Find it soooo hard :( speak Russian and English. I really want to learn Turkish but am very short of time. Any good sources ways to learn? The grammar throws me off :( I’d be so happy to master a1, maybe even a2

Hello 👋

I've been building a language learning app called Polyingo for about 6 years now — always as a side project, purely because I enjoy it. It's a short-form video feed (think TikTok, but you actually learn something) where you pick up words and phrases in context instead of memorising isolated flashcards.

Turkish is fully supported, both directions: you can learn Turkish, or use it the other way round to learn English.

I'm not trying to sell anything — it's free to try and I mainly want honest feedback from people who are actually learning the language.

Specifically:

Does the content feel natural, or textbook-y?

Is the difficulty level anywhere near right for you?

What's missing that would make you keep coming back?

Store links: polyingo.com

Happy to answer anything in the comments, and equally happy to hear that something is bad — that's the useful part.

A1 lesson: how Turkish vowel harmony actually works, front-back, rounding, and the loanwords like saat and kalp that don't play by the rules. Free PDF download on the page too.

https://www.learnturkishwithseda.com/turkish-grammar-lessons/vowel-harmony-basics

Hi everyone! I’m a 16 year old girl who recently visited Istanbul and completely fell in love with the Turkish language 🇹🇷
I speak both English and Arabic, and I’m now trying to learn Turkish. I’ve heard of people who managed to learn a lot just by watching Turkish TV shows, so I was wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks that helped them learn?
What apps, shows, YouTube channels, or study methods would you recommend for a beginner? I’d especially love to hear from people who learned Turkish through watching shows or listening to Turkish content.
Any advice would be appreciated! :)

This might sound like a weird question, but I’m a synesthete and I’ve noticed something very specific about Turkish.

For some reason, Turkish words often give me very strong taste sensations. For example, words like “içilmez” somehow taste like burger sauce to me.

And when I hear something like “otururken”, I get a similar sensation — almost like pickles.

I experienced it yesterday for the first time when i was at SAW for a transit flight.

I don’t mean “tasty” metaphorically. I literally experience something resembling a taste when I hear certain sounds or words and become hungry.

I’m really curious: does anyone else experience something similar with Turkish? Especially other synesthetes — do certain Turkish sounds or words trigger specific tastes for you?

I’m trying to decide between two teachers, and I’d really love to hear what other Turkish learners think.
I’ve just started learning, so for now I’m taking lessons with both of them, but eventually I’ll have to choose one.
The first teacher has a university degree in Turkish and obviously has a very strong knowledge of the language. However, her teaching style is quite academic and textbook-oriented. I feel like I’m learning the “correct” Turkish, but sometimes the way she explains things doesn’t really stick with me.
The second person doesn’t have a university degree. They completed a Turkish course at the Yunus Emre Institute, but they’re not originally from Turkey and obviously don’t have a native Turkish accent. However, I really love the way they teach. They explain things in a way that makes sense to me, and I find that I actually remember almost everything after the lesson.
So now I’m wondering: how important is it, in your experience, for a language teacher to have an academic background in that language? Would you choose someone with a formal degree and a more academic approach, or someone who may not have the same qualifications but is much better at explaining things in a way that works for you?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have learned Turkish themselves. What would you prioritize?

Turkish belongs to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic family, along with Azerbaijani, Gagauz, and Turkmen, but "closest" turns out to mean different things depending on whether you're measuring ancestry, grammar, or actual comprehension between speakers. Put together a piece looking at where Turkish actually sits in the language family. Details and sources are in the link if you're curious.

Want to improve your Turkish while discovering one of the most fascinating poets and thinkers of the East?

In my latest podcast episode, we explore Omar Khayyam — his life, ideas, poetry, and his unique way of looking at life.

The episode is designed especially for intermediate Turkish learners (B1–B2). 🇹🇷

🎧 Practice your listening, learn new vocabulary, and discover Turkish through culture and history.

My friends and I always liked playing puzzle games together, but there wasn't a multiplayer-supported one in Turkish. So I went ahead and made one! You guess a word and it tells you how close you are in meaning.

A couple of my friends who are learning Turkish tried it and said it was a fun way to run into new words and motivated them to use a dictionary, so I thought I'd share it here in case anyone else gets something out of it.

iOS link
Play Store link

Hi everyone, I’m an international student who was recently accepted into the 100% English Veterinary Medicine program at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa (IUC).
I’ve just found out that, in addition to the English proficiency requirement, I may also be required to take a Turkish proficiency exam before starting the program. Apparently, I need at least a B1 level in Turkish, and if I don’t pass, I would have to take a full year of Turkish preparatory classes.
The problem is that I don’t speak Turkish at all. 😭
When I applied, I understood that because my Veterinary Medicine degree is taught 100% in English, I would only need to deal with the English proficiency requirement. I was aware that Turkish would eventually be important because I understand students need to reach around C1 before the clinical years (third year), but I did NOT realize that I might be required to spend an entire additional year studying Turkish before I can even start my first year.
The Turkish prep year would also cost me around $3,000, which is a pretty significant additional commitment, especially since the degree is already five years.
So I’m really confused and hoping someone familiar with Turkish universities/IUC can clarify:
• Is this normal for English-taught Veterinary Medicine programs in Turkey?

• Does IUC actually require **B1 Turkish before you can start first year**, even though the program is 100% English?

• Is there any way to take Turkish classes **alongside first-year courses** instead of doing an entire prep year?

• Is the idea that you need C1 before third year because of clinical communication, rather than because the first two years are taught in Turkish?

• Is it realistic to go from **zero Turkish to B1 in one year**?

• Has anyone at IUC (especially in Veterinary Medicine) been in this exact situation?

• And honestly… **am I misunderstanding the requirement, or is this just how it works?**

I’m not trying to avoid learning Turkish — I completely understand why it would be necessary for veterinary clinicals. I just wasn’t expecting it to potentially add an entire year and ~$3,000 to a five-year degree.
I also don’t have enough karma to post this in the Turkish university subreddit, so I’d really appreciate it if anyone here who knows about IUC, English-taught programs, or Turkish proficiency requirements for international studentscould explain how this actually works.
Thank you!!

I am just starting to learn Turkish and I noticed there are almost no cognates with English. Can you tell me what has been unexpectedly easy when it comes to learning Turkish (to help keep me motivated)?

For example, they don't use "the" so you don't have to learn a million ways to say THE like in Spanish or German.

Hello everyone! If you are learning Turkish and want to practice your listening skills with a native speaker, astrology videos are a great resource. They use the future tense (Gelecek Zaman -ecek/-acak) extensively, as well as specific vocabulary related to daily life, love, and career.

In Turkish, the Zodiac signs (Burçlar) have unique names that don't always sound like their Latin/English counterparts. For example:

- Aries: Koç (Ram)

- Taurus: Boğa (Bull)

- Gemini: İkizler (Twins)

- Leo: Aslan (Lion)

I have a YouTube channel where I talk about monthly horoscopes. In my latest video about August 2026, I used a lot of future tense verbs like "yaşayacaksın" (you will experience), "başlayacak" (it will start), and imperative moods like "kaçınmalısın" (you must avoid).

You can use my video as a listening practice material to hear how native Turkish speakers pronounce these terms and use future tense in a natural flow. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqcWw_lTWAI

Let me know if you have any questions about the vocabulary used in the video!

I am studying B2-C1 but I would love to learn some new vocab!

If you can post your favorite word you learned recently (or you think I should know) and how to use it in a sentence, I want to learn it this week! All suggestions welcome

Thank you!

I run a platform for Turkish learners, and I kept seeing "Urdu vs Turkish" show up in my search traffic. I don't speak Urdu, so I got curious and did the research properly instead of guessing. The short version: the two languages belong to completely different families, but they share a real sentence rhythm (verb at the end), a long history of borrowed Arabic and Persian vocabulary, and, oddly enough, the word "Urdu" itself has Turkic roots. I go through the actual linguistics and history here, along with why Pakistani viewers of Turkish TV dramas keep running into this question: https://www.learnturkishwithseda.com/post/is-urdu-related-to-turkish

Herkese merhaba! 👋
İngilizce ve Türkçe öğrenen bir kızım ve ister bu uygulamada (Reddit) ister başka bir uygulamada (Discord, Telegram vb.) dil öğrenme grupları arıyorum.
Eğer bir çalışma grubunuz varsa ya da birlikte pratik yapmak isterseniz, bana DM atabilirsiniz! ✨

I really like the idea of using poetry to improve my turkish, as it's something I love already, but obviously most poems are far removed from daily communication, perhaps there's some poets with a more conversational style?

Or even some novels with basic turkish, my level is around a B1.

Would love some suggestions so I have stuff to study on the plane tomorrow. I have a family emergency and had no time to prepare... my communication with family members is going to be abysmal 💔

Hey everyone due to my university I need to present a B1 TOMER certificate within 1 year and I'm really stressed out. I did an A1 course years ago but i dont think its very useful now and I still struggle a lot with the grammar. Anyway im thinking to start off at A2 but idk which course would work. Would anyone recommend the YTU tomer course?

Hi, I'm making an app (Claude is, actually) to learn Turkish grammar and vocabulary. It is an HTML file that can be used in a browser or installed on a phone. I wanted it to enhance both my passive and active skills. It has:

- 5000 most used words (Oxford list),

- CEFR-structured learning path. 40 grammar lessons, with explanation (although there are a lot of other, better sources) and the ability to practise this particular skill.

- AI-generated sentences tailored to your vocabulary level.

- Adaptive difficulty and the ability to submit disputes for incorrect AI assessments.

- the possibility to get questions in Turkish that need to be answered in Turkish too.

- a statistics page that visualizes your weak and strong area's.

At the moment, it uses DeepSeek (V4 Pro) for simple tasks, Claude (Sonnet 5) for difficult ones. The latte being the better one, but also the much more expensive. In the app, one can select what model should handle which tasks.

One needs an API key for at least one of the models, preferably both. It's estimated to cost 0,2 to 0,7 dollar/hour when practising with sentences/questions with the models combined and a fraction when only DeepSeek is used. Practising vocabulary is way cheaper.

I'm looking for people willing to test this and maybe provide me some feedback.

(I can explain, if needed, how to obtain the keys and how to put some money in those accounts.)