This is more, according to me at least, a historical grammar rather than a grammar of the actual language. Probably the second edition of this book is just a replacement of the cover , and the content stays exactly as it was in 1960 when it was written, with some adjustments in the preface.
Personally I find very interesting this book for the richness of the vocabulary it provides, however it doesn t correspond to the actual language, and so it doesn t meet the purpose for which one buys it. It is mostly for very advanced learners who wantto understandand see in depth how this languages has changed in a couple of decades. I am interested in the subject and I have not changed my mind for this purchase, but I am sure that many would do, especially because of this over-overrated price( in fact the major reason for the 2 stars ) ... Read more

Product Description
You can use Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course to learn at your own pace or as a supplement to your classwork. This complete course utilizes the very latest learning methods in an enjoyable and user-friendly format.

The new edition also features:

• Engaging visual materials such as menus, photographs, signs, and tickets
• Two CD recordings allowing quick and easy access to individual lessons and exercises
• A clear, accessible new page design
• Strong, striking cover photography

Customer Reviews (51)

Pretty good, but Turkish is hard for English speakers
My favorite so far is "Pimsleur Turkish Level I" with 30 lessons. But that costs a LOT more.

"Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course Audiopackage" has much more info on grammar than "Pimsleur Turkish Level I". They both are very good and "Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course Audiopackage" is a good value with good practice CDs.

But, a `sleeping dictionary' would probably be better. Although more expensive. Especially if you wife found out.

A Real Turkey
This book has good intentions, but it just wasn't thought out well enough.Vocabulary to the dialogues is not introduced where it should be; grammar is thrown in here and there without an explanation, which is highly confusing to any serious language learner.As a result of these shortcomings, the student finds himself turning pages and looking for vocabulary (which usually is not even in the glossary!) and looking for grammar explanations.It gives the learner the impression that the book was just slapped together with very little thought about sequential learning.I would encourage the authors to make vital changes in the next printing.Don't dumb it down, smarten it up!Just add more explanations and vocabulary in the right places.I have always enjoyed the Teach Yourself series for languages, but I have been disappointed by the books in recent years.Langenscheidt from Germany or Routledge grammars will probably serve you better, but they are a bit pricier.

Satisfied Customer Review for T-Y Turkish
The main reason I chose Teach Yourself Turkish was because the customer reviews said it is outstanding. The customers are right, it is very good. So far I've completed half the course and looked ahead at the grammar and coursework to come and am delighted with it.
You'll find plenty of praise for the course in the other commentaries; I leave it to you to check them and won't repeat those points. I'll add:

1) The authors have a genuine enthusiasm for teaching us Turkish. This comes through in their work and makes it an enjoyable experience to follow them through the dialogues, explanations and exercises they put together for us.

2) The dialogues are very up to date, contemporary and relevant to what we will actually want to be able to say. And the dialogues are lively stories. Be sure to get the edition with the audio CD's. I believe a learner must hear a language to learn it correctly.

3) The authors used judgment to choose what is necessary to learn for a basic level of Turkish language ability. A person needs to decide how much they want to learn, or to be practical, can learn in his or her circumstances. For example, there is the BBC Talk series on one end of spectrum for those who want to learn a few sentences before going to a foreign country for vacation, and there are 4 year university courses at the other end of the spectrum for those wanting in depth knowledge. Teach Yourself Turkish is in the middle and just right for me and many others who are self teaching at home.

4) They put things together for us: for example, the various question words, p.62; prepositions of place chart, p. 76;exclamations, p. 101; very helpful summary, "buffer y, n or s," p. 108, and the liberal use of chart format to make things clear.

5) They give us lots of practice, a lot of student involvement with various activities and exercises and plenty of audio to listen to (then we can listen and repeat).

6) Finally, the English translation for all the dialogues in the book is available on request from the publisher:
educationenquiries@hodder.co.uk educationenquiries@hodder.co.uk

send to attention of: Ginny Catmur, Teach Yourself Books

Being able to have the English translations is very important for me since this is a Teach Yourself program; we don't have a classroom teacher to check our work.Do work out as much as you can the translation of the dialogue. This is working with and effectively studying the language. Then, with the translation of the dialogues we can check our work.

You won't go wrong with this. It is as real good course.

Great fun language book, very useful!
I love this book. I think it is very suitable for whoever need next step to understanding Turkish language.
To me, it provides intermediate level after you finish general language pocket book.
- well organized contents
- easy to understand
- fun exercises
- good realistic examples and information
Highly recommended book to whom may interested in learning new language.
Good luck.

worst language book ever, by inexeprienced teachers despite their supposed experience
This is a very bad book. There is no communicative context to any of the lessons at all. All vocabulary seems to be introduced randomly. Not around real contextulized conversations. There is little or no spirling of material/vocabulary so that one do not build their skills on past lessons. There is way too much English explanations, when they could have used the space for more communicative conversations and introduction to real language. It is a good book if your interesteed in Turkish grammar, but knowing grammar does not translate into being able to communicate. How many of us can think of grammar rules and speak at the same time. Do not buy this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Conversational program contains 8 hours of interactive audio-only instruction, effective language learning with real-life spoken practice sessions.

The Pimsleur Method provides the most effective language-learning program ever developed. The Pimsleur Method gives you quick command of Turkish structure without tedious drills. Learning to speak Turkish can actually be enjoyable and rewarding.

The key reason most people struggle with new languages is that they aren't given proper instruction, only bits and pieces of a language. Other language programs sell only these pieces -- dictionaries; grammar books and instructions; lists of hundreds or thousands words and definitions; audios containing useless drills. They leave it to you to assemble these pieces as you try to speak. Pimsleur enables you to spend your time learning to speak the language rather than just studying its parts.

When you were learning English, could you speak before you knew how to conjugate verbs? Of course you could. That learning process is what Pimsleur replicates. Pimsleur presents the whole language as one integrated piece so you can succeed.

With Pimsleur you get:

• Grammar and vocabulary taught together in everyday conversation,
• Interactive audio-only instruction that teaches spoken language organically,
• The flexibility to learn anytime, anywhere,
• 30-minute lessons designed to optimize the amount of language you can learn in one sitting.

Millions of people have used Pimsleur to gain real conversational skills in new languages quickly and easily, wherever and whenever -- without textbooks, written exercises, or drills.

Conversational Turkish includes the 10 lessons from Pimsleur's Basic Turkish plus an additional 6 lessons.

The 16 lessons in Conversational Turkish are the same first 16 lessons in the Pimsleur Comprehensive Turkish Level 1. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Pimsleur Turkish
I've used several audio and/or visual methods to learn basic expressions in a dozen or so languages that I need for travel associated with my work, among them Pimsleur.The advantage for Pimsleur Turkish is its repetition of basic words and phrases, the clear enunciation of the speakers, and the high quality of the recording.The student can get a good sense of the cadence and inflection of the language, and some sense of verb forms and insertion of the particles used to indicate questions in Turkish.However, the Primsleur method, including the Turkish lessons under discussion, has two significant shortcomings.The absence of any written material leaves the listener with questions as to spelling and pronunciation, ignorance of the written language, and lack of a review sheet accessible on a train or plane. The other failing is the very limited vocabulary and the focus of Primsleur on situations unlikely for the typical traveler ('Shall we drink at your place?').I agree with other comments that this method should be supplemented with another audio method having a written booklet, or other written material.I used the Berlitz Turkish in 60 Minutes as an additional source, and found most of my conversational vocabulary came from it rather than Primsleur.The final point I would make is the length of this intro course, 16 lessons, and the "nutrient density" that comes from it.One might be surprised to see how little is actually covered, and perhaps that's a reason written material is not included.However, to reiterate, the opportunity to hear cadence and inflection are good points.

Great Intro to Turkish!
Having studied track 10 (of 16), I've studied Turkish for a month, and my Turkish language skills--albeit limited--have already impressed a few native Turkish speakers.I took another reviewer's advice to purchase Pimsleur as my first Turkish language learning tool.Basically, I listen to these tapes whenever possible: in the car, at home on my computer, and outside on my mp3 player.After a week of listening to the tapes (around lesson 3), I could catch single words, such as konusmuyor ("I don't speak/say"), when native-speaking friends were speaking to each other.These CD's were well worth the investment, as I can communicate basic ideas in Turkish, e.g. "let's eat at the restaurant" and "would you like to drink coffee or tea?".After I finish this series, I will pick up "Teach Yourself Turkish" to learn basic reading and writing.

good :)
this product has helped me in many ways, Firstly the lessons start out with the basic and it gets harder as you continue. The pronounaction of each word is easy to understand =)

It is a good start if you want to learn Turkish

Ungood
Yep, you read that right. Ungood. It's way too much info for a beginner and there's nothing 'conversational' about it. I actually ended up using a free online language lesson which proved to be far superior to this. I don't know if it could be used in other situations but it was useless for a couple people who needed the basics for a two week trip to Istanbul.

Learning languages never been easier
I tried to learn Turkish several times before and I always get confused by the complicated grammar structure and vowels harmony etc. However this recording makes it so easy for you to just understand Turkish without going through all this. And while you think you're only learning words by the time you finish the CDs you'll find that you have also gained a healthy understanding of the language structure itself. The only regret I have is that they don't offer more advance levels. ... Read more

Product Description
Colloquial Turkish is the ideal introduction to the language, offering a step-by-step approach to Turkish as it is spoken and written today and requiring no previous knowledge of the language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Not my cup of tea . . .
A few days ago I posted a harsh review of this book.I decided that my criticisms were unfair in that my reactions had as much to do with my approach to learning a language as they did with the book itself.

I've acquired a professional interest in learning Turkish.My ultimate goal is to be able to read Turkish journals and Turkish publications in history and social science.I wouldn't mind acquiring some spoken fluency as well, but it is not my first priority.I am clearly not the audience for whom "Colloquial Turkish" was published.(The title should have been my first clue.)Some of my frustration with the book arise from the fact that the authors didn't write the book that I wanted them to.

That being said, even those who are most interested in conversational Turkish should be forewarned.Aarssen and Backus clearly believe in learning through immersion without much comment about how the language actually works.The book's central pedagogical device is the dialogue, one of which begins each lesson.These dialoques present situations -- meeting a friend on the street, introducing one's English family to one's Turkish friends, etc.The dialogues are followed by vocabulary lists.There is very limited discussion of the mechanics of the language.This makes for a slow start indeed.One can memorize vocabulary, but if you want to start putting together sentences and in other ways build your repertoire, you will find yourself frustrated.You'll want to start thinking in Turkish and trying out your own little expressions based on the content of the dialogue, but you won't have the tools.

In other ways, the presentation appears to be needlessly obscure.The exercises that appear in each unit are pretty sparse, and the explanations are often cryptic.This problem is compounded by the fact that examples and explanations often use vocabulary that hasn't been introduced in the vocabulary lists, and they may use verb tenses that haven't been covered.This makes for tough sledding, though, again, I think the authors do this intentionally on the principle that one expands one's command of the language by confronting forms and vocabulary that one hasn't previously seen.My argument would be that learning is much faster and more effective if these new forms, etc., are accompanied by more explanation.

I don't want to bash the book.I've been using it for several weeks now and I've made some headway.But I am basically self-teaching, and this is not the way I approach learning a language.

In my conversations with a couple of people who teach Turkish and from what explorations I've been able to carry out, I would say that if your approach sounds like mine, you would be better off with "Elementary Turkish" by Kurtuluº Oztopçu.It's not cheap at $75.00 plus shipping, but you get a much more complete text plus two CDs to help with pronunciation.If you buy "Colloquial Turkish" with accompanying CDs, you'll pay about the same.Unfortunately, I think you may have to buy "Elementary Turkish" online directly from the author.I haven't seen it listed on Amazon.

usable, with a few qualifications
This is an interesting if slightly quirky introductory course. The quality of the material is very conversational, which is not a bad thing, and there is enough grammar so that by the end of the course the learner will have a pretty good idea of how the language works as well as a very serviceable everyday vocabulary.For more grammatical details, there are the oldies-but-goodies 'Elementary Turkish' (Lewis Thomas) and G.L. Lewis'classic 'Turkish Grammar'. The authors have chosen a very intuitive way of presenting the vowel harmony rules that apply with all the vast array of Turkish suffixes, but it is an approach that works surprisingly well and the rules are set out clearly for the benefit of more rule-oriented beginning students. In any case to naturally absorb this system it is necessary to spend a lot of time working with the accompanying audio. There are also a lot of interesting reads on Turkish history and culture, much better than the usual run that appears in books of this type. Most of the chapters start out with a relatively simple dialogue, usually have a slightly more complex dialogue in the middle, and a another, more challenging one at the end, where the idea is to read (and listen) to get the drift without necessarily learning every new word in advance. Be forewarned, though, that even in the early parts of the book grammatical forms (especially tenses) turn up that don't get explained until later.So this is a course that would definitely work better with a tutor, although it certainly isn't impossible to benefit from it if you don't have one.

Kindle Version
There is a serious problem with the Kindle version of this book.On many occasions, the difference between dotted and undotted i, [I can't seem to upload a review with the correct letters either], g and yumasak g and even sometimes s with the cedilla is not clear.Those differences are vital in Turkish, especially for beginners (like me).My guess is that this is due to optical character reading problems.

I suspect this will be cleared up in the future.Kindle is still a new technology, and in just about every other respect it's been wonderful.

When it is cleared up, though, I hope re-downloads are free.

Gerry Schulze

discouraging chaos
I am learning Turkish and bought this -at first sight promising- book. This book is uncomprehensible and right-on discouraging for beginners, one gets stuck into dialogues with some -but not 100 %- explanations and translations, while turning pages after pages from dialogue, to explanation to 'key' andfinally to my own dictionairy. After lesson 2 I gave up. There are much, much better courses. This book is really written by teachers ??

Horrible pronunciations
This book has some useful information about "daily" Turkish. Some slangs and corrupted form of expressions which is used by many Turkish people today. However if you're looking for a book teaches Turkish Language "Literally", this book is not for you.

If you are interested in cassettes included, don't buy this book. Pronunciation in coversations are horrible. No intonations and no rhythm. All men are speaking with a Eastern Turkey accent.

Might be useful for teaching eastern accent, and corrupted expressions. ... Read more

Product Description

Turkish: An Essential Grammar is a concise, user-friendly guide to the most important structures of contemporary Turkish.

Presenting a fresh and accessible description of the language, this engaging grammar uses clear, jargon-free explanations offering practical guidance on understanding and constructing words and sentences correctly.

Key features include:

• pronunciation guide
• clear grammatical explanations
• frequent use of examples from colloquial and formal speech, accompanied by translations
• illustrative tables and a series of appendices to complement the explanations
• full glossary of grammatical terms.

With numerous language examples bringing grammar to life, this truly essential reference work will prove invaluable to all students looking to master the patterns of modern Turkish, which are often very different from those in English or other European languages.

Aslı Göksel is Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Western Languages and Literatures at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul.

Celia Kerslake is Lecturer in Turkish in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford.

The two authors previously collaborated on the writing of Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge, 2005)

Product Description
Revised and edited by Norman Itzkowitz. Proven from years of success at Princeton University, this comprehensive grammar and exercise book yields maximum results in 23 lessons covering all essentials of grammar from alphabet to progressive verb forms. Enables students to quickly understand and use basic patterns of modern Turkish. Full glossary.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Great Book!
This book was very helpful as an intro to learning Turkish and came very promptly!

excellent introductory grammar book, advice for using it
This book teaches the fundamentals of Turkish grammar to the beginner in a very logical order.Most of the sentences in the exercises are not what you'd be saying when you arrive in Turkey, but they are very well chosen to illustrate the grammatical points, and review the grammar of previous chapters.Answers to all exercises are in back.

Since there is no audio, you should do a few chapters in a book with CD such as Teach Yourself Turkish to acquaint yourself with the sounds before beginning this book.

As well as doing the Turkish-English and English-Turkish exercises, I translated my English translations of the Turkish-English exercises back into Turkish.This allowed me to learn thoroughly, and now, after six chapters, I find vowel harmonization comes naturally.

I typed my answers, which required representing the special characters of the Turkish alphabet with my keyboard.On the Mac, ç is c with the option key pressed at the same time (probably the alt key on a Windows machine).ü is option key together with u followed immediately by u alone.ö is option key together with u followed immediately by o alone.For the i without a dot and the soft g I could find no exact representation, but for i without a dot I print î, option key together with i followed immediately by i alone, and for soft g I use ^g, i together with option followed by g alone.

For learning vocabulary, I use mnemonic devices: I think of a memorable English sentence with combines the sounds of the Turkish word together with its meaning.For instance, the stem of the verb meaning find is bul.I think, "I found the bull in its pen."The stem of the verb meaning see is gör.I think "I saw Al Gore on television."The word meaning glass is bardak.I think, "I took the glass for the daiquiri from the bar."It is well worth spending time thinking up these sentences.

There is no English-Turkish vocabulary, so a dictionary is useful (though you can find the words in the answer keys in the back).A few words are missing from the Turkish-English vocabulary, but missing words have occurred with every language text I have used.More importantly, a virtue of the book is that grammatical features that have not yet been taught do not appear in the exercises.

Great Grammar Review
I would imagine that this book is geared towards someone that knows some Turkish already and wants to review and expand on the grammar that they've learned. That being said I would not recommend this text for a complete beginner, though it could be used by someone who has started learning Turkish I suppose.

As of the text itself, It doesn't introduce vocabulary like other language learning textbooks, (for any vocabulary that might be new, there is a glossary at the back of the book), but it is quite good at explaining grammar and giving example sentences for the grammar point(s) being explained in a chapter. Don't go expecting any dialogues or readings in this book, for it's only purpose is explaining grammar. But this isn't a bad thing, this book makes a great companion to any other textbook that could be used.

turkish grammar for students
A very good modern turkish grammar. The verbs are well elucidate in your uses and forms and there are many examples that can show the correcto use of the grammar.

for the low price you get alot of value
This book is more difficult to use than books like Hugo and Teach Yourself, but on the other hand it covers alot more ground. So there is a trade-off when using this book.

Compared to TY and Colloquial, the language used in this book is quite technical, from the field of linguistics.
Some esoteric expressions the author conjures up include: present optative-subjunctive verb forms, ablative suffix on preceding substantive...
These examples are abit extreme, but you should get the idea that this book contains alot of linguistic jargon.
However, the book does a good job at explaining them in "normal" terms, and I had no major problems understanding what they meant - you can also get the idea by looking at the examples.
But they do slow you down a bit.

The strength of this book is its very thorough coverage of grammar, it is far superior on this than TY, Colloquial and Hugo.
I would say that the grammar covered goes well into the intermediate level.

The weakness of this book is that some of the vocabulary is abit old.
My print is from 1986, so the majority of vocabulary is still relevant however.

Each chapter is very short, around 8 pages.
There are two excercises for each chapter, they are both translation excercises: Turkish -> English, English->Turkish.

The vocabulary covered is very broad: business, family, weather, culture, every-day practical words...you learn abit of everything.

Personally I really like this book, it is something I will use for a very long time, for referencing and revision.
For the low price of this book, you get alot of value. ... Read more

Product Description
Berlitz redefines the phrase book with these completely revised and redesigned full-color editions of the world's best-selling collection. Features: More than 8,000 words and phrases arranged by topic for fast and easy communication. Up-to-date language and situations.Easy, effective Berlitz pronunciation system.Comprehensive menu reader.Valuable language and culture tips.New color photos throughout.Conveniently sized for pocket or purse. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Amazing!
I was so surprised that this little book could hold so much. It does more than teach you phrases, it helps you understand verb endings and grammer. It really is a great first step!

Istanbul
This little book came in handy in restaurants and using taxis in Istanbul.Most of the people we came in contact with understood enough English and with the help of this little phrase book we were able to communicate our needs clearly.The small size of the book made it easy to carry around.

Excellent for travelers
Other reviewers have covered the basics, but I want to give special praise to Berlitz's great idea of beginning each section with "Essential" - words and phrases a traveler needs most often. Particularly if you don't have a lot of time to master an elementary level of spoken Turkish, these brief sections give you a shot at communicating from the get-go. I also really like two unusual sections Berlitz laces throughout this handy, pocket-sized book: "You May See" boxes help you understand what important written signs and instructions mean, and "You May Hear" boxes help prepare you for what people may say to you. Very cool! Finally, I appreciate the inclusion of a useful dictionary.

fine for a tourist who wants only phrases
This is not helpful for someone who really wants to learn the language.No grammar, a poor dictionary, poor pronunciation guides and thick pages which makes the little it offers less portable

learning Turkish
Berlitz publishes some of the best dictionaries and phrase books for international speaking.This poor book has been used so much it is tattered and well loved.My husband is Turkish and while he is learning English we both use it to reference words and phrases so we can get our points across to everyone.It goes with us everywhere. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first account of the transformation of the Turkish language in the years following 1930--probably the most extensive piece of language engineering ever attempted. The book is important both for the study of linguistic change and for the light it throws on twentieth-century Turkish politics and society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Lewis' account of Standard Turkish's wacky evolution is accessible, informative and sometimes downright funny
Geoffrey Lewis' THE TURKISH LANGUAGE REFORM: A Catastrophic Success is a presentation of the wild transformation of Standard Turkish over the course of the 20th century. Ottoman Turkish was an arcane written language understandable only to a tiny elite, filled with Arabic and Persian constructions. The Turkish of today is closer to the speech of the masses, but government fiat succeeded in pushing hundreds of neologisms into the language, some respecting the structure of Turkish and others bizarre inventions out of whole cloth. In any event, the average Turk today cannot understand texts from a century ago, and even works from a few decades ago (after the reform had started) can be unintelligible already. This severing of Turkey from its past is the "catastrophic success" of the subtitle. Lewis' work requires of course some basic knowledge of Turkish, but all quotations are translated and the book is quite accessible to even beginners in the language.

The initiator of language reform was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. A written language freed of Arabic and Persian elements was for him just one more part of turning the country into a westward-looking secular republic. Ataturk's goals might have been sincere but, as Lewis entertainingly describes, his views on linguistics were amateur and often downright nutty. For example, the dictator supported the notion (the "Sun-Language Theory") that Turkish is the original language of all mankind, and foreign words could be allowed to remain if it could be demonstrated that they were derived from this primal Turkic speech.

After the death of Ataturk, the language reform office that he founded, the Turk Dil Kurumu, continued its work with the generous funding established in his will. Much of the book documents the TDK's work, as well as influential figures such as Atay, Atac and Sayili. The origins of major new word-building elements like -sel (e.g. "dinsel") and -l (as in "okul") are given. Finally, Lewis tells of how the TDK was rendered more or less powerless in a 1983 shakeup, now making simple recommendations for Turkish equivalents of international terminology in computing and the sciences, but the damage is already done.

The back matter consists of an ample bibliography, as well as an index of all Turkish words cited in the book which proves quite handy.

I myself don't work much with Turkish -- my Turkic interests are the languages of Central Asia, but I found Lewis' account very accessible and often quite funny. While this is a respectable academic work, Lewis occasionally makes a wry comment on the absurdity of so much of the reform, which taxes a commentator's ability to be neutral and dispassionate. There are quite a few chuckles here. Anyone with an interest in historical linguistics or language engineering ought to enjoy this book.

Readable but occasionally over-detailed look at Turkish language reform
I just finished the book -- reading 1-2 hours daily for 3 days -- and a very brief summary of what I learned might be:

*** Ataturk's insistence on converting from the Arabic script to Latin letters was a huge success in pushing Turkish citizens towards literacy (1924=9%, 1995=82.3%), no doubt among the highest literacy rates in the Muslim world;

*** For some hyper-nationalistic intellectuals, the reform became a grand excuse for ridding Turkish of Arabic vocabulary and Persian phrases/grammar, regardless of whether a) These "foreign" words had already been well integrated into Turkish anyway; b) Feasible, "truly" Turkish synonyms actually existed. The result: A 21st-century Turkish language greatly impoverished -- and not noticeably clearer -- than the one inherited from the centuries-old Ottoman empire when the republic was founded in 1923.

*** The language "engineers" who peopled the official "Language Society" during and after Ataturk's death were big on intervention and nationalist thinking but sadly lacking in professional qualifications, to put it mildly. The role of the Language Society is documented in (painstaking) detail, and this case study confirms that language is too dynamic to be shaped by committee!

I found the book well written, well researched and even witty at times. The author knows his subject inside and out, and insists on translating almost all the Turkish words and short texts into English, which made it readable even for me, a beginning student of Turkish.

However, I found the book did not address certain questions of great interest to me personally! These are:

*** One of the strongest motivations for the language reform was to rid it of unnecessary foreign vocabulary in favor of so-called "Turkish" words. Frustratingly, at no point does the author detail the history of Turkish prior to the 20th century: Where do the roots of "Turkish" lie, geographically and ethnically speaking? What is the relation of Turkish spoken in Anatolia with other Turkic languages/dialects, and when synonyms (or inspiration for neologisms) were sought in languages/dialects outside Turkey, which languages did scholars look to? And why were these languages/dialects considered "valid" when others were not?

*** Access to pre-1920 Turkish culture and history: The author mentions in passing that only a very small amount of Turkish writing from Ottoman times (in Arabic script) has been transcribed and published in modern Turkish using Latin letters. He also implies that most 21st-century Turks cannot read Turkish written in the former Arabic script. Which piqued my interest: How many of Ottoman Turkish works have been reprinted in the modern script? Are students regularly taught "classical" Turkish (script and texts) in the way that some Westerners study Latin, or Chinese in the PRC might study their own classics in traditional characters? If not, hasn't language reform effectively cut 21st-century Turkey off from an understanding of their society's role as one of the largest and ethnically diverse empires in the history of mankind?

*** Turkish as spoken by the man-in-the-street: Geoffrey Lewis focuses almost entirely on how patriotic, but often blindly nationalistic or ideologically driven intellectuals have made modern written Turkish a bit of a mish-mash. But what about "spoken" Turkish: What impact, if any, has the official language reform movement had on it?

Bruce Humes
Shenzhen, China

Making Sense of Mishmash
Absolutely first rate explication of the mishmash modern Turkish has become because of the misguided, so-called language reform.For an elderly Turkish speaker such as I am, I have to keep a dictionary at hand just to read newspapers and books even.Ugly, ugly words, though they are not, of course, for the younger generations to whom they come quite naturally. I would be foolish to be deadset against neologisms, neologisms that arise naturally to meet a need. I suppose that's something that annoys me most:how terribly ugly so many of the artificially contrived neologisms are.But the worse thing is that I can see the range of concise, precise expression in the language has steadily narrowed.The author Geoffrey Lewis is quite correct when he states that the vocabulary of Turkish once rivalled that of English. If the country had stressed education without dumbed-down nationalism,it might still. One longs for writers of the caliber of Resat Nuri Guntekin, for instance.The modern novelist Sulhi Dolek does approach that standard as does the journalist Ebru Capa who fearlessly for precision's sake often uses words that I'm sure cause her younger readers to reach for the dictionary (if they have any sense of language at all). Orhan Pamuk, who I don't consider a particularly inspiring writer in his use of language per se, at least has the good sense not to overload his work with obscure and often laughable neologisms.Language is all about change, of course, but heaven help it when the ignorant, nationalistic, government-sanctioned get their hands on it.Modern Turkish is a perfect example.

Did not explore the realities of the language reform
I found this book some what lacking in describing the process used to select the new set of Latin letters; I thought the public outcry against this reform was not explored and that the reasons cited for switching over to the Latin letters were poor at best as it merely reiterated the anti-Arab propaganda of the time;

The increase in literacy rates being attributed to the language reform is surely misleading and would undoubtedly be due to the emphasis placed on education by the government and the access to remote-areas with the advent of telecommunications and transportation by motor cars and the like. I am personally not even sure if the literacy rate was really as poor as indicated, because firstly the population was never really surveyed until after 1930s, post the language reform, and it is also well known that the Quran, the religious book of the Turkish people, emphasises reading/learning/researching/reflecting which can all be summed up in the very first word revealed to Prophet Muhammad (s.a.v), "Iqra" which literary means "Read!", an imperative word at that. The word "Quran" literary means "to read continuously". This is one of the reasons why Muslim countries have for hundreds of centuries enjoyed a very high level of literacy rates.

The language reform was not scientific it was political in nature. Based on the research I have done, the reform was introduced in an effort to cut-off the Turkish nation from the cultural and spiritual ties imbued in the Ottoman generation, otherwise there was absolutely no justifiable reason to turn an entire nation into illiterates over night. Israel, whose language is Hebrew (also a Semitic language) has a higher literacy rate than Turkey even today, so what does this say about the Turkish language reform and its so called success ??

The examples quoted from certain individuals in this book in an attempt to discredit the Ottoman script is certainly not based on scientific merit but alas praised by the author nonetheless.

For instance, the following sentence is used to demonstrate the supposed perplexity offered by the Ottoman script: "Mehmed pasa oldu" written in the ottoman script can be understood either as "Mehmet became a Pasha" or "Pasha Mehmet has died", however this does not even register as a problem if the additional diacritical marks are used to spell out this sentence (but these marks are often not used because Ottoman is cursive and thus can be written rapidly using only consonants and long vowels, which generally does not hinder continuity or coherence. This in itself is a big advantage over other forms of writing where each vowel is spelt out) but even if these additional case markings are not used, the sentence can easily be understood from its context, otherwise as is the case in Ottoman style of writing which is indicative of their culture, polite, respectful and sometimes elaborate language is used to communicate the message.

The equivalent of the cited example in the English language could be like in the case of the sentence; "John read already"; does this sentence mean, John has completed reading already or is this an invitation for John to start reading already. This can only be understood from its context, even the word "read" in this case can only be pronounced correctly (reed or red) once the context is understood.

One aspect of the book which does stand out is in reference to the eloquence of the Ottoman language, especially in comparison with the modern day Turkish which is peppered with "made-up" words and bland expressions, that have been rather rudely injected into the diction of the Turkish populace through the press.

Disappointingly the adaptability of the Ottoman script in accommodating varying pronunciations of Ottoman letters within different regions of Anatolia has not been mentioned in this book, for sake of brevity I won't elaborate further, however this advantage the Turks once possessed has been lost with the transition to Latin letters. In fact, Latin letters are so inept in capturing the vocalisation of the Turkish letters, that many words have been "lost in pronunciation" after the adoption of these letters; even today authors don't know how to spell certain words using the limited Latin letters available to them, and as such they resort to using not letters but characters like the apostrophe (for `ayn or hamze) and the hyphen to try and mimic the Ottoman script. They also introduce various other letters which are not found in the new Turkish alphabet like â or î etc...

Despite the national movement of the time, which acted as a catalyst in promoting these reforms, the Turks of Turkiye have ironically been further separated from their counterparts in Turkic countries because of this new language barrier created after the language reform. These Turkic countries have adopted different Latin letters than the ones used in Turkiye and a minority in remote areas kept the Ottoman script altogether .

It must've been a trying time for the generation which were subjected to this kind of a radical change.

Overall the book does have historical value, however as I have indicated above it is lacking in some respects and moreover I don't agree with the conclusions that have been drawn, which I believe to be politically motivated.

A scholarly approach to a highly politicized issue
Turkish Language Reform, from its beginnings in the thirties to this day, has been a highly politicized issue in Turkey. Professor Lewis, a lover of "Beautiful Turkish", gives an excellent account of the historical development of this language engineering while successfully keeping his views out of the realm of language politics of Turkey. Any criticisms he has to make about the Turkish Language Association (Turk Dil Kurumu) come subtly and delicately through the carefully selected quotations from others.

This book is a must for lovers of Turkish language, linguists, historians of language (and surely for the Turkish Language Association), and it can be a fun to read for a non-Turkish taxpayer whose tax money could not be reached to finance the whole project.

For a better grasp of the book, some knowledge of Turkish language helps; the more the better to really get the beautiful "taste" of this excellent book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Basic program contains 5 hours of audio-only, effective language learning with real-life spoken practice sessions.

The Pimsleur Method provides the most effective language-learning program ever developed. The Pimsleur Method gives you quick command of Turkish structure without tedious drills. Learning to speak Turkish can actually be enjoyable and rewarding.

The key reason most people struggle with new languages is that they aren't given proper instruction, only bits and pieces of a language. Other language programs sell only pieces -- dictionaries; grammar books and instructions; lists of hundreds or thousands of words and definitions; audios containing useless drills. They leave it to you to assemble these pieces as you try to speak. Pimsleur enables you to spend your time learning to speak the language rather than just studying its parts.

When you were learning English, could you speak before you knew how to conjugate verbs? Of course you could. That same learning process is what Pimsleur replicates. Pimsleur presents the whole language as one integrated piece so you can succeed.

With Pimsleur you get:

• Grammar and vocabulary taught together in everyday conversation,
• Interactive audio-only instruction that teaches spoken language organically,
• The flexibility to learn anytime, anywhere,
• 30-minute lessons designed to optimize the amount of language you can learn in one sitting.

Millions of people have used Pimsleur to gain real conversational skills in new languages quickly and easily, wherever and whenever -- without textbooks, written exercises, or drills.

The 10 lessons in the Basic Turkish are the same as the first 10 lessons in the Pimsleur Comprehensive Turkish Level 1.

The 10 lessons in Basic Turkish are also the first 10 lessons in the 16-lesson Conversational Turkish edition.

Pimsleur learners progress from either the Basic or the Conversational to the Comprehensive Level 1, and not from Basic to Conversational edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Waiting for Turkish II
This is the first Pimsleur CDs that I try.
Before studying Turksih using the Pimsleur, I tired Rosetta stone for one or two week for learning it. However Rosetta stone was not as good as I had expected. It seems hard for me to squeeze time to sit in font of computer, and moreover,frankly speaking, it wasn't interesting to learn it using Rosetta sone, because it is hard to measure your progress. Well let me expalin it in this way. In Rosetta stone, at the very first part, you will learn how to say(and read) boy, girl, jump and so on in Turkish. But, this is not something you might use when you go to Turky. It is more probable to say, for example, "hi", " how are you", "Thank you". "No, I don't want it", and so on.

Disappointed by Rosetta stone, I stopped studying it for six months, and re-started it with Pimsleur. Now I'm just middle of Turkish I comprehensive CDs, and I'm happy with my progress I've achieved in such a short time. To me, it makes perfect sense to learn a lanuage,at least at the beginning, using only sound. And moreover, it is very convient to listen while commuting!

I'm very satisfied, but at the same time, I started to worry about the next course after Pimlseur I. I contact via Email to Simon&Schuster to ask whether they have a plan for publishing CD 2 and 3. Disappointingly, they replied me that "no" due to the lack of demand.

I thought, it would be helpful to leave my experience of Pimsleur in order to encourage someone hoping to learn Turkish to use Pimsleur, and eventually it would increase the demand and change the publisher's mind. Because I really don't know how to continue my Turkish learning after Level 1.

Anyway, in a nutshell, it is good program, and only regrettable thing is there is not level 2 and 3.

It could be so much better!
As someone soon going to Turkey for the first time, I appreciated the chance to hear spoken Turkish and to get a sense of the sounds and rhythms of the language. However:

1. Learn Turkish in 30 minutes a day strikes me as misleading. I know several other languages, but Turkish is not at all easy. I had to repeat most of the lessons two or three times to get the words in my head.

2. I agree with others who say this course would be twice or three times as helpful with a written transcript of the lessons. (It would cost pennies--why not do it?) Not having a written record makes it much harder to memorize the sounds--an M" can sound like an N"--and to understand the logic of how longer words are built out of shorter ones.

3. The course is also intent on teaching relatively complex sentences early on (Would you also like to have some coffee? let's eat something later at the restaurant, etc). I think many people would find it much more helpful to learn the basics of "survival Turkish" in the first few hours of the course, including counting to 5, the words for toilet, telephone, water, ticket, help, etc. I'm currently at the end of lesson 8--it's taken me several weeks to get this far--and have only just learned the word for please! There's not much point in learning how to formulate complete sentences as a beginner, given that you wouldn't be able to understand a native speaker's answer anyway. Survival fundamentals first please, more complex sentences later.

great price - easy to use/understand/learn
I've never been a fan of learning languages by book or tape but recently starting using podcasts to learn languages (for free) and see that repetition and speaking out loud can be helpful in learning new sounds and getting used to hearing your voice speak another language. This system is very different and at first I wasn't too sure about it. After listening to the first few CDs I get the benefits and understand how helpful it is - Turkish is a rather difficult language to learn and each syllable is so important. This system actually teaches you the syllables backwards...they tell you the word and then they break it down into syllables starting from the end to build the word - genius! I makes you pay attention to each sound and learn to say each sound - which is vital to learning a new language, especially where a slight change in sound can be a completely different word! The narrator's voice is pleasant and the sound quality is superb. I have this on my iPod and listen as much as I can - the key is that you MUST be somewhere where you can repeat the words out loud...this is the only way to learn. IMO you have to get used to your mouth forming different sounds and how it sounds with your voice - this helps to build confidence to speak to another in this new language. The price is very good compared to other systems

Learning turkish
These 5 CDs included in the package give the learners a good start. The materials are pretty easy to follow. There are many repeats in the CDs to allow the learners to practice. The learning experience has been pretty good. However, I feel that the speakers in the CDs speak too fast. They should also repeat at least once and break down the sentences into the smaller parts for students to catch up. Another improvement needed is that the speaking material is not printed. The students can only rely on their memory and CDs but nothing to visualize. There are also no number counting in the CDs - maybe it is in the advanced ones. Anyway, the CDs give good tutorial to the first time Turkish learners.

If only a booklet was included...
Although it is a very good course I believe I would have learned twice as fast if a booklet was included. The pronunciation of the speakers is sometimes not very clear and being able to read some of the words would have made it much easier. This course is the best for a total beginner. Then one should proceed with the Linguaphone PDQ course which includes an attractive 64 page booklet plus 4 cds. The best book for grammar is Teach Yourself Turkish (those paragraphs discussing grammar in each unit). ... Read more

Product Description
You wipe the dust from a bejewelled bottle and a djinn appears in a cloud of smoke. Three wishes, but of course it only takes one - 'I want to speak Turkish.' In a flash, this phrasebook's in your hand and the words are tumbling out…cok tesekkur ederim

Our phrasebooks give you a comprehensive mix of practical and social words and phrases in more than 120 languages. Chat with the locals and discover their culture - a guaranteed way to enrich your travel experience.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Buy a dictionary instead!!
Buy a dictionary instead! It's extremely difficult to find the phrase you want in this book. Plus, phrases aren't that helpful when you are attempting basic communication in a new language - what you really need are words. Instead of attempting to memorize "Could you please tell me where the bathroom is?" you just need to say "bathroom?" But the dictionary in this book is small, and more than half of the time it did not contain the word I was looking for. So frustrating!!

Lonely Planet Turkish phrasebook
Potential buyers of this phrasebook should be warned that it contains explicit sex and drug talk and is further replete with inappropriate vulgar language.It is definitely not for children.Older adults may be shocked at some of the phrases in this book.If you find youreself in a situation that requires the use of some of these phrases you're already in trouble and likely headed for even bigger trouble.I wouldn't buy this book again.

compact, helpful, but a bit confusing on pronunciation
It's well organized, and starts off with a series of helpful short phrases that would help a traveler anywhere: hello, goodbye, thank you, please, where are the toilets, that sort of thing.It then introduces information how to use the negative('I will be' becomes 'I will not be'), and it provides for English-Turkish or Turkish-English.And it includes a transliteration for every Turkish phrase.But I'm still a bit mystified by some examples, such as the ending of 'mu' or 'musiniz' (should be the turkish 'i' without the dot) in a sentence, and when to use them?

But the main issue I had was with the transliteration and not knowing if the g was hard (get) or soft (gentle), or the o was oh or more like uh as in other, if the e was ee or eh, etc.I don't think I'll find out until I get to Turkey and hear a native speaker.

A companion website with pronunciations would be a great addition.One other plus - it gives advice on Turkish life in small blurbs here and there.

Excellent little book
I am traveling to Turkey this summer and did not want to spend a lot of money for language studies.I speak French, Spanish, and Mandarin.I have been working with a basic Pimsleur course and was having trouble with their inconsistent pronunciation. One example was the word for HELLO,
"Merhaba." It was first pronounced (after listening to the word numerous times) "MEER-hah-bah"...the vowell in the first syllable as a long "i" as in American dictionaries or "i" according to the International Phonetic Alphabet.Later on, on another CD I heard the word pronounded as "mehr-hah-bah."I continue to find inconsistancies and contrary to what Pimsleur says and its 5-star rating, I found this little book to be a treasure trove of insights into the Turkish Language and an excellent supplement to the Pimsleur course. This book was designed for those individuals who wish to learn basic Turkish and not long term study of the language. Lonley Planet has done a great job with this little book. Larry Tomaw

very helpful
It is great to have a handbook written by a native speaker and including modern idiom and usage as well as warnings about which mispronunciations could be a problem.The sections are very well organized ... Read more

Product Description
This course is aimed at beginners in written and spoken Turkish, as well as those who want to develop an existing knowledge of the language. Sixteen carefully graded, interlocking units each introduce new language structures firmly embedded in a functional context, demonstrating how the language is put to use in everyday situations. Each unit begins with an opening dialogue accompanied by simple comprehension questions and notes about the language or Turkish culture. A small number of language points are fully explainedand illustrated by examples, and exercises are included to test your learning. At the end of each chapter a shorter dialogue is linked to the opening one. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Listening to Turkish
I didn't have time to use this tool very much before our trip.I listened to the tape as I was doing other things but never got the chance to actually use both the book and tape to its best advantage.However, I made a Turkish friend in Istanbul and may get an opportunity to go back some day.I hope to use this book to be able to talk with my friend in her native language half as well as she spoke English.

a first-class primer
I agree in every possible way with the superjacent reviewer. The learner's chief difficulty will be the very foreign appearance of Turkish words: there are no familiar-looking roots to grab onto and feel any sense of familiarity, which one finds even in Indo-European languages as "weird" enough as, say, Russian or Farsi. (There are a few obvious imports from French, but you can't speak Turkish effectively by restricting your vocabulary to "telephone" and "autobus.")The regular structure of the Turkic (indeed, the Altaic) languages, where suffixes are agglutinated to demonstrate each word's or particle's role in a sentence, is an amazing concept to a newbie; once one gets used to the power and to the occasionally surprising results (e.g., in order to say, "My cat had a wound on his paw," one must essentially concoct, "Cat-mine-ofpaw-its-ofwound-itsexistent-preterite"), one appreciates the philosophic elegance. I would opine that the streamlined, no-frills nature of the text and the almost clinical development may be too intellectually demanding for some readers. One weird note: Lewis teaches you some very important concepts that seem beyond the scope of most educated Turks. For example, the rule of "Ottoman vowel harmony" is presented quite early, and I find it utterly amazing that, while I'm able to instantly spot a "Turkish" word that isn't really Turkish--but, say, an Arabic or Persian import--my highly educated Turkish friend Nihat is stunned that I can so readily recognize these imports!

A jewel of a book
Although out of print for some time, this book is deservedly a classic for its clear exposition of Turkish grammer.Tiny in size, it contains a great deal of information, and is worth tracking down for anyone seriously interested in Turkish.

Although arranged as a grammar-based course, with translation exercises in each lesson (and a key in the back), it is probably two concentrated for most learners to actually learn from as a stand-alone book.Also, the vocabulary is a bit outmoded, and includes many Arabic-origin words that are not longer used in Turkish.But it explains things so clearly that it gives a learner the clearest exposition imaginable of the fine points of grammar, with examples to illustrate the points made.

Lewis has a masterful understanding of Turkish, and is also a master of clear English prose, thus making this book a joy to refer to for the beginning and intermediate student of Turkish.

His much larger "Turkish Grammar" has the same high quality, but is a reference grammar for more advanced students of Turkish, arranged by parts of speech rather than in lessons, which may be a bit intimidating for the beginner.

Both his books have long been cherished by serious learners of Turkish, and cannot be recommended too highly.

No frills, result oriented
This book is simply wonderful, a lesson book and reference grammar in one.Partly my enthusiasm is about the Turkish language itself, with its utter regularity and its powerful ways to build almost anything from a few base blocks, but Lewis has very well understood that in the case of Turkish, portions of solid theory are what is needed, rather than lots of "useful dialogues".

Especially useful for programmers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Good in some ways...
The guide did not have anything about using or asking for the location of ATM machines, or how to explain a minor problem using the machine (ie, the machine took my ATM card, how can I get it back?).
It did have extraneous information that I wouldn't think the casual traveler would need (ie, all the cuts of meat from beef and lamb were identified).
Some updating is needed:there are references to film camera (buying supplies for, getting film developed, etc), to Super 8 cameras, etc, but nothing for digital cameras.
On the plus side, the pronunciation guide was helpful.

Loved this Book
I used this book with Rick Steve's Istanbul and they made a great pairing.I found this the most useful for eating out. We liked going to non touristy restaurants - many of which did not have English menus or English speaking staff. I was able to use this book on many occasions to both read menus but also request something that I wanted. it also helped me with a list of local foods to make sure I was trying local things.I was able to mark different words in the book and use them as I kept my travel journal to describe the event or experience.

This book was very inexpensive and I used it so much.I would recommend it to anyone going to Turkey.

Learning Turkish
This little book has been very helpful. It is small so it will be easy to put in my purse and carry with me. My friend that I will be traveling with that knows Turkish said this is the book that will help me the most.
Thanks

fatal flaw
This book is probably fine if you are seriously planning to learn to speak Turkish, but if you just want a phrase book for your vacation inTurkey it has a fatal flaw - it doesn't have an English/Turkish dictionary!So if you're looking at a menu in Turkish, and want to know what an item is, what do you do?Yes, you can browse through the book looking for the word, but that's hardly convenient.Luckily the tour book I brought did have an English/Turkish dictionary - not a big one, but enough to get by.

Save your money
I found this book to not be very useful. It was lacking in providing many words and phrases that would have been helpful during my visit to Turkey. ... Read more

Product Description
For those who find learning a new language daunting, the Teach Yourself Beginner's Language Series is just what the language teacher ordered. Each friendly and practical course introduces the new language without overwhelming the learner and includes:

• Lively dialogues and exercises
• A helpful pronunciation section
• Manageable lists of practical vocabulary
• A glossary of grammar terms
• Hints on how to make learning easy
• Fascinating language and cultural information
• Accompanying dialogue recordings on CD

Customer Reviews (10)

yeah
It took a long time to get to me.It was shipped USPS and the tracking wasn't the best.

I approve this book
It is a great book for basic level of turkish, with lots of exercises, dialogues and pronunciation examples. As this method was minded for tourists visiting Turk, grammar is not the focus of it, thus it presents just a few "language points", like making plural, personal pronouns and past tense of verb to be. It makes it simple, however on the other hand you have to memorize many words and expressions.
By the way, I am creating public flashcard sets based on the vocabulary of this method here [...] - it may help those who are using this book to start learning turkish, as I am. :^)

Pleasant and easy to use
There is actually a suprising amount of very good quality materials for learning Turkish (certainly many more than are available on Persian, for instance) ranging from books that attempt to develop basic conversational skills to scholarly treatments of the grammar.This book belongs at the first end of this spectrum, which is not a knock on it. The dialogues that go with each lesson are very natural and easy to follow, although the emphasis is somewhat touristy (covering things like ordering in restaurants or finding a hotel so there is a kind of 'Survival Turkish' flavor about it). The first thing one will notice is that there is a bewildering-seeming variety of endings to nouns and verbs, but although this isn't a work with a strong grammatical emphasis, these endings and their different functions are are explained very simply and clearly so that it is possible to reach a comfort level with them in a surprisingly short time. An absolute beginner (or someone interested in travelling to Turkey) should find this a good place to start.

A Solid Teach Yourself Offering...
I have quite a number of Teach Yourself language courses, both the beginner's series and full courses. I've worked through a few of them for different languages (I'm pretty serious about several languages and "dabble" in some others). Some are good, some are not. It's interesting that the "Beginner's Series" seems to be much more logically presented (in general) than the full courses. At least they have been for the French and Italian beginner's courses that I have--and this Turkish course is no exception. Maybe it's just because they are newer, and TY seems to have developed a better teaching philosophy lately.

I'll start with the one thing I feel could have been improved upon:

* The grammar could have been a bit more rigorously treated. But I can't fault this particular book; it is, after all, a beginner's course (not to mention, most courses are "grammarphobic" anyway). So I won't take stars off for this.

Okay, why do I like this course? First, I'm just getting started. But as I said, I have a bunch of Teach Yourself courses with which to compare, and I can see this is a good offering. It avoids almost all of my pet peeves.

* When I'm working through language courses I expect a logically sequenced, step-by-step presentation, and this Beginner's Turkish course does this quite well.

*The vocabulary is presented at the word level, rather than having phrases to "parrot." I prefer to learn words and grammar, and then form my own sentences. That's primarily the way this course goes about things. Of course there are stock phrases that everyone should just memorize--this book has those, but it quickly moves beyond that.

* The vocabulary is presented in nice lists with the columns lined up well for drilling yourself. The book does not force you to extract vocabulary from dialog and write it all out on you own. It's there. Thank you!

* There is no vocabulary overload! The word load seems about right. Some TY books just dump way too much vocabulary on the reader.

*Most courses do not have enough practice exercises. This one actually has quite a number of them!

*Here's a shocking one for you: the dialogs are fully transcribed in the back of the book. Most courses are too cheap to do this, and it's a very welcome addition to this book. It will save hours of time looking up words--time that can be better used drilling with flashcards or some other productive activity. Looking up words is a total waste of time.

All in all, I think this is a very good offering from TY. It seems they have been getting their act together the past few years. Maybe they have realized that the tried and true "old school" language learning approach still has value, because they do a pretty good job of blending traditional presentation with newer techniques and technology. For several years, they were putting out glorified phrase books that taught nothing of the language, just a bunch of canned phrases with a bit of watered down grammar thrown in (which is worthless if it's not put into the context of the language). I'd say this is a well-rounded offering that should please anyone who is curious enough about a language to go beyond simple phrases.

Meh.
I am personally not a fan of the Teach Yourself language books in general.Turkish is about as different from English as it could possibly be, and I found this book to be rather scattered and disjointed.

If you're serious about learning Turkish, get a grammar book like the famous Lewis text, and then peruse the web for reading materials and internet radio.If you can, find a native speaker to converse with, since, unlike Spanish or French, it's extremely difficult for an English-speaker to imitate the natural pulse of the spoken language without a lot of direct interaction. ... Read more

Product Description
Living Language In-Flight Turkish is the perfect boarding pass to learning Turkish before you land.

There's no better way to make use of all that spare time on a plane than to master the essentials of a language.This 60-minute program is the simplest way to learn just enough to get by in every situation essential to both the tourist and business traveler.

The program covers everything from greetings and polite expressions to asking directions, getting around, checking into a hotel, and going to a restaurant.There are even sections for meeting people and spending a night on the town.

Short lessons make In-Flight Turkish easy to use, and a handy pocket-sized insert is included as a cheat sheet for use on the go. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Worst Language Learning Tool Ever
It is hard to believe that anyone would have the gall to sell something like this useless product. What you basically get is someone yelling the English phrase at you, followed by a native Turkish speaker mumbling the translation, once, never to be repeated again.

There is no effort at deconstructing the sometimes long Turkish phrases into digestible parts. There is no effort at drilling an important phrase, by, say repeating it, even once. And there is no effort at building a vocabulary set. After listening to the entire tape and following gamely along, repeating the words, I had learned a total of one word.

A single session with a Pimsleur tape (which attempts far less words) would be far more useful than this absurdity. I honestly find it hard to believe that anyone at all, ever, could find this thing even remotely useful.

not bad-not great
I like that I can read the words along with the CD, however there is more english speaking than Turkish.This is a short CD and I doubt that most people could learn more than Hello and a question or two while "in-flight".I should have spent my money on a more in-depth CD.One definatly needs to try to learn before departing and use more than this book/CD set.

Not a good learning tool
I put this away after 10 minutes and won't use it again.The English narration is too distracting and the Turkish phrases are spoken in a way that it's hard to retain them or develop your own pronunciation.The words and phrases presented are random and do not build on each other.
Audio courses in a language lab have a 'repeat' button so you can jump back repeatedly until your pronunciation matches the audio.A language cd like this one, which of course doesn't have this feature, should compensate with more repetition.And the repetition should not be intermixed with English so that the phrase you are learning remains in your mental ear.As it is, I did not find myself retaining anything from this audio course.
If there is a better cd audio course for Turkish out there, please let me know.

4 Stars for Comprehending the Spoken Language
This CD is very helpful if you're trying to learn to speak Turkish.However, by itself it simply isn't enough.

I learned to say some basic phrases by listening to the male and female speakers.Hello, Good-bye, Good Evening, Please, Thank You, It's Nice to Meet You, My Name is -- and I can count to 100 without too much cheating.

However, what I was doing was simply memorizing and repeating phrases I'd heard -- trying to say them as much like the people on the CD were saying them, without any comprehension of the language structure.

In short, this CD alone will NOT teach you to speak or understand Turkish.Consider it a supplement to other books (see my other review of Elementary Turkish).

The sounds of this beautiful language are ones we English speakers don't often hear, ones we'll find difficult to emulate.It is complex, but not impossible (you'll need to learn to say "Please speak slowly!" or "Please repeat that!"

To understand the language you'll need to listen to someone speaking Turkish, slowly and repeatedly.This CD gives you that, clearly, repetitively and quite slowly.

Get this CD along with whatever elementary language book you choose, and you'll be a step closer to understanding and speaking Turkish. ... Read more

Product Description
This text has been designed to give a working knowledge of Turkish in three months. It simply explains essential grammar, with short exercises and conversational drills putting it into context. The book is also available with cassettes, which carry an expanded pronunciation guide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

An amazingly complete summary of how the language works
I think this book is a wonderful aid to anyone who is studying Turkish, and who wants a clear and succinct outline of the grammar of the language.The exercises in it with key are invaluable in helping a learner pull it all together, and would be perfect for someone using a more conversational approach but who wants to understand the structural framework of the language more efficiently.

I'm very glad I have this book (and a number of others in the series), because unfortunately Dorling Kindersley has allowed it to go out of print.

Which has led to an obscene situation I simply have to comment on here:As I write this, there are three marketplace sellers who have the book to sell.Two of them have it listed for $599.00 and one has it for $633.00!!Is this a joke??Yes, it's out of print -- but does that entitle resellers to rob the public?

It's a soft-cover book of a mere 256 pages, and the copy I have has a price printed on the back cover of £5.95, which converts to just under $10 U.S.In whose universe is a 6,000 percent mark-up fair and reasonable?Who does business like that?

Comprehensive but over-complex
This is certainly a comprehensive survey of Turkish grammar, and as such it will serve the serious learner over a number of years. Rather than skipping through topics it covers Turkish grammar in a systematic manner.

It isn't a university text and it doesn't pretend to be, but it probably aims to high for the mass market as well, and I think that's where it falls down.I couldn't not recommend this book to a new learner of Turkish.It covers complex topics very early in the book, doesn't introduce vocab useful to the casual user of Turkish early enough, and buries itself in grammatical terms rather than plain English. There is little exposure to everyday conversational Turkish.

Having now been learning Turkish for six years, I still find this a useful reference, and I would happily recommend it to intermediate/advanced learners. However, I found it hellish difficult to actually learn from - Pollard's Teach Yourself Turkish is a much better book for the beginner. Anyone who actually can learn Turkish in three months from this is a better man than I, Gunga Din!

Good Buy
Although they say this is a three month course, I am cramming and trying to learn Turkish in 6 weeks before my trip to Turkey.

For background purposes, I purchased this book along with Teach Yourself Turkish. I speak English and Spanish fluently now and I have never tried to teach myself a new language before--especially not as an adult.I learned both English and Spanish growing up.

I found this book and the cassettes have helped me to learn Turkish faster than if I read through the book by itself. There are several reasons for this (1) time (2) uncertainty about pronunciation without a Turkish tutor (3) I learn more with both hearing and reading the words

I listen to the cassettes every day while I am stuck in 1 hour traffic on the way to work and 1 hour on the way home. The audio cassettes are in Turkish and in English. They say the word in Turkish twice, pause for 2 seconds to allow you time to repeat it, and then they say the English tranlastion and repeat the same word in Turkish a third time.

The cassette alone is also not enough. Some areas on the cassettes are only in Turkish to save time as there is so much to cover on 4 cassettes but the translation is in the book. So I listen during my ride and browse through the text while at work or at home.

I am on my second week and I am on my 2nd cassette (there are 4). I listened to the first cassette over and over again for a whole week and I think I have gotten a very good grasp in only 1 week.

What is missing are tests (they have short paragraph exercises for you to translate what you learned in previous chapters). I would have liked fill-in-the-blank lessons and finish these statement tests so that I could could benefit from the written method of learning.

If you buy the book from Amazon, you won't get the cassettes because I believe they stopped making them. I recommend you take the risk and buy it used. I bought mine used but it came brand new, still in an unopened package.They should keep selling the cassettes with the book.

Very Good but...
For a 3 month , independent trip through Turkeymy wife decided to learn rudimentary conversational Turkish. She bought the very expensive...US/ FSI Turkish Basic Course (Level I ) with 12 tapes. She was very happy with the course. BUT..after borrowing the Hugo book from the local library , she wanted to get the Hugo Course with tapes. I was fortunate to find her a copy (with tapes) via a re-seller. The price was 10% of the FSI Course.
She also used the extremely inexpensive LV Thomas "Elementary Turkish" booklet.

Comparisons and Opinions?

The FSI course is massive, and the only way to describe it is to pretend that you are a 2 month old baby, who hears over and over again something that they very slowly begin to understand... and master rapidly.

The Hugo Course is comparable to a high school course. It comes fast... perhaps too fast, and overwhelms. However, when you 'crack the book' and actually "study"... it is all there. But you need to invest 2-3 hours per day to really master the material. My wife says that it is simpler , more logical, and ultimately easier than the FSI course. But she says the FSI course is very good, because it has the bulk to allow multiple repitions and incremental mastery. She also feels that the speakers onthe FSI cassette are more varied and easier to understand than the Hugo course.

For 6 months, 3 hours/day she has been studying.That's her opinion.

For me? I didn't have the time to invest.I found the LV Thomas grammar book, a small Eng-TK/TK-Eng pocket dictionary ,a Turkish co-worker, and a lot of listening to my wife'sinane questions in Turkish, which she insisted I answer,helped me to achieve the comfort level that I wanted.

She loves the Hugo course, and that book is what she plans to take to Turkey. However...this is the 4th language she has learned. And she that she intends to continue learning it. And says that she would consider spending shelling out for the FSI Level II course when the time comes.

Update: a subsequent (2004) 3 month trip in far eastern Turkey demonstrated the utility of learning the language once you step off of the tourist track/guided tour world that is part of most (the few that there are) American visitors to TK) I would also recommend the comments ofSK who mentioned that the FSL program is now available as open source/freeware)

Complete (a rarity among grammar books)
The other reviews for this book are a bit too harsh in my opinion.I have used several Turkish langage texts and this is one of the best in terms of completeness.The first four chapters were the dullest for me, but after I had learned a little Turkish I found how valuable this book was.Actually I purchased the 1992 edition so I can't comment on the most recent edition.I sincerely hope that the publisher and author use this book as a basis for another book.If the first part of the book were more like Pollard and Pollard's Teach Yourself Turkish, then the book would probably be more accessible to those who only want to know a little Turkish, but there are too many books out there that barely cover Turkish grammar.Especially I like Rona's coverage of subject and object participles. Pictures with Turkish captions would be very useful - lots of them.An updated version should include Rona's coverage of the grammar (and more if possible) as well as lots of pictures and then a small section for those persons who just don't want to dig into the grammar.Overall though, I give this book an 'A.' ... Read more

Product Description
Despite the fact that they are spoken by millions of people, languages such as Korean or Turkish are not usually offered in schools or colleges. The Critical Languages Program (CLP) at the University of Arizona was created to meet the need for interactive instruction in these less-commonly-taught languages. In order to meet the needs of a wide variety of learners who wish to gain proficiency in some of these languages, CLP has developed a series of CD-ROM courseware beginning with Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese, Kazakh, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and Turkish. CD-ROMs for other less-commonly-taught languages are planned for the future. Each package contains two CD-ROMs with a total of twenty lessons for the beginning learner, consisting of video dialogues and readings by native speakers, thousands of audio recordings, graphics, and extensive notes. Handy browser features enable users to go back and review words and pronunciations and to access five types of exercises: multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, audio flashcard, pronunciation, and listening dictation. These exercises enable users to test and improve their knowledge of each lesson. Learners with microphone-equipped computers can record and play back their own voices and then compare their pronunciation with that of the native speaker. With the click of a button, learners can hear native speakers pronounce words or phrases, facilitating quick comprehension of these challenging languages. Each package of two CD-ROMs contains the equivalent of a textbook and workbook with audio and video components, making it practical for either self-instruction or directed educational, governmental, and business purposes.





Works on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7. For more information, visit the UA Critical Languages Web site at http://clp.arizona.edu/cls/ ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

This Product is Great for Anyone Who is Serious About Learning Turkish!
This is a great product for anyone who actually wants to learn Turkish.I've tried many other products including Rosetta Stone with little success most products teach you no more than a few tourist phrases.Most programs are fine for people who are traveling to Turkey on vacation or business but they're not designed for people who actually want to learn the language and don't have access to Turkish classes.This CD ROM is different its actually designed for people that don't have access to Turkish classes.This is by far the best product I've tried because it features native speakers talking at regular speed and is very realistic.What I mean by that is that although all of the products I've tried have native speakers speaking Turkish they speak it at an artificially show speed so when you actually try to talk to a native speaker it is hard to keep up with them because there's so much faster than you're used to in this program addresses that problem in the videos so you get used to the speed of the native speakers and you won't be so overwhelmed when you talk to a native speaker.I've had this product for approximately 4 weeks I love it so much that I have already purchased the intermediate level CD-ROM.That's how confident I am in this program.My recommendation is if you're serious about learning Turkish you should purchase this product it is more effective and costs way less than most other products.If I would've known about this sooner I would not spent money on all those other products.I love this product its awesome for anyone who is serious about learning Turkish!

First impression
The course seems built in a quite rigid form. It's not easy for the student, to adapt the course to his/her best way of absorbing the language.

The Absolute BEST I've Found
I had bought and tried just about every Turkish language course available, and could actually get by pretty well in Turkish on my trips to Istanbul.

I decided, though, that it was time for me to REALLY learn the language in depth, and get beyond tourist-level Turkish.This course, in the University of Arizona's Critical Languages Series, is exactly what I wanted and needed.It's a gold mine of real idiomatic usage that can leave foreigners dumbfounded if they haven't learned the colourful ways Turkish thoughts can be expressed.(Instead of "Congratulations" for example, you say "Your eyes are bright !"Whoever would have known that?)

Best of all, the 9,400 audio recordings on the CD-ROM are all spoken at a realistic pace.There's nothing more discouraging than learning from speech that is artificially slow and precise, only to be blown away the very first time someone speaks to you at a natural rate.

There is a videoclip at the beginning of each lesson, and it's wonderful to see an actual person speaking to you, instead of just hearing a disembodied voice.Then you can have each passage or dialogue read to you from beginning to end, or just sentence-by-sentence, or even word-by-word if you choose, which enables you to work on your pronunciation and resolve comprehension difficulties.The speakers repeat for you, tirelessly, at every click of the left mouse button -- and they'll give you the English equivalent if you click the right button instead.

There's also an Intermediate Turkish course available in the same series, this time on DVD-ROM, with "you are there" video segments showing glimpses of the country and its people, with conversations and interviews with Turkish speakers.

If you're a serious language learner, and want to get far past phrasebook language, this is definitely the course for you. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1854.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description

Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar is a complete reference guide to modern Turkish grammar. Concentrating on the real patterns of use in modern Turkish, it presents a detailed and systematic description of the structure of language at every level:sounds, words and sentences and will remain the standard reference work for years to come.

Drawing upon a rapidly growing body of scholarly research on Turkish, this well-presented Grammar is a stimulating and up-to-date analysis of the complexities of the language, with full and clear explanations and examples throughout. A detailed index and extensive cross-referencing between numbered subsections also provides readers with easy access to the information they require.

Features include:

• detailed treatment of common grammatical structures and parts of speech
• extensive use of examples, all with English translations
• particular attention to areas of confusion and difficulty
• comprehensive glossary of all grammatical terms.

The Grammar is an essential reference source for intermediate and advanced learners and users of Turkish. It is ideal for use in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.

Customer Reviews (3)

The book is valuable but ...
Turkish uses different sentence and work construction than English. Even with a reasonable vocabulary I have found it difficult to read a newspaper or almost any other article and understand the context. The classic book by Geoffrey Lewis on grammar was useful, but I found it irritating to have such ponderous examples, some of which I had trouble even reading the English. Everything necessary to know seemed to be there, but it was poorly organized and somehow archaic.His literal translations were particularly artificial.
Do not be mislead, this book by Asli Göksel and Celia Kerslake is truly ponderous. The academic approach to grammar can be overwhelming. I jumped into the book halfway through to where I felt I needed the most help and had to stop and go back to the beginning to become familiar with the authors' approach and terminology. It is not enjoyable reading by any means. But I think the book is a necessary addition for a complete understanding of Turkish. The hundreds of examples are well chosen with a typical spoken English translation. It is seldom necessary to look up a word while reading an example. The examples are often engaging, requiring a bit of thought to see how the English and Turkish relate.Many examples also indicate the suffixes, which helps overcome a huge stumbling block because of the multiple uses many have.
I would definitely recommend the book, but expect to spend many days working through it for the first time, and then again. It is not your drag along phrase book, or one you should buy a couple weeks before your vacation to Turkey.

Quality and Service ---
The product I received was well packaged, shipped promptly, and in excellent condition!I was totally satisfied with both quality and service!

Excellent, but not for everyone
This just-published reference grammar of Turkish is excellent, but it is not for everyone.It will be most useful to advanced students of Turkish who are comfortable with modern linguistic concepts and terminology.

This is the newest and most comprehensive grammar of Turkish available in English, or for that matter in any language, and contains a wealth of insights into the language for foreign learners.It is a rather dry read, though, and will probably not be of much use to those who are still struggling to assimilate basic Turkish grammar.

For beginners, the old "Teach Yourself Turkish" book by Geoffrey Lewis, first published in 1953, is a gem of clear exposition and will likely be the best reference grammar for people first starting out in the language, even though it is arranged as a series of lessons rather than a reference grammar per se.(Later editions of "Teach Yourself Turkish" by other authors will not do the trick; you should search used book sources for the original.It won't bring you to fluency, and some of the vocabulary is a bit outdated, but it will explain the basic grammar more clearly than anything else at the elementary level.) For intermediate learners of Turkish, Lewis' larger "Turkish Grammar" is a marvel of clear exposition that's a joy to read; while probably a bit too demanding for beginners, this is a book that everyone student of Turkish should get if they are even half-serious about attaining reasonable ability in the language.A (traditional) reference grammar rather than a textbook, it explains almost everything in the grammar with great clarity, using many example sentences.This has been the "standard" Turkish grammar used by foreigners studying Turkish for many years, and it retains its value as the best and clearest exposition of the way the language works.

For truly advanced learners of Turkish, "Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar" is a goldmine of insights, but it is quite heavy going.The explanations are very explicit, the examples are very up-to-date, and the two co-authors have addressed a good many aspects that are simply not given much coverage in most books.The section on tense-aspect-modality of verbs, in particular, is an outstanding treatment of a very confusing topic.But much of the book will be "above the heads" of readers who do not already have a fair grasp of Turkish, or who are not prepared to wade through some pretty abstruse verbiage to comprehend the points made.This is not a weakness of the book, but rather a reflection of the authors' approach, which is grounded in modern linguistics.

Two examples:

(from page 169, on the noun phrase):"A noun phrase that is unmarked for number, i.e., whose head does not carry the plural suffix and which does not have a numerical or other quantifying determiner among its modifiers, may be either singular or transnumeral (number-neutral) in meaning.If it has definite status it will have singular meaning, but if it has generic or categorial status it will have transnumeral meaning."

(from page 444, on syntax):"The crucial difference between this strategy for relativizing a non-subject possessor and the one with -(y)An described above in 25.1.1.1 (ii)b is that while the latter permits only non-definite subjects, the use of -DIK/-(y)AcAk allows definite subjects, such as usta `the engineer' in (28), "I" in (29) (expressed by possessive markings on the verb), and kopru"the bridge" in (30)."

Language of this type fills the book, and while it very appropriately describes the phenomena under discussion, it will likely prove very heavy going indeed to people who have not studied linguistics.The Lewis books cited above, however, do not read this way, and thus most learners of Turkish should probably have recourse to them before tackling "Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar".

That said, however, I have to say that this is an excellent book, with many insights into details not covered in other grammars, for readers with the background to benefit from it. ... Read more