Grégoire Maillard

About this page

I have been learning Turkish since November 2022.
On this page which I will complete over time, I intend to gather ressources that I found the most useful for the process of learning Turkish, as well as different cultural ressources to make learning more fun!

Before all

Here are different ressources I personally use and enjoy while learning turkish

• Duolingo:
  It is a great introduction to the language and a simple way to keep studying on a daily basis! It lacks of some fundamentals explanations but will end up teaching you +1k words.
• Duome:
  It's a great ressource full of tips and notes on what is missing on Duolingo. Overall, a great complement to any study.
• Grammar books:
  My favorite and most useful book was 45 leçons pour parler turc which explains very clearly many concepts and makes the correct parallel with french language. Many exercises guide the learning.

Lesson 1 - Turkish Vowel Harmony

1. Major Vowel Harmony

Major vowel harmony concerns the frontness or backness of vowels. Turkish vowels are divided into two groups:

• Back vowels: a, ı, o, u
• Front vowels: e, i, ö, ü

Rule:

• If the first vowel in a root word is a back vowel, subsequent vowels will also be back vowels.
• If the first vowel is a front vowel, subsequent vowels will also be front vowels.

Examples:

• Back vowels: kalem ("pen") → kalemim ("my pen")
• Front vowels: köy ("village") → köyüm ("my village")

2. Minor Vowel Harmony

Minor vowel harmony applies to the roundedness and openness of vowels. Vowels are grouped into:

• Unrounded vowels: a, e, ı, i
• Rounded vowels: o, ö, u, ü

• A rounded vowel is followed by a rounded vowel or an unrounded close vowel (ı, i).
• An unrounded vowel is followed by an unrounded vowel.

• Rounded vowel: yüz ("face") → yüzüm ("my face")
• Unrounded vowel: ev ("house") → evim ("my house")

Lesson 2 - Tense Overview

Conjugation of "Okumak" (to read) in Various Tenses

Descriptions of Turkish Tenses

• Present Simple (Geniş Zaman): Used for general truths, habits, routines, and timeless facts. Example: "Kitap okurum." (I read books.)
• Present Continuous (Şimdiki Zaman): Used for actions happening at the moment or ongoing actions. Example: "Kitap okuyorum." (I am reading a book.)
• Past Simple (Geçmiş Zaman): Used for completed actions in the past with certainty. Example: "Kitap okudum." (I read a book.)
• Future Simple (Gelecek Zaman): Used for actions or events expected to happen in the future. Example: "Kitap okuyacağım." (I will read a book.)
• Past Continuous (Şimdiki Zamanın Hikayesi): Used for actions ongoing at a specific point in the past. Example: "Kitap okuyordum." (I was reading a book.)
• Past Perfect (Miș'li Geçmiş Zaman): Used for actions completed before another past action. Example: "Kitap okumuştum." (I had read a book.)
• Future Perfect (Gelecek Zamanın Hikayesi): Used for actions completed before a specific time/event in the future. Example: "Kitap okumuş olacağım." (I will have read a book.)
• Conditional (Şart Kipi): Used for hypothetical situations or conditions. Example: "Kitap okursam." (If I read a book.)
• Past Conditional (Geçmiş Şart Kipi): Used for hypothetical situations or regrets about the past. Example: "Kitap okumuş olsaydım." (If I had read a book.)
• Imperative (Emir Kipi): Used for commands, requests, or suggestions. Example: "Kitap oku!" (Read the book!)