Turkish Grammar

Book Description

Since its appearance in 1967, Professor Lewis's Turkish Grammar has been the standard work on the language throughout the English-speaking world. This revised and fully updated new edition further reflects the results of the language reform movement which, though not so drastic in its effect on the spoken language, has made anything written before the early 1930s, and a lot since, increasingly obscure to subsequent generations. Incorporating much new material, it presents an authoritative, lucid, and engaging text, setting out every form and construction of pre- and post-reform Turkish that may be encountered in print, as well as colloquial usages. Reviews of the first edition: 'This is by far the most comprehensive Turkish grammar ever published in English [Professor Lewis] guides the student through the delicate labyrinths of the language with sympathetic understanding and what is rare in the grammarian humour The typography and arrangement of the book are beyond all praise, and all in all the book is a most notable achievement.' Royal Central Asian Journal '[The] thinnest chapters of a grammar are sometimes those on syntax; but in this book the discussions of modern Turkish syntax are the strongest sections, illustrated by lucid and penetrating analyses of sentence structure, with no skirting round difficulties or papering over of cracks This book will certainly be instructive and indeed enjoyable reading to every student of Turkish who has already made some progress in the language.' SOAS Bulletin 'Professor Lewis displays both a mastery of Turkish grammar and an understanding of how that grammar can be best presented to English speakers. His style is clear and readable, his overall approach extremely practical.' Middle East Journal

Customer Reviews:

Excellent but not for beginner........2005-09-17

This book is an excellent resource, but not a good introduction to the language for a beginner. I'm glad I bought it, but didn't really start using it until I had been studying Turkish for a while. So, if you are sure you will reach a more advanced level buy it now. If not, it's better to buy introductory books that are concerned with teaching rather than being an encyclopedia of grammar.

Týrkýe ýýrenayý seviyorum!.......2004-07-23

(based on the 1984 reprint edition)

I have been studying Turkish on my own for the past three months and G.L. Lewis?s Turkish Grammar is by far and away the most useful book on the subject I have come across.

My first exposure to the book was when I signed it out from our public library ? and overnight after just glossing through a few sections I felt my understanding of Turkish grammar had doubled compared to what I had learnt in the past couple of months. The layout is such that you can pick things up very quickly.

Turkish Grammar has an excellent layout which allows it to tackle the subject in a quite thorough manner - yet remaining concise with numerous examples with accompanying English translations to prevent the new student from getting buried under a mass of mind-boggling grammatical terminology. The terminology is still there for those who know it ? but not essential knowledge to find one?s way through the book. It is very easy to look up and locate specific details and find a quick answer to any questions or concerns.

Turkish has a notorious reputation for being a difficult language ? where in fact it is so analytical, consistent, regular and logical that (after mastering the basics of Turkish grammar) one has to seriously wonder just how foreigners are able to acquire even a working knowledge of English ? a language overflowing in inconsistencies and irregularity.

My only complaint ? and a minor one, at that ? is that it does examine some of the obscure stuff like the older Ottoman forms imported from Persian and Arabic which have become obsolete or rarely encountered in general daily language since the Atat?rk language reforms in the 1930s. Such material should have just been compiled together and included in a separate reference appendix ? because the general modern student really has no need to know about obsolete Ottoman usages. That all said, but if the book was going to look at the Ottoman language, it would have been interesting to have included for reference the old Arabic script which the Ottomans used. But this complaint is just a minor point and in no way blemishes this outstanding work.

If you only have one book on the Turkish language - this is THE ONE!

THE standard Turkish reference grammar.......2004-05-14

This is the best reference grammar of Turkish currently available, and has for years been the preferred reference of intermediate to advanced English-speaking students of Turkish. (Note: It is not a textbook, but a reference grammer intended to clarify and expand on what one has learned from a textbook or course. Also, it is a traditional grammar, with little of the jargon or theoretical speculation of "modern" linguistics.)

Its strength is the incredible richness of the material it contains, and the way that this material is explained. Lewis clearly loves the Turkish language, and has been collecting material and thinking about it for many years. He thus covers very many constructions that are simply not dealt with at all in other books. Moreover, he writes beautiful (British) English, and has a particular gift for finding an English expression that parallels the Turkish one so closely that the reader both gets and is able to recall the point.

Beginners in Turkish will likely find this book too much at first, but after getting their bearings in the language and looking to learn more, they will find this one a treasure-chest of information that is a pleasure to read.

A godsend if you need a thorough and logical grammar.......2003-02-05

Excellent grammar book! Mr. Lewis' book is supremely logical without being unnaturally systematic. The book covers the breadth of the lanuguage in a thorough yet extraordiarily concise manner. He, on occasion, will grace the reader with a bit of modest humor while remaining pertinent. Obviously an intelligent man who has an impressive grasp of the language and who from this learned perspective is able to break-down and effectively convey the grammar of the Turkish lanugage. The style is not for the faint of heart, but for those who are eager to grasp the scope of the language. Woe that he has not written a grammar for all the languages I have chosen to study.

Average customer rating:

Save your money
just enough but just old fashioned
So Far My Favorite Phrase Book...
A must-have book for any beginner!
A must-have book for any beginner!

Just Enough Turkish (Just Enough)
Passport Books
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0844295183

Customer Reviews:

Save your money.......2007-04-09

I found this book to not be very useful. It was lacking in providing many words and phrases that would have been helpful during my visit to Turkey.

just enough but just old fashioned.......2005-01-06

well, I didn't have the chance to see the whole book, however I took a look at the first few pages on amazon.com and all I can say is that the Turkish correspondences in this book are so old fashioned that you can hardly find anyone speaking "this" Turkish on the street! Turks can indeed understand you when you speak with these expressions but don't think they will get what you want to say immediately. Maybe a more contemporary one would help better.. plus I hated the cover art, Turkish people no longer look like that..

So Far My Favorite Phrase Book..........2002-05-17

...if you are going to Turkey, and you're only going to get one book about the language, this is the one I'd recommend.

My oldest son is marrying a Turkish girl in Istanbul, and while we're all going to join them there for the wedding, I'm trying to learn enough of the language to be able to talk a little, and understand a bit. My second son just wants to get by, my third son is somewhere in between. We are all using this book!

For me, it has been a starter book (though In Flight Turkish was my first and best, since it had a CD to help me comprehend the spoken word). For my two younger sons, it has been a way to learn the essentials for it seems if you are going to another country, you should be able to say some basic things in the language of the country. Each of them has their own, to stick in a pocket or backpack and carry around, stateside and in Turkey.

This book is small (maybe 1/2 inch thick, 6" x 4" in size (or so) and structured in a way even a (brilliant) ten year old finds easy.

A great beginner's book, a getting by book, a getting around book.

A must-have book for any beginner!.......2002-04-20

I have this book, and it's the best purchase I ever made! It's very simple and direct in its format, and has a really excellent explanation of how to pronounce the words and letters. In fact, of all the Turkish language books I've tried out, this one explains the pronounciation the best.
It focuses on only what is needed to know, if you plan to visit Turkey. If you need a book that will get you started, but don't want something that makes the language more in-depth than you need for your preliminary study -- this is the book to have! Plus, it's really small, so you'll be able to carry it with you in your purse or backpack or briefcase with ease.

A must-have book for any beginner!.......2002-04-20

Average customer rating:

Learning Turkish
A Grammar Manual
Good middle difficulty starter book
out dated
You have to be smart

Elementary Turkish
Lewis V. Thomas
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486250644

Book Description

Proven from years of success at Princeton University, this comprehensive grammar and exercise book yields maximum results in 23 lessons covering all essentials of grammar from alphabet to progressive verb forms. Enables students to quickly understand and use basic patterns of modern Turkish. Full glossary.

Customer Reviews:

Learning Turkish.......2007-05-07

This standard for the English learning Turkish is everything I hoped it would be. I am working my way through the lessons with the help of my Turkish friends and hope to be able to speak and understand with some proficiency when I next visit Turkey.

A Grammar Manual.......2007-01-29

This book is more or less for advanced students of language who have a better capacity to absorb grammar and language structure than the average tourist wishing to learn a few words in the local language. Some of it is outdated as language is constantly changing, but the vast majority of the information is useful for today.

Good middle difficulty starter book.......2004-02-20

I use this book in combination with a simple tourist primer (for light studying while walking) and other more challenging books (that require more motivation). This book is excellent as a vehicle for steady (though not completely rigorous) acquisition of vocabulary and grammar.

out dated.......2003-11-18

I've lived in Turkey for two years now and have a collection of books on Turkish. This one I would rate at the bottom of the list due to several things. 1) The Turkish it teaches is out of date, most Turks who I show this to (including my teacher) agree on this and find many things about the book laughable. This shows itself in both the vocab and in the conjugations (the future negative is condugated as "-miyecek" for example). 2) The descriptions are incredibly obtuse and technical and I was only able to understand them based on a few months of private lessons about the same concepts. If I had tried to learn on my own from this book I can't imagine how long it would take. The only positive thing I can state about it is there are a lot of exercises at the end of each chapter, something missing in every other book I've found... but even the answer keys to these exercises are sometimes wrong, use outdated words and forms, and ask you about concepts not yet taught. Perhaps for linguists this might be useful but as a begining and intermediate student I have found it incredibly frustrating. Many other books such as Teach Yourself Turkish are much easier to understand and explain the concepts so much simpler.

You have to be smart.......2003-09-15

It's a Turkish grammar, rather than a primer for a complete beginner.
It was written for Princeton students who must be a very intelligent bunch. Sometimes the English is hard to follow and you have to be smart to understand it.. It's full of sentences like "the infinitives - common or light- may govern the objective definite suffix , or other appropriate suffixes, on preceding substantives, just as do finite verb forms." and "the common infinitive with the following combinations of two suffixes (1) the ablative suffix (2) the conditional suffix, means....."
It may be a little out of date. It says the lira contains a hundred kurus. Maybe things move slowly in Princeton.
I think it might be helpful for someone who had learned to talk Turkish in an ungrammatical way - maybe lives in Turkey- and wanted to become more correct. There are no tapes.

Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course Audiopackage

Average customer rating:

Great book=)
Good balance of grammr and vocabulary.
"What David wish he knew before he moved to Turkey"
GREAT BOOK!
Study Hard

Teach Yourself Turkish Complete Course Audiopackage
Asuman Celen-Pollard , David W. Pollard , and David Pollard
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0071434232

Book Description

Idling in Istanbul? Teach yourself Turkish!

With Teach Yourself it's possible for virtually anyone to learn and experience the languages of the world, from Afrikaans to Zulu; Ancient Greek to Modern Persian; Beginner's Latin to Biblical Hebrew. Follow any of the Teach Yourself Language Courses Audiopackages at your own pace or use them as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are professionally designed for self-guided study, making them one of the most enjoyable and easy to use language courses you can find. Audiopackages include an instructional paperback book and two companion 60-minute audio CDs.

Prepared by experts in the language, each course begins with the basics and gradually promotes the student to a level of smooth and confident communication, including:

Step-by-step guide to pronunciation and grammar
Regular and irregular verb tables
Plenty of practice exercises and answers
Practical vocabulary and a bilingual glossary
Clear, uncluttered, and user-friendly layout
An exploration of the culture
And much more

Customer Reviews:

Great book=).......2007-10-13

Hei! I'm a norwegian(!) girl who's been trying to learn herself turkish. this book is really awesome!! it explains all the grammar so nice, so even me who's a foreigner can understand it. (And I've learned quite a lot of english grammar as well I think;) The only thing I'd like more of, are the exercises at the end of each chapter. (I don't always get the point in just one exersice). apart from that, this is the best book I've found so far. (And I've tried several:P )
Good luck to everyone buying it!! Eli:)

Good balance of grammr and vocabulary. .......2007-09-30

I found this book to be the most helpful learning tool for the Turkish language. It has a good blend of grammer and vocabulary. There are many helpful exercises including crossword puzzles and fill in the blank questions. Most books that I've found only cover grammar and don't have any practical information. I visited Turkey and all the expressions that I needed were found in this book. Even with grammatical errors, the locals were able to understand me. If you want to be a Turkish scholar then spend $200 on another course, but if you are just a tourist and want to know "practical" Turkish then this is the best resource available. It is in very simple terms and easy to understand. I definitely suggest this book.

"What David wish he knew before he moved to Turkey".......2007-05-22

This book teaches the grammer very well. For me it is helpful alongside other picture based (Such as Rosetta Stone) learning programs. I have 4 more months to improve my Turkish before my trip and I think that I am well on my way with this program. It will take determiniation though. The hardest thing i find is the pronunciation. If you already speak Spanish it may be even more difficult as the sounds are more French and German like.

GREAT BOOK!.......2007-02-10

BUY THIS AND THE LONELY PLANET'S TURKISH PHRASEBOOK AND THE BERLITZ DICTIONARY AND YOUR SET!!

Study Hard.......2007-01-29

The program worked really well for me to learn how to generally get around in the language, but immersion combined with diligence in completing the workbook exercises is really the key to making this program successful.

Langenscheidt's Universal Turkish Dictionary: Turkish-English/English-Turkish

Average customer rating:

Kinda feel a bit cheated
Dictionary review
Langenscheidt's universal turkish dictionary
Small and suits my needs
Could be a lot better - very out of date

Langenscheidt's Universal Turkish Dictionary: Turkish-English/English-Turkish
H. J. Kornrumpf
Manufacturer: Langenscheidt Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0887291678

Book Description

Dictionaries in this Universal line are complete, concise, and priced to sell. They are small enough for pocket or purse, comprehensive enough for classroom use or casual conversation. Up to 35,000 entries.

Customer Reviews:

Kinda feel a bit cheated.......2007-01-18

I honestly think it would have been in better condition and cheaper if I had purchased it new. It is a little haggered on the outside. However it is a perfect travel size and I look forward to referencing it upon my travels all over Turkey. Service was very prompt.

Dictionary review.......2007-01-04

Good basic dictionary and the right size to fit in a pocket or the glove compartment of the car.

Langenscheidt's universal turkish dictionary.......2006-11-06

Just the basics, but there isn't currently much choice in the low price category.

Small and suits my needs.......2002-05-17

Mine is the Turkish book, purchased in Istanbul in October 2002 in a Turkish bookshop. Bright yellow, an inch thick and only about 3 inches by 4 inches in size, it suits my needs!

All I wanted with this dictionary was to have a little book to carry around, to supplement the Turkish language books when they miss a verb. I enjoy 'reading' it, learning sometimes how words are related, sometimes how they are not. There are words that define families that are wonderful (father's brother, sister's brother, etc.)

Evidently (according to the only other legit review of this dictionary) it is out of date -- mine doesn't really appear to be, (how does a language go completely out of date in 20 years?)

This dictionary doesn't deal with colloquial phrases (you need a colloquial phrase book for that), but does have a ton of words stuffed in.

A supplement to my collection, this book is just fine though perhaps it doesn't have all the current catch phrases!

Could be a lot better - very out of date.......1998-04-29

This dictionary seems handy enough until you actually try to use it. Turkish is a constantly changing language and the creators of this dictionary don't seem to have a grasp of true Turkish. After using the dictionary I am very often I corrected by native Turks who say "Where did that come from; that's totally wrong."
And, as I become more fluent myself, I see the vast number of discrepancies contained both in this book and the larger Turkish one by Langensheidt.

201 Turkish Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses (201 Verbs Series)

Average customer rating:

turkish verbs conjugated, hmmm interesting...
If you have learned the rules you don't need this book!
Useful book
Somewhat helpful
Confusing explanations, too few examples

201 Turkish Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses (201 Verbs Series)
Talat Sait Halman
Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812020340

Book Description

The 201 most commonly used Turkish verbs are transliterated into the Roman alphabet and presented one to a page.

Customer Reviews:

turkish verbs conjugated, hmmm interesting..........2007-01-27

I did not see this book - ever. So what I am writing here??? Well, I am a native speaker of Turkish, so I decided to add some comments here.
I read all the comments and I have to agree that tenses-wise, Turkish is very complicated, because we have many many tenses all are expressing different things (or maybe it seems so, because all can, must, shall etc are embedded in the verb itself when tenses are applied and a conjugated verb is self-sufficient to express a full sentence. eg. I could have done it. Yapabilirdim.) In primary school when we learned the conjugation, our book only had a full page of different tenses for the same verb. And the list was applicable to every Turkish verb with adjustments of the vowel harmony. So if you want to learn Turkish, first step: start with vowel harmony (don't worry if it comes difficult, because even some native speakers find it difficult, just a tip, try to see differences by applying the wrong letter and you will see that it is difficult to pronounce the word with wrong letter.)(though there are some small exceptions, generally Turkish is a very by-the-book language, exceptions exist but either because the origin of the word is foreign or root has changed and vowel harmony applies to the original root) But the exceptions do not apply how the word is conjugated, it is fixed for all. So one is enough to see how it is done, you must know the root of the word and how harmony effects the structure. I know, it is always easier said than done =)) I believe what you would need is a very good and detailed Turkish dictionary (preferably one showing how to understand the root of the words, because if you know the root and how suffixes and prefixes work, you can easily identify the meaning of words and build your vocabulary quickly. And for verbs, better prepare a chart that can easily be seen from your work area and that would be just what you will need to work on your verbs.

If you have learned the rules you don't need this book!.......2005-07-15

The 201/501 Verb Books are great for languages like Russian, Portuguese, French, German, etc., but not for Turkish.I have perused this book several times in stores but have never been foolish enough to buy it. Considering the regularity of Turkish verbs and the simple rules of vowel harmony (which you will have to master anyway, even to speak in the simplest language) anyone who has learned the rules for forming a tense could fill out these tables by him/herself. If you want to increase your vocabulary of verbs you can buy a dictionary (Redhouse and Langenscheidt both have good ones). Let's face it, you're not going to have time to look in this book while conversing with someone in Turkey, so learning the rule for forming the tense and exercising it, is time much better spent.

Useful book.......2003-11-23

Turkish has the wonderful distinction of being one of the few languages I've seen with completely regular verbs, unlike Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Russian, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and most of the world's other major languages that I've seen books on. Japanese and Chinese are the only other ones I know that come close, as the number of irregular verbs can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

It would be interesting to know how many are like this, and perhaps some of the other Uralic languages like Turkish are too. As I said, Japanese is the only other one I know like this, and in fact there are only two irregular verbs in Japanese. Chinese, if I remember right, is also very regular since it doesn't even inflect for person or number, and I suspect the other Han Chinese family languages are similarly regular because of this, but I can't speak for the other tonal languages such as Thai and Vietnamese, but I assume Cantonese and Hakka are very regular too like Mandarin.

I also don't know how the other southeast Asian family languages compare, such as Mon, Khmer (Cambodian), Burmese, or the many other language groups and dialects in southeast Asia such as Hmong in the Mon-Khmer group. The other groups are the Bahnaric group, which includes languages like Sedang and Halang; the Senoic group, which includes Semai and Temiar; Nicorbarese, which includes Trinkat and Bompaka, Munda, which includes Juray and Remo, and the north Munda group, which includes Kork and Sora.

Actually, come to think of it, Arabic is pretty good. It has ten different verb conjugation categories, and once you know those, you're all right. In fact, they're so regular the dictionaries actually refer to them by numbers I-X.

But getting back to this book, as someone noted previously, because the verbs are completely regular, this book could probably have been about 15 pages long. The only other thing to learn is vowel harmony in Turkish, which isn't that difficult and fans of linguistics will recognize this concept from other languages where it occurs, such as in Hungarian, where it's very important. In phonetics, vowel harmony is a type of assimilation which occurs when vowels take on features of contrastive vowels elsewhere in a word or phrase. Once you know how this works, it's very difficult to misspell a word in Turkish, so even that's not really a problem. So overall, a fine book on Turkish verbs despite all the wasted wood pulp. :-)

Somewhat helpful.......2003-08-06

It's not as much help as such lists are for Indo-European languages, but with Turkish you need all the help you can get. I've been working through the Pollards' "Teach Yourself Turkish" (and by the way, to get the tapes for that you have to go to the U.K. Amazon.com) and it was helpful in recognizing strange words that are not glossed and turn out to be unfamilar verb forms that a dictionary would not give you.
The problem is that Turkish is so completely different from French or German in its entire structure that you have to learn completely different concepts. As a simple example a verb is changed to a negative form by putting a syllable in the middle of it. I haven't yet figured the vowel harmony thing. I'm still planning my trip to Turkey for October.

Confusing explanations, too few examples.......2002-12-27

The book describes the tenses, but fails to give enough translated examples of most of them. I frequently had to go to other texts to find out which tense to use. What do the terms "Indefinite past, Necessity, Optative, Conditional" etc mean? I can guess, but I can't be sure. This book might be useful as a spelling aid, because the manner of adding endings to verb roots can be difficult at first, but it leaves the student with almost as many questions as answers. The explanation of vowel harmony is too brief, and lacks sufficient examples. You will need to read about vowel harmony elsewhere,
Also missing are the common idioms which are found on each page of the "501 Verbs" books published by Barrons Educational Series.

The New Redhouse Portable Dictionary: English-Turkish, Turkish-English (Dictionary)

Average customer rating:

A Little Pink Powerhouse

The New Redhouse Portable Dictionary: English-Turkish, Turkish-English (Dictionary)
S. Bezmez , C. H. Brown , and R. Blakney
Manufacturer: Sev Matbaacilik Ve Yayincilik
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9758176005

Book Description

Turkish-English, English-Turkish dictionary; 80,000 words fully defined

Customer Reviews:

A Little Pink Powerhouse.......2007-09-03

This Redhouse portable dictionary is the one I use the most. It's the right size (I don't strain a shoulder muscle picking it up), and the two dictionaries are indexed by alphabet - those neat little thumbnail-shaped tabs. But best of all, the definitions often give a variety of uses for the word, and in different forms. For example: The definition of "speak" includes "speak out against," "be spoken for," "speak one's mind" and "We've had no snow to speak of all winter" - among others. This dictionary is a word finder and language lesson, all in one. I highly recommend investing in it.

Colloquial Turkish : The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series) (Colloquial Series (Book Only))

Average customer rating:

Horrible pronunciations
Full of mistakes
A godawful mess, but completely necessary (for now)...
One of the best...
I recommend it!

Colloquial Turkish : The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series) (Colloquial Series (Book Only))
Ad Backus
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0415157463

Book Description

Colloquial Turkish is the ideal introduction to the language, offering a step-by-step approach to Turkish as it is spoken and written today and requiring no previous knowledge of the language.

Customer Reviews:

Horrible pronunciations.......2005-09-11

This book has some useful information about "daily" Turkish. Some slangs and corrupted form of expressions which is used by many Turkish people today. However if you're looking for a book teaches Turkish Language "Literally", this book is not for you.

If you are interested in cassettes included, don't buy this book. Pronunciation in coversations are horrible. No intonations and no rhythm. All men are speaking with a Eastern Turkey accent.

Might be useful for teaching eastern accent, and corrupted expressions.

Full of mistakes.......2004-07-21

The book is full of mistakes and quite odd phrases. As a native speaker of Turkish (I teach Turkish, thus I have the book) I find the dialogues and passages artificial. Some idioms and phrases are used out of place and depending on the context the learner may choose to use them, they may result in embarrasment on the part of the speaker and/or hearer.
In terms of the organization of a language teaching/learning book, like many other non-English teaching books, it does not follow the criteria for a good book; such as presenting the subject matter clearly and in an organized way so that it is not confusing for the learner. The exercises are usually controlled, which is not a very good thing.
All in all, it fails in three important aspects: The correct use of the language and grammar, the authentic use of them, and the organization of the material.
I hope there are better alternatives around. This certainly doesn't qualify as a good one.

A godawful mess, but completely necessary (for now)..........2002-09-09

This book's a disaster - the material is presented in a disorganized manner; there are several errors (in grammar, in spelling, in usage, and even in class - Arabic or peasanty words that you won't often come across) in the dialogues and some in the answers; it's much harder to follow than the earlier edition written by different authors; it assumes a little background info on Turkish, which it shouldn't; and, above all, its back cover, claiming "jargon-free grammar notes," is an out-and-out lie: you'll have to pore through ablative cases, converbs, and relative clauses to get to the good stuff.

BUT - the good stuff is fantastic. The book fills a much-needed space in your studies. Other books are too didactic (such as the In Three Months series); others are too basic (the Teach Yourself book), and then you're left on your own. This book is hefty enough, intermediate enough, and colloquial enough to be of help when you're at the position of knowing the basics but not ready yet to read a Turkish newspaper and be on your own. The example sentences are superb and give you much practice in dealing with the topics so poorly presented. Probably the best way to approach it is to get another book first, then to get this book, skip the grammatical expositions, and to go over the sample sentences and exercises with a spouse or friend, who can help give other contexts in which they're used, and even correct some of the errors.

One of the best..........2002-05-17

Over the past few months, as I've struggled to learn a bit of Turkish, books on that topic have filled my shelves and backpack. Every time I find another one, I add it to my collection. My addiction to all language books Turkish isn't just based on the delusion that owning a lot of books will automatically give me knowledge.

What I've discovered is that one book just won't do it -- (see my other reviews on this topic).

Rudimentary books are necessary at first to give you basic phrases you'd need. Once you find you can count to ten, say hello, good-bye, yes, no, please, thank you, how are you, fine, etc. you'll find a need for deeper understanding, a larger vocabulary and a better understanding of how to put sentences together.

In my opinion, this book (the 8th I've bought) is so far the best of those that teach you the language, not just phrases. It comes with two tapes (you MUST have something to listen to -- pronunciation is essential to get your message across correctly). Although you could get along without the tapes which do not cover all the chapters, dialogues or tests, if you are serious, make sure you get the tapes -- they are extremely helpful.

Using this book (in my opinion) works best if you have started with a couple of smaller, basic phrase books, and have a self-forgiving attitude. Turkish is different from English. Some parts are easy to learn once you understand the format -- others are difficult exceptions, difficult to comprehend. This book has helped me understand the tenses that are needed (so I don't have to only use the present tense for everything in my life!)

The tests are sometimes offered using words you haven't learned yet -- this is an intentional stretch for your learning curve -- and is a good thing. I'm pretty sure I've found an error or two in the answers (which is why it is good to have several books and sources on hand).

The more I did the lessons and then went back to my basic survivor books, the more I understood, and the more I could say.

So far this is the best book I've found -- I suspect the next level requires lessons with real people, which is where I'm headed!

Excellent for the mid to advanced learner!

Iyi talih!

I recommend it!.......2002-04-20

I decided to learn a little of the Turkish language 2 months ago. I borrowed this book from my university's library, and held on to it for 1 and 1/2 months before returning it. I was actually late returning it! This is because it is such a good book! I was so disappointed to have to let go of it, that I decided I would buy myself this book as soon as I could - and I have just placed an order for it! I can't wait to have it on my bookshelf! :)
It has an excellent pronounciation guide, though it does make simple conversation seem more complex than necessary. But overall, I would say it is worth the purchase. It also provides a decent explanation of Turkish verb endings. The writing style of the authors is clear to the beginner. And isn't that just a great picture on the cover? It makes me want to visit Turkey one day...

Turkish-English/English-Turkish Dictionary & Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks)

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Practical Small Book
Excellent Little Book

Turkish-English/English-Turkish Dictionary & Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks)
Charles Gates
Manufacturer: Hippocrene Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0781809045

Customer Reviews:

Practical Small Book.......2005-09-04

I am currently learning Turkish, and I have bought various reading material. This book is very practical as it is essentially a travel dictionary with a helpful set of phrases and sentences suitable for people who travel to Turkey or other regions that speak Turkish.
I was going to give this 5 stars because it's a very compacted book with lots of good information. I eventually gave it just 4 stars because it's not exactly a complete dictionary, and I feel that it shouldn't have titled itself that way because it can be somewhat misleading; at least that's how I felt. It is more of a travel dictionary.
Bottom line:
This is a reference book, and might I add a very helpful one for those who want all the basics summed up nicely in addition with every day words and conversation phrases yet doesn't want that much learning per say. However, it is not a real dictionary so if you are looking for a solid Turkish-English, English-Turkish dictionary, might I suggest the Redhouse dictionary series (made in Turkey), which I also bought. If you intend to really teach yourself, this book will not suffice.

Excellent Little Book.......2004-04-04

This is an excellent little book with a succinct and interesting summary of Turkish grammar (no exercises, just a complete review of the basics). It has an extremely useful bi-lingual dictionary of common everyday words and terms (some of which I found more easily here as opposed to in a larger Turkish dictionary). The last half of the book consists of a Turkish Phrasebook divided into topics of interest for quick reference, such as Professions, Family Matters, Directions, Sightseeing, Weather, etc.

Parkett No. 75: Kai Althoff, Glenn Brown, Dana Schutz (Parkett)

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Parkett No. 75: Kai Althoff, Glenn Brown, Dana Schutz (Parkett)
Kai Althoff , Glenn Brown , and Dana Schutz
Manufacturer: Parkett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 3907582357
Release Date: 2006-02-01

Book Description

For over two decades Parkett has presented unparalleled collaborations with key international contemporary artists, and paired their work with discussions by esteemed writers and critics. Issue No. 75 spotlights Kai Althoff, Glenn Brown, and Dana Schutz. Althoff's portfolio includes both erotically charged paintings of men in uniform and innocent "coming-of-age" colored pencil illustrations, sensuous work--at once homoerotic, punk, and devotional--that radiates a somber luminosity. Then there are his awkward, life-size installations, which appear to be made by some sort of drunken puppeteer. The "master" Glenn Brown employs a sorcerer's bag of techniques to produce retro-Rococo paintings and sculptures, maximally intricate, hyper-composed, and rendered with the intense detail of a tripped-out sci-fi animator. His fully-realized, uninhabitable dreamscapes reflect on the bizarre world in which we all live. Dana Schutz's painterly virtuosity and devotion to the medium also look back in time, but her brilliant, confessional exposition is very much of the now. Be the subject a dissected corpse, a dazed hippie chick, or her own boyfriend on the beach, Schutz's painted world, her "monster mash," is decadently radiant and ecstatic, and also frighteningly ghoulish. Text contributors include Jordan Kantor, Viet Loers, Oliver Koerner von Gustorf, Jennifer Higgie, Trevor Smith, Jarg Heiser, Michael Lobel, Daniel Baumann, Rachel Kent, Duncan Fallowell, Angelika Affentranger-Kichrath, Gian Maraniello and Rudolf Schmitz. Plus a photographic insert by Balthasar Burkhard, and spine by Carsten Nicolai.

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