The lessons are over now. We had lessons on 5,6 and 9 August and 13,8 and 12 people joined respectively.  We will continue with new lessons in the future. Date and time will be announced here.

Link to the virtual class will be posted here 15 minutes before it starts. Date and time will be announced much sooner though.

Greetings, Soon I will start online lessons in real time virtual environment. Of course it will be for free. You will be able to listen, to speak, to read and to type at the same time. We will use a voice conferencing system but you are not required to download anything. On the other hand you need a headset. If you have only speakers or headphones but don´t have a microphone you can still join but then you won´t be able to speak and I can´t ask you any questions. I will update this message and post lesson times here. (edit: see times above) Lessons will be 50 minutes. The first lesson´s topic is: Lesson 1: for complete beginners noun cases, vowel harmony, question suffix The first lesson could start tomorrow or the next day. I can accept up to 20 learners for a lesson. Who would be interested to join a virtual classroom? This is the first time we will do something like this on this website. Other teachers or moderators will be always welcome to join my virtual lessons as visitors.

May I ask what programme are you going to use?
Just curious from IT point of view..

We will be using the open source free service of dimdim.com. The attendee doesn´t need to download anything. It will be browser based for the attendee. The presenter downloads a small program. I have searched virtual classroom softwares and found out that dimdim is the best choice for our needs. A paid alternative is webex.com

I am interested but wanna ask are your lessons a part of Learning Turkish groups? because I already asked to be in one of those groups

It is great but I am so beginner to join such class
I only can pronounce Turkish well, so I will be in the Level 1 group to be able to join this high level class
thanks

Queent,

Don´t worry. This lesson is for complete beginners. It is not a high level course. Any complete beginner can join. Just check the first message in this topic to find out the lesson time.

I will arrange repeating sessions for the same lessons in case people from different time zones want to pick a more suitable time. I will also repeat the lessons over time once in a week or two so people who missed the lessons in the past will be able to join another one.

You can imagine this as a cinema movie. It will be shown in the morning and afternoon so you can pick any of them. It will also repeat after a week or two so newcomers can see it as well.

Right now the only thing that I´m interested is enough attendence. As soon as we have enough interest I will announce the lesson times.

So I will join

According alexa.com most of the users of this website are from USA. Second is Germany and third is UK. So I will try to arrange evening times for USA, Germany and UK. This way people who have a daytime job or school can join in the evening. There is only one hour difference between Germany and UK.

We could also add one repeating session for the weekend. So in total the same lesson would be presented at least 3 times during the same week and it would repeat continuously after a two week gap.

For instance for the UK, lessons could be 6 or 7pm on weekdays and 4 or 5 pm on weekends.

Hopefully other teachers here will follow this system and there will be more repeating sessions for the same lesson content.

The software I´m using allows uploading a power point slide show. I´m thinking to create slide shows for each lesson and give them to other teachers. This way they could teach the same thing themselves using that slide show.

ook..i will be interested!!

İm interested also,thank you

i am really curious how that is going to work. so count me in. i already know turkish basic grammar, but it still take me ages to make a turkish sentence.

It will work very simple. I will give you a short grammar explanation about a topic. Then I will show you some exercises that I will have prepared before, where you either give an answer to a question or you construct the question itself looking at the answer. I like the lessons more when learners speak more than me during a lesson.

Visitors, people who dont have a microphone or people who don´t want to speak won´t speak during a lesson. It will be like a real classroom environment with the difference that I´m teaching for 12 years in normal classes and I didn´t teach a single lesson in virtual environment yet. So it is a new thing for me as well. But don´t worry, it should be fine.

I´m in the Pacific time zone and am interested. As I work during the day, it would be impossible to do this during the day.

Of course, there are 4 different time zones in the US. This site has a nice time zone finding function.

World Clock

Hello Everybody. Please check the first message. Lesson times have been announced. You can join any of the three sessions.

Alameda,
I have put a weekend session hoping that it will be more suitable for the folks in the states. I´m also planning to repeat this lesson after a two week gap. Cheers.

Hi Alameda,
I have just announced the lesson times. It wasn´t available at the time of your first message. So in fact you couldn´t see it earlier.

I hope my work people will not frown on me leaving at 15.30 to catch the lesson at 16.00 hrs, but I´ll be there at the 6th of August. Do I need programs installed ?

I read that wrong, GMT+1 time zone is 19.00 hrs, no excuse to leave work early

Kuzu, you don´t need anything to install. You need to have flash 9.0 or higher installed on your computer but nearly all computers already have this. So it is very likely that you have it as well. If you don´t have it the program will let you know and direct you to this website:

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=shockwaveflash

Kuzu, to prevent confusion I have also given GMT time of the lessons. Right now UK is GMT+1.

I suggest using this website website to find your location.

http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_UTC.aspx

People who have difficulty with time zones can simply mention their location and I will put the time in their local time as well. Cheers.

Hello si,

I have checked again on this page and it confirms that flash is needed. It looks like you are out of luck.

http://help.dimdim.com/activekb/questions/111/do+i+need+to+download+anything+to+use+Dimdim%3F

i am from china, and i would like to join into such virtual turkish class,but if it means that the time is 1.00 am in china in first two classes?

There should be a way to record these sessions (as flash lessons) and put them on the net (or on this site) later. I guess. Camtasia Studio can be used for that purpose on Erdinç´es computer for example.

perfjenny,

All three sessions are the same lesson. You can pick the third one only and you will not miss anything. I have put there three sessions so people can pick one or another.

As you can see all three sessions are names "lesson 1" and the content is the same.

As for the lessons in video environment, this is of course possible. The software lets you to record lessons. We could put either these records or I could convert my power point files to a video format and add sound. Let´s see.

I´m now working on the power point file for tomorrow´s lesson.

That material will be mainly for those who joined the lesson but would like to restudy it. I strongly suggest that you join lessons. It is better than watching a video since you will be able speak and answer question as well. Also all the interaction during the lesson helps to remember things.

Si, I´m a big fan of camstudio 2.0 (which is better than 2.5) but I think I can do better than that. I´m also using flash pro 8 to create content. I will see what option will be the best. I need to start the lessons first and continue for a while to think better about it.

dear erdinc:
i knew you will arrange three times for same lesson,,and i want to join to all of them if the time is suitable for me,,so that i can remember it better,,and i am eager to join into the first time of the lesson, its totally new way for us,,so i want to enjoy it as earlier as possible....
and thank you for all!

I would be interested in the following lesson

Third session for Lesson 1: for complete beginners
noun cases, vowel harmony, question suffix
Date: 09.Aug.08 Saturday
Time: GMT 14:00, UK

I dont have a microphone so would be a silent member

Hi,

I didn´t think that more than 20 people will join a session. So my idea is to post the link in the first message 10 minutes before the lesson and let anybody join who wants to.

If it turns out that there are more than 20 people then people who have posted in this topic will take priority for this first week.

After this week if there is too much interest, then we will apply a booking system for the following weeks. Still I don´t expect this to happen. Bye

Merhaba Erdinc,count me in for August 6th!!!So...see you all in class

Count me in First season
05.Aug.08 Tuesday

Hello,
i m also interested in the 6th Aug lesson.
do we see eachother or just hear?

thanks in advanced , Oana

Hello Oana,

The system we use provides video conferencing option but I decided not to use it to keep learners focused. We will only hear each other and we will share visual presentations. There are going to be a few pages text that we will go through during the lesson. Those who don´t have a microphone will be able to communicate via an integrated chat option.

In the future somebody might decide to arrange a video conference. This could be an option for an advanced speaking class. Then you will be able to see those who have a webcam. Since it is free and fairly simple to use, anybody could arrange their own meetings as well. I suggest to have a look at dimdim.com.

Hi again,

Just wanted to make sure you have me down for Saturday, August 9, 2008. (Since my earlier message looked like it was part of a quote).

Looking forward to it.

Lovebug (Wendy)

im so happy we have the same time as turkey coz when i tried doing it from GMT i got mixed up!!im real happy i signed up for this early and wanna thank u for the great opportunity i can tell that it was planned out for well! thx a million!!!

i know tehers a couple of minutes left but are we suppose dto go somewhere or how do we reach the classes???

I have posted the link to the first session of lesson 1 on opening message. If you have any trouble getting in I´m available on chat room here at turkishclass.

where is the links???

We have just finished the first session. The number of attendees was 13 when it was maximum.

There will be two more repeating sessions for lesson1. Check times at first message.

the lesson was great just wanted to thank everybody who made it possible!! and of course our great teacher erdnic!! great idea!!!!

One quick question..I´m interested in attending on Saturday, August 9th. Is this NewYork 10:00 a.m. or p.m.?
Thanks.

It is 10 a.m. I´m using 24 hour clock system since I never liked a.m.´s and p.m.´s.

teaschip,

If you have used webex before you might find dimdim´s free version a little amateurish. The features of the program aren´t as high as webex. But still for me it´s a good thing to experience with these things and see what can be done.

Was great experience Erdinç,thanks,looking forward to the next lesson.

I agree that it was a great experience but I had a problem with my pc, connection .... I hope next time I can fix all that so I can join in a better situation

Hi Erdinc,
this is a great way to learn Turkish language,especially for people like me,who don´t have many opportunities to hear or speak Turkish.
I am very interested in your classes but as I work in 4 shifts,I will try to join whenever I can.I hope this won´t cause any problems.
Oh,by the way,I´m from Slovenia,same time zone as Germany

count me in for the first lesson on the 6th thanks

I´d like to join the third session if that´s possible...

Erdinç,

You should consider recording your lessons. There should be software for that purpose. I know of Camtasia Studio which I used once when I attended a class. It just records your computer screen, the mouse movements, what you write, what you said etc. Since the screen doesn´t change too much the recorded video should be small (around 100M for 1 hour).

Everybody can then replay it and that would be very helpful even for the people joined to that session.

Si,
I´m thinking about this. During this first lesson we already had enough technical difficulties. The program itself has a recording feature but I haven´t tested it yet.

Maybe a special recording session with less learners or without learners could be considered which would also make the session more organized.

In my mind I have a Lynda.com sytle complete cbt set of videos but so far I have always thought I´m going to create them one day with flash which would give me more flexibility with movements.

Sometimes suffixes come inbetween other suffixes (for instance the nagative suffix -mi that is addes to gidiyorum) or sometimes a letter is dropped. I really would like to move around suffixes and words visually and create more atracting and easier to follow lessons.

What I do know is to talk on top of a slide show which is a bit dull. And in the meantime naturally people ask questions, some have trouble with hearing sounds, or can´t see the whiteboard. The chat window is active full time. And so on. So it is a little different than a self study video course. I need to think a little more about this issue. Of course your idea is a something that could be done easier, so it´s likely.

I also need to prepare further lessons. Many people already know vowel harmony but want to learn more advanced things.

can i join the lesson today, turkey time?

mheart72,

Of course you can join. Anybody who is here at the right time can join. Right now we don´t have a booking system. Hopefully less than 20 people will come since thats the limit for the software. Last lesson 13 people came.

i joined to the first lesson of the first session,,and it was nice,,and we can discuss with other mates also,,i enjoyed it,,,just we met some internet problem via microphone connecting problem during the period,,but that was the first try for us,,i think it will be better and better,,and i will join into it continuously if it is possible,,,
teacher erdinc, thanks for all..

i want to learn turkish but i donot understand what should i do to attend the class

i attended last lesson and i ahea question if less than 20 ppl came can i attend again?? u know just so the info will stuck in my mind but of course i knowq the priority is to the ppl who didnt listen to it the first time but is it a possibility that i can join???

Doudi, yes you can. Please wait until exact lesson time so others will have already joined and then join the class if there is space left.

In the future we will apply a booking system.

The link to the current lesson will be posted now in first message.

lesson starts in 5 minutes. Anybody can join now. Click the link on first message.

I have clicked on the link and i have found erinic meeting, but it is asking for a display name

pls. help i can´t find the link!

Display name is your nickname. You can type any nickname you want to be called as. For instance, you can type your first name as display name.

The second session just finished now. Unfortunately we had even more problems with microphones not working. Most of the time I did the talking. Only for a short time only one person´s microphone worked. We have one session left on saturday.

We need more people who have microphones. I suggest to buy a headset.

I missed the first two due to work .. how dare they interfere with my turkish learning!! I will have a microphone on saturday and plan on attending that session.

Hello, everybody !

Congratulations for the virtual lessons idea, Erdinc !
Unfortunately I couldn´t join the first two sessions and I will not be able to joi the one on Saturday either. On the other hand I think I am ok with vowel harmony.

Erdinc, would there be a problem if I started from Lesson 2 ? (which I understand is going to take place next week)
If it´s not, then I will try to join then.

See...hear you !

Erdinç,when will lesson 2 will be ?

I haven´t written it yet. I need to think for a while how to make lessons more efficient.

May I join youre class tomorrow at 1500 uk

alexblakeley,
Sure you can, as long as there is space and you can get in.

The capacity is 20 learners. Last two lessons we had 13 and then 8.

the lesson has just started . join the lesson now. check first message

That was a very good and impressive job!!! Good luck for the rest!

I agree. I enjoyed the class and it helped me understand vowel harmony a little better.

I look forward to the next class and hope to even try talking this time.

Thank you again for all the hard work you put into the class!!!

 + 1

Even i understand the vowel harmony,but you have put it in a such admirable easy and smooth way

Looking forward to the intermediate ones soon hopfully

*modified*    found it!

Where´s the link to join?

I´m assuming by reading all the posts that the link is only available while the classes are going? I´m a little confused myself.

I can´t find it!

Hello natiypuspi,

Todays lesson started 3 hours ago and lasted a little more than one hour. So you are three hours late.

Erdinc, how do you know ahead of time? Is there some schedule or something? Do you need to "sign up" ahead of time? Am I asking enough questions?

 Ops! Sorry! I´ll try to join (IN TIME) next time!

 Thanks Erdinç.

Hello karekin,

All the information you will need will be available on the first message of this topic. New dates and times will be posted earlier before the lesson starts. For instance this week we had lessons on Tuesday, wednesday and saturday. I had posted times on monday. So there was enough time to plan ahead.

You don´t need anything except coming here and opening the first message before the lesson starts.

Ok, awesome! I´ll be sure to check in the mornings then. One more question .... because we missed this weeks lessons will we be behind in some way?

There will be repeating sessions.

i wanna join too!

I would also like to join please

me too I´d like to join please

Hey Erdinc,

I want to join, starting of lesson 2

what does it mean that the groups OFFICIALY started?? Hadnt they already stated from last week??? Explanation plzzz! THX!!

Doudi you should post that in this thread http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_32363

however,the official starting date is today,a week ago was pre opening

I´d like to join too! but i´m in  a newbie level so i don´t know if i´m qualified for this.