Hi ladies and gentlemen,

I know you are following things about Turkish here, so I am sure you will like this e-book as your Turkish handbook. I don´t know if you know the site Middle East Language Resource Center:

http://www.nmelrc.org

They have a handbook, in PDF format. I didn´t read them all but I like this part:

It is not a grammar book exactly but an exciting handbook for every learner, as it gives the answer of the question: "How to learn Turkish?".

You can get the book from this page:

http://www.nmelrc.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=53&MMN_position=36:34

Kolay gelsin!

Thank you very much caliptrix.  I´ve downloaded the manual and found it very informative.  Great stuff.

Thanks Caliptrix,very useful

I think this is fascinating!  So please correct me if im wrong here.. Before 1928 it was a different way of speaking Turkish ?  If so, how on earth did the millions of people in Turkey adapt and learn to speak this ´new´ Turkish?

Also can the older grammar and vocabulary still be learned

No, whats really amazing is that they learned this new language in justr 80 yrs! Thats just like what? 2 generations or one??? And millllions of people!! Thats just amazing!!! Imagine all the books signs documents everything translated!!!WOW!!!

"different way of Turkish ?"

Yes, a kind of. That´s why the language was called "Ottomanish" that was a mix of Turkish, Arabic and Persian. But the base was Turkish still.

"how adapt and learn?"

Answer is simple: by education.

Do you think i is "fascinating" really? Well, I confess, it is pretty good, yes. But I think we should accpet the negative effects as well. We forget our history, we don´t know how to read the lives of our race from Ottoman, and we don´t have enough information from their ages.

I know some people will be offended about this but that´s true. As an example, we should ask this questions to Turks: How many Turks can understand the original texts from the years of Atatürk exactly? I don´t think that the answer would be a high number. I know there are many people who don´t understand even the writings from 1950s of Turkey.

We were tought that "Ottoman was uneducated and bad with some things". As we don´t understand the old texts, old books from Turkish history, we thought that Ottomans can´t write good novels etc. Especially the ages of the ending of the Ottoman State. But, as an example, I found a "translation" of the book "Araba Sevdası" (The love for the car) by Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, who is a writer of that ages, and I became excited so much. That was one of the great books I have ever read. But, as it was not "modern Turkish", I can´t understand the original text and I had to read it as a "translation".

Now, don´t think that I wished I were using Arabic letters, but I confess that I wish I could understand these literature books, writings etc. from Ottomans so easly. And when I think about this, I can´t say that it was "fascinating" really.

hay thats a really good topic tanks all

i wanted to say that iam arabian and i learn the old turkish language too i mean turkish with an arabic letters and i think after i become good at turkish i can turn any ottumon books into latin

thats easy to from now just when i understand coz its my main letters

so i think i can help in any texts in arabic letters to turn it into latin

How come every time i try t comes in this wierd language????

Its so wierd, first it asks me what i wanna open it with so isa id microsoft word and once i tried microsoft word reader but it comes and tells me to cgoose which transcript so once i chose  english and i chose turkish and i tried lots of stff but nthg worked? should i open it using something else?

İts PDF,you can open it with adobe not word

Thx canli im horrible at these things anyway u know on that site for the ahndbook they have smthg called turkish tutor, ITS AWESOME!!!

heres the link to that tutor thing, its really nice because it gives you the lessons in a Tv show so you hear the ppl talking, and theres charecters and struff amnd it strats out from the easiest thing so its nice, i just have to install missing plug-ins, but since i have no idea what t is ill just wait for dad

http://www.international.ucla.edu/turkishtutor/pages/home/blackborder-fs.html

Hey Caliptrix,

even if in a very different way and different time span, the same happens to most italians:  how many do you think can read and understand latin?  And if we do not want to go that far back in time, how many can read Dante´s divina commedia without the help of an "interpretative translation"?  horribly few. I know the situation is different, butr the feeling is the same....

 Latin has a basically English alphabet.   In my journey learning Turkish, latin is simple because English ıs Latinized  itselfö except for grammar slıghtly. Here  ın "Kalifornia, USA" when I hear spanish, I understand it mostly.    Reading Latin.   Çok kolay ya!

My meaning was concerning something else... How easily people loose track of their own heritage and history! The majority here seem to simply have forgotten too much. But, of course, it si my own opinion.

 Excuse me, but isn´t it English that has a basically Latin alphabet???   You may find Latin easy, but reading the classics simply isn´t.... I lived in California for one year as an AFS exchange student, and latin classes were not exactly up to italian standard over there...

 OK I "carry" an Italian last name,  but don´t speak it.  Here in California, USA everyone learns some Spanish which has Latin Grammar.  yes I respect your answer. The classics especially Julius Caesars conquest of Gaul, love to read it in the original. time is so short.  Here I am in  Turkishclass which is the language I am trying to learn.  Don´t dispute quality of Latin Classes in  USA.

Saygilarima

OK I "carry" an Italian last name,  but don´t speak it.  Here in California, USA everyone learns some Spanish which has Latin Grammar.  yes I respect your answer. The classics especially Julius Caesars conquest of Gaul, love to read it in the original. time is so short.  Here I am in  Turkishclass which is the language I am trying to learn.  Don´t dispute quality of Latin Classes in  USA.

Saygilarima

NO offense taken or intended, of course! And since Americans are so sensitive as far as preserving heritage is concerned, I´m sure you understand what I was trying to say.

Ciao!

Don´t they understand the novels from early 1900s? Was "Latin" as a language killed by Italians, like that?

Novels from the early 900 are understood, even if the language has changed quite a bit in it´s everyday expressions, idiomatic forms and most common words... I would say young people in school would never choose to read books from the early 900 for pleasure, simply because it can be a job in itself to get into the mood of the book, it feels "heavvy"... Latin simply is not read and understood, apart from the students who choose classical studies.  I was just saying that, in a way, I can understan very well what you were telling us!