Turkish is the most widely spoken Turkic language in the world with over 70 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and it’s also spoken by smaller groups in countries like Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Iraq and other parts of Europe and Asia.
Modern day Turkish is the descendant of Ottoman Turkish and its predecessor - Old Anatolian Turkish. Throughout the years, old Turkish absorbed many Arabic and Persian words and was even written in Arabic. In 1928, however, the Arabic script was replaced by the Latin alphabet. Essentially, with this change a new literary language emerged, making the old one obsolete.
You might be wondering why someone would pick Turkish over some of the more widely spoken languages, but in reality there are plenty of reasons. About 75 million people speak Turkish as their native tongue and around 15 million speak it as a second language. This makes it one of the top 15 most spoken languages across the world.
One of the main reasons as to why people have an interest in learning Turkish is the geographical position of Turkey. The country is strategically connected to Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. This means that anyone who has an interest in the politics or business relations of those regions will heavily benefit from speaking the language. Business opportunities in those regions will only keep growing as Turkey continues to quickly develop as a global economic power. Also, with Turkey applying to become a member of the European Union, their economy and importance will only grow.
Furthermore, learning Turkish will open many doors for you. The Turkic language family consists of over 30 languages spoken in Central Asia and some places in Eastern Europe.
Many people believe that Turkish is a difficult language to learn because it comes from a different family of languages and it has nothing to do with English. This however, is not entirely true! Although there are other Western European languages that you can likely learn faster, learning Turkish is certainly not an impossible task!
First of all, the Turkish language uses the latin alphabet! Although there are 29 letters, instead of 26 like in English, you’ll easily get used to it. Second, the language is almost completely phonetic! This means that unlike in many other languages, each letter makes only one sound, so you won’t have to remember multiple exceptions and different scenarios.
As with any language, mastering Turkish won’t be an easy or quick journey, however with the right mindset and preparation you’ll improve faster than you think!
Nowadays, with the amount of resources available online it’s never been easier to pick up a new language. You can buy books, download learning apps on your phone or watch YouTube tutorials.
If you’re looking to improve quickly, however, we’d recommend finding an online tutor. TutorExtra is a platform that offers online courses in over 1000 subjects. Browse through our qualified tutors, choose the one that suits your needs the best and start learning today!
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