my pal in the village moved from istanbul 15 years ago and he is refered to as yabanci
No derogatory connotation with the term 'yabanci'...
But there are unfavourable perceptions associated with being a foreigner... (generally 'stupid'..) iptal yabanci...stupid foreigner
Vodafone practces that really insulting pricing policy to 'price gouge' foreigners'' despicable epecially considring its strong UK origins...
My pal in the village moved from Istanbul 15 years ago and he is refered to as Yabanci
You are right Abi.In some villagers Turks who were not born in the village are called Yabancı, a friend of ours from the other side of the lake has been married to a local woman for 25 years, but they still call him Yabancı in the coffee shop. We are simply referred to as 'Inglizler'
You are right Abi.
All turkish are classed as a yaban when they move to a different area its not just westerners
I just love the fact that 'yaban' actually translates as 'wild'
I did that many times, once in Migros I gave the cashier a 50tl note for shopping almost 30tl and she shouted to the next cashier 'can you break this, the stupid tourist gave it' I quickly pointed out that although I am a foreigner I wasnt a tourist and asked where the manager was, I wish i'd taken a picture of her face. More offensive though is something else that i've heard spoken about me quite a few times - 'salak yabanci oruspu' (stupid foreign slag) about me when alone or when ive been with a friend then it was the plural. The most offensive for me personally though was people slagging me off for wearing a cross & chain. There are definitely some drawbacks to learning Turkish .I walked past a table in a restaurant with some friends, and heard a woman at a table say to her friends 'yabancılar'. I stopped, walked over, paused for effect until I had all their attention, and said in Turkish be careful madam, some yabancı can speak Turkish. Talk about embarrassed, but her friends had a right good laugh.
Definitely learn how to pronounce each letter correctly. Each letter in Turkish has only one sound, unlike in English where some letters 'E' for example has several different sounds. You wont be understood if you're pronouncing letters with an English accent. One of the best things I did that really helped me progress was going to a free Turkish class to learn grammar. But there I did notice that as soon as we stepped out of the class everyone spoke to waiters etc in English, you need to use every single Turkish word you know at every opportunity. If they reply to you in English, just keep ploughing on in Turkish as far as you can. Occasionally someone would take the piss out of my Turkish (Cabin crew on a Turkish airlines flight for example) so to people that clearly had no English I learnt how to say 'my Turkish isnt good but hows your English' that usually shut them up but to be honest very few people i encountered ever did sneer, most are helpful.Greetings folks!:28:
I'm sharing my experience here with Turkish, hoping that others can chime in & suggest perhaps what worked best for them in learning or "getting upto speed" on the language. We have noticed though that there are more locals speaking English than we encountered last year. But encountering an English speaker is still a rarity.
My hope/intention is not to master Turkish (I seriously doubt I can do that), but rather to understand daily conversations at the bank, the local restaurant in ordering food, at the car mechanic, etc.
I've been using Duolingo for a while & have worked through the first part of it. But, it is getting tough now with the "possessive" tense.
Did anyone here using Duolingo on the phone, or anything similar? Or was it one-on-one lessons with a tutor?
I've also been trying to pickup words from the locals too when I am conversing (Google Translating) with them. For example, "poshet" (bag) at the grocery store, or common words like yarin (tomorrow), sakintay yok (no problem), etc.
What has & has not worked for your guys/gals in learning the language? :hmm:
My busy daily routine (we are still settling in) has prevented me from focusing on Turkish. So, more hours of investment later when the dust has settled, is certain.
But I am concerned about the continued reliance on Google Translate....hwell:
Thoughts anyone?
Thank you.
-gam101
Thanks very much for this, I have been getting quietly infuriated with the pronunciation of the lady on "Duo Lingo" who does this, and I was on the verge of sending them a blistering complaint!I also realised var is better understood if I pronounce it with an s on the end.
I've also found that when asking for directions etc., it's sometimes better to ask a child as they will use simpler constructions. Of course, this principle should be used with caution, as multiple attempts to get directions could give adult bystanders totally the wrong impression!I always struggled with the pronunciation on Duo Lingo. It's easier tuning into the locals. xx