Hi Friends

I have been having Turkish Lessons almost every week for about 12-14 months , OK I can make myself understood to a certain degree , but I don´t feel as if I have or Can create my own "Turkish" and break away from some of the Basics.

Then when someone speaks to me , "Wow"  Lutfen Yavas ,Yavas anlamiyorum ,,,

OK when they slow down to my level but until then ......?

Don´t misunderstand I enjoy these lessons but have reached the point I am  considering either dropping it all together OR  investing in some serious Intensive Turkish lesson , say 20 hours per week ( or MORE ) , almost a Brain wash ( if they can find it- ha ) so that hopefully I break through what ever barrier is there and get to grips with the Language

So then what do You guys  suggets ??

(1) Is it a college either UK ( N-west) or Turkey 

(2 ) Which one would be most recommended

(3 ) Do I carry on with weekly as it will all come together

( 4 ) Any of you guys know rough costs of Intensve course

Or do I say OK , I am never going to  break thro and continue with what I now already know and let things take there time

Thanks in advance of what ever help you can give me

Take Care

Graham

I think every learner sooner or later comes to such dilemma,either to give up or carry on..You are not the only exception Graham from this rule.Everybody learns in different way and style.To my mind you have to answer this question yourself knowing the way you learn and what you are learning for.

Why don´t you take some Turkish courses in Turkey,being exposed to the language every day would certainly help if I can suggest.

Don´t give up your enthusiasm !Although Turkish is totally different from your mother tongue it is such a beautiful language and worth learning .Just give yourself more time and do not give up easily

Hello Graham,

I myself have been having weekly Turkish lessons. I do this becasue I love the Turkish language and would one day hope to live there. I don´t have a Turkish boyfriend (as such, although I have a close friend), and I don´t have an apartment there. So, really I am doing it as my hobby. However, I take this hobby seriously and I too am feeling I am not moving as fast as I would like. I have been taking  lessons since July ´08 but have actually only had 18 lessons taking into account my teachers holidays, my holidays, Ramazan etc. Maybe I am putting too much pressure on myself as my teacher says - I don´t know. I study my Turkish every single day but I am not happy with my progress. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to have more than one lesson per week, if I could I would have a lessons every day. I live in the North East of England and there are no Turkish classes so I have to pay for my lessons privately. My teacher suggested a two week summer school in Side but again this is beyond my means unfortunately. Stick at it Graham, you are probably progressing more than you think you are and you have the advantage of spending time in Turkey. One day I have a feeling it will just ´click´ and you will be the same. I can understand how you feel but don´t give in - keep at it and I´m sure you will be pleased you did this time next year. Good luck

From one learner to another.

I think that the ease of verbally communicating in a foreign language comes last in the learning process, after you´re comfortable with comprehending the written text, the grammar, being able to make sentences in writing. Especially in conversation, where your time is limited in which you can make a response. At first you sort of translate in your head what you hear and then you try to translate what you want to say before you can actually say it. It´s very frustrating when you want to have a conversation beyond the simple phrases and sentences. But the time comes when you actually get there. I´m speaking of course from my experience only, but I think many learners can relate to it. I know when I was learning English, I didn´t become comfortable and fluent in it until I actually had to use it everyday to communicate. It´s really an amazing moment when you realize you no longer are "translating" in your head but are actually responding to something somebody said as if it was your own language. Wait for the time when you actually are going to start thinking in that language! I didn´t get there after 12-14 months of learning for sure (more like 4-5 years). So my hope for you is that you don´t get discouraged, it does take time to be able to communicate well, but with persistence you can make it happen.

A few suggestions:

- I don´t think a weekly class would be sufficient. I´ve heard somewhere that it´s better to learn a foreign language for half an hour a day than for 3 hours once a week - perhaps you can make it a daily habit to learn Turkish.

- It is very important to force yourself to use the language and communicate in it. When I was learning English, I had pen pals (yes, it was that long ago, chat rooms and emails were not that common lol) that I corresponded with - nowadays the possibilities are limitless even if you are not in Turkey. It´s also important to speak the language and listen to it (radio, tv, movies, songs, etc.) whenever you can, just to be able to understand the spoken language better.

- Read as much as you can in it - go on Turkish websites and just read whatever you can get your hands on - I like going on Turkish Wikipedia (http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Sayfa) and just looking up articles on whatever. There are news sites (like BBC, CNN) in Turkish as well that are great for familiarizing yourself with the language.

- And I think what would be super helpful is to do the T-E, and E-T translations here. I´ve been learning Turkish for a little over half a year now, and I think it´s been one of the most helpful things for me - mainly because it gives you the opportunity to practice and also because you get the feedback from the native speakers and other learners about the mistakes you make and that really, really helps - you don´t usually get that in a casual conversation. You can also make up your own sentences and ask for somebody to check your translation - super helpful too.

Especially with a language that is so different structurally from your own, patience is going to be the key to your success. I need to tell myself that too of course , sometimes I want to slash my wrists, but hey, I know much more now than I knew 6 months ago so it can´t be all that bad.

Anyway, good luck to you, I hope you won´t give up.