To all you other language learners...preferably English native speakers who learned and now speak turkish...how did you do it?

I´m having such a hard time learning to speak. I´ve been living in Istanbul, Turkey for 9 months now and I still can hardly speak or hold a 10 minute conversation with anyone. Its heartbreaking to me. I really want to be able to finally talk to my in-laws, friends, just anyone. Ive tried literally EVERYTHING from computer language learning software, to books, to reading childrens books...yet I STILL cant speak. I am able to understand turkish, somewhat, like basic conversations, how to ask questions, but if its a deep heavy conversation I cant understand a darn thing. My comprehension of Turkish is still bad. However, the grammar is starting to click to me.

What would be your tips to help me quickly learn and speak? What did you do to finally get yourself at the level of speaking and holding conversations?

I find turkish to be so hard, and theres so many levels to the grammar. I know the only way to learn to speak a language is just by simply speaking..and I try all the time with my sister-in-law. But I basically gave up and now im just quiet around my in laws because I cant speak with them the way that I would like too. It just sucks can someone help!!!

if you really want you will do

all you need is your motivation

look inside you and ask yourself - why do you want to learn turkish

and you will find the power to learn it

and believe me, I find Turkish more easier than my native, French and English...

good luck

You find Turkish easier than English? Wow.

And believe me I am more then motivated enough. It´s not just I simply want to learn Turkish, It´s a MUST. I have to learn. I have in laws and family I want to speak with. (They only speak Turkish) and I´m also living in the country for goodness sakes. Are there any tips you could give me? like where to start?

I keep jumping around from just learning small vocabulary, to learning sentences, to memorizing yes/no questions..and its all just scattered. I need a clear method on how to learn the language. 

Make a baby. You will learn together with him/her. Been there, seen that.

1.Watch Turkish movies / TV series 

2.Listen Turkish music

3.Watch Turkish videos

4.Use Turkish chats,speak with people and listen them

5.Use Turkish forums

6.Read Turkish news

7.Read Turkish books

8.Be active in learning

And you should learn it with love and not by force

please forgive me and dont take it so personally but  really I find Turkish a very easy to learn language..for instance, me..I studied English during shcool, highschool and university, 14 years of English..and my Turkish is better than English, even I am studying alone, by myself (Turkish), and the beginning was 3 years ago...

good luck again..and yes..a baby is a good choice...

Not surprised at all.

I always say Turkish is an easy to learn language. Turkish is a regular&logical language language. When you grab the rules you can easily advance in a short period of time. There are many things that make it MUCH easier than many other languages people study: no sounds that are difficult to pronounce, a simple and very phonetic Latin-based alphabet, no gender differences for nouns (except for a masculine/feminine distinction in a few words borrowed from languages like Arabic) or even pronouns, essentially no irregular verbs, etc. (This extreme regularity of Turkish, once you become accustomed to it, can even spoil you a bit in terms of other languages, which then seem very "quirky" with all their genders, irregular forms, declined adjectives, etc.)

I have met some foreigners speaking reasonably good Turkish who, when asked, told me they were started learning Turkish only 2 to 4 years ago.The lady who started to learn it 4 years ago was (or sounded) very advanced to me for example.

Being exposed to the language all day long is an advantage for example. Watching TV (I recommend watching the news channels), listening to some Turkish music and studying its lyrics may help. Find some catchy tune and try to understand it.

And this site has some native speakes around wiilling to help those who come up with their questions about Turkish.

well the problem Im having is I think its because I keep directly translating all the time from English to Turkish. Also when my friends here want to talk to me, they all speak to me in English. Ive gotta get them to stop or Ill never learn. My husband and everyone tries to speak to me in English. I hear turkish all the time 24/7. My understanding of it is getting better and better. However I need to know a way to learn thats quick and fast for me. I have a friend here who learned turkish and was speaking within 6 months. Thats just CRAZY to me. However Ive been here for 9 months and I still cant speak.

My husbands cousin told me the best way to learn a new language is by memorizing sentences. He did that to learn english, and it worked for him. Should I start just by doing that? Or should I start by learning vocabulary? 

Try to always speak Turkish with the people around you. That is the best way.

dont do it, please..it is the great mistake

you have to try to think in Turkish

Yes but how do you think in turkish?

first, try to memorize simple sentences; keep you atention on construction of phrase - the rule number one

the order of phrase is always subject - object - verb

ask you husband to speak together some useful phrases, daily phrases

learn minimum 30 words per day

spend minimum 30 minutes per day for learning Turkish

okay ill try to shoot for 30 words a day. hopefully ill improve better. what about grammar should I focus on that last? like all the suffixes? should I learn at least 30 new suffixes a day?

dont think at suffixes like a particular object

you have learn them together with pronouns, nouns, etc

you can start from here - there are a lot of lessons for the beginners

do you know Teach Yourself Turkish

try it

http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_42902

Speaking is more important than gramer.If you want to speak,you will try to speak Turkish people.Don´t be shy.No one´s questioning you "Why didn´t speak very well?" So take it easy.For example,I am learning English.I didn´t speak English at the past.But now I have got foreigner teacher and I speak English very well.Eventually,you will improve your Turkish and speaking.You can meet some people and you should say: "I am learning Turkish,can you help me ?" or you can speak here with us.We always help you.And this is the most important thing,you should trust yourself  

If you want to improve your speaking,I will recommend you some videos,documentaries,movies,TV series or something 

if you really want you will do all you need is your motivation look within you and ask yourself - why do you want to understand turkish and you will discover the energy to understand it

i holiday in Turkey and N cyprus. I spent a few years just using cds and dvds.Luckily a turkish class started at my local college.The teacher was brilliant but the classes only lasted 2 terms as so many dropped out.Most people just wanted holiday turkish and once she brought grammar into the lessons nearly everyone struggled. But i have had  a number of private lessons  with her which have been marvellous for me.So I have been lucky to find a teacher. Have you thought of a teacher where you can have one to one?

You mentioned learning phrases.I did this and it worked.

I looked at all my notes and wrote out phrases that I thought I would use for a holiday this year. I wrote alot!! Then i memorised them. But I found by doing this that   I learnt and understood how the sentences were formed.

I understand turkish grammar.Tenses are easy as there are no irregular verbs.I speak spanish and there are lots of them.I have to really think about suffixes though.I have turkish friends who I teach english to and I have learnt what a difficult language english can be.

I love learning the language but i find I am learning it slowly.I have problems understanding what people are saying but they seem to understand me.So I am halfway there. I do have some turkish friends who i communicate with on email and skype, so that´s a big help.

The great thing though is that Turkish people love to hear that you are learning.I get so much help and I am not afraid to try. Yes sometimes they laugh but then they correct me. What a great way to learn.I love going into shops and cafes and speaking.

I just need turkish for holidays so I don´t need to be fluent.I would say I have nearly reached my aim.I have just come back from Kadikoy in Istanbul where some english was spoken.But alot of people did not.I did okay, not perfect, but got by.

So don´t give up. You are frustrated because you are in a turkish environment and maybe it´s tiring to try and keep up with the language everyday. But it sounds that you have some knowledge and believe me you will improve.

Good luck and let us all know how you get on.