Hello everyone,

I am new to the site but wanted to ask a bit of advice. I have been taking private lessons in my home from a Turkish teacher for 7 weeks now - only an hour or two a week. I have also registered my interest in joining the Turkish Beginners 1 Class on this forum starting later this month. The thing is, I don´t feel as if I am learning fast enough. I am beginning to panic and I am actually thinking of packing it all in becasue I feel I can´t do it. I feel as if it is going in one ear and out the other. I don´t think I am particularly stupid, but it´s just not registering. 

Has anyone else ever encountered these problems? Has anyone ever felt like stopping it altogether becasue they feel they can´t do it?  Will I continue in the hope that one day it might just ´click´? Any learning tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

I don´t think you should get discouraged too easily. You have only been studying for 7 weeks, it´s normal to feel like you don´t know anything or that it is coming through one ear and leaving through the other. Just stick to it, keep practicing more, try different varieties of exercises -- like trying to understand signs on the streets, small conversations, get a book that is fun to learn from (I recommend "Teach yourself Turkish" by Asuman Celen-Pollard). Make learning a fun thing to do, then you will remember things easier. You can also attempt simple translations on this site to feel like your effort is translating into some skill... or you can play some games that we have here in the "practice turkish" section of the forum. It is guaranteed to bring results.

Thanks Catwoman

I have only been having the lessons for 7 weeks but have been trying to teach myself for a while now. Sometimes I think I am pretty good, then up pops another suffix!!!!!! I seem to know the words but the suffixes are just not going in. I have all the usual books, tapes, CD´s etc.  Maybe I am not doing enough, but as a working mother I am sometimes pushed for time. I will continue and keep my fingers crossed that things will eventually sink in. Thanks

It will definitely sink in. Suffixes are the toughest part of learning Turkish, they just need tons of practice, even when you think you know them. Then you learn another set of suffixes and it just gets confusing again. What you feel is very normal. I think that you are simply at a stage where you need to do more reading and translation.

So, you have taken just about 7-10 hours in 7 weeks and you feel like you do not learn anything. It can be discouraging in the beginning but you need many many more hours to feel that you literally start to learn that language. At least 200-300 hours. And as well you must increase the intensity of the lessons. It should be intense enough to make your brain feel under  pressure and so in need to learn the language.

Thanks for your replies. It is nice to get a bit of encouragement. I really really want to do this and I will continue. I know I want to run before I can walk, just really wanted to know if everyone feels like this. Thanks for your advice