For those who are thinking about learning Turkish it is
important to remember that it is not the easiest language to initially learn. There
are a great number of books, DVDs and cd’s available that can help you to teach
yourself which is one of the best ways if you cannot find a class. However you
may find that you pick the language up a little faster if you find a tutor or
class that you can attend. The Turkish language is relatively ancient and is
part of the Ural Altaic language family. You may be surprised to know that
it is actually spoken quite widely around the world in many countries other
then Turkey.
For example it is often heard in many parts of Europe such as Germany as well as Asia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan
and some parts of Cyprus, Mongolia, Iran
and Iraq.
It is estimated that around a million people speak this language in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece.
When you begin learning Turkish it is always useful to
understand a brief history of the language so that you can appreciate it more. Within
the era of the Ottoman Empire the language
that was spoken was a mix of Turkish, Persian, and Arabic and differed to the
everyday spoken Turkish. For this reason it was referred to as Ottoman Turkish.
Due to the rise of the Ottoman Empire the geographical reach extended much
further then just Turkey and with it the language too. During the 6th - 11th
centuries the number of people who spoke a Turkic language increased and spread
across Central Asia, as well as Siberia and Europe.
There have been a great number of changes to the languages over the years and
specifically after World War I and the fall of the Ottoman
Empire. These changes have included modifications being made to
the alphabet and the Turkish Language Association was also established to
initiate reforms. It is primarily because of all these changes that the
language exists as it does today. These days Istanbul Turkish is considered to
be the official language standard for Turkish. When you begin to start learning
Turkish you will find that it takes a lot of time and practice as with learning
any new language. There are many strange oddities with this language that you
will need to master but Turkish is phonetic so pronouncing words is not too
difficult to understand.
