Turkish Prep
Turkish Prep / Learn Turkish

Turkish from zero

You have tried an app and learned some nouns. What you do not have is a sentence you can say to a person who answers back. That gap is not closed by more vocabulary; it is closed by someone correcting you in real time, which is the entire point of a private lesson.

Online, one to one. I set the fee by lesson length and how often we meet, so tell me what you have in mind.

Mimar Sinan
Turkish Language and Literature
MA
Old Turkic
Marmara University
Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language
Kubbealtı Academy
Ottoman archival documents

How the lessons run

The lesson is in Turkish from the first minute. Not as a purist gesture — because it is faster. You are learning a language whose grammar is almost entirely regular, and hearing that regularity in use is worth more than hearing it explained in English.

I use English outside the lesson: scheduling, what we are doing next week, a question you want to ask in writing. If a point genuinely will not land any other way, we step out of Turkish for a minute and step back in.

We start with sound and the alphabet, because Turkish spelling is honest and you can use it immediately. By the end of the first month you will be reading aloud words you have never seen and getting them right.

What we cover

Sound and scriptThe 29 letters, the six that are new to you, and the two-week habit of reading exactly what is written.
Vowel harmonyThe rule that makes Turkish suffixes predictable. Learn it early and the rest of the grammar stops looking like a list.
AgglutinationHow Turkish builds a word by stacking endings, and how to take a long word apart instead of panicking at it.
Everyday TurkishOrdering, asking directions, a phone call, a landlord, a pharmacy. The situations you are actually in.
ListeningTurkish spoken at Turkish speed, which is the part every self-taught learner skips.

Common questions

Do I need to know any Turkish to start?

No. Absolute beginners are the group I plan for. We start at the alphabet.

If you already know some, tell me what you can do rather than what level you think you are, and we will start from there.

The lesson is in Turkish. Will I understand anything?

In the first lessons, not every word — and that is the design, not a problem. What you will understand is what is being asked of you, because I teach the way a language teacher is trained to: with objects, pictures, gesture, repetition and a very controlled vocabulary.

My English is workable rather than fluent, and I would rather say so than sell you a lesson that is half in English and half an apology. If you want Turkish explained to you in fluent English, I am not the right teacher and I will say so on the first call.

How long until I can hold a conversation?

With two lessons a week and homework actually done, most adults are having short, real, clumsy conversations within three to four months. Clumsy is the point — waiting until you are correct is how people stay silent for two years.

Anyone who gives you a date without knowing how much time you will put in is guessing.

I live outside Turkey. Does that work?

Yes. Every lesson on this track is online. I am in Istanbul, on Türkiye time (UTC+3), and I keep slots that work for Europe and for the Gulf.

If you are many hours away, say so when you write and I will tell you honestly whether I have a time that suits you before we go further.

What materials do I need?

Nothing on day one. I bring the material and share it after each lesson.

If you already own a coursebook you like, bring it and we will use it rather than making you buy another.

Get a quote

Tell me what you are after and roughly where you are starting from. I answer within one working day with a price and two or three possible times.