Blog #3

[Kristen Harrison]

I think the internet is going to be the bulk of how I learn about theTurkish language, since there are so many resources online andaccessible for free. I perused the Web for a bit last week and foundsome sites I thought would be especially helpful, and bookmarked them tomy Diigo site for future reference. I need to start off with thealphabet and basic pronunciations, as well as the basic starters likecounting to 10 and learning the days of the week and so on.Pronunciation is really important for me because I need to be able tohear a word and know how it would be spelled, by how it sounds, because Iremember words if I can picture them. It's useless for me to try tolearn by listening to languages when I don't know how to write them,because I won't remember any of it.

So, I found some sites that listout the alphabet, along with phonetic spellings and sound files. I'vememorised that already, and I can usually pick up proper accenting if Ilisten to a language enough, so I think I'll listen to some podcasts orspeeches so I can start getting a feel for how to pronounce wordsconvincingly. Youtube does wonders for making learning resourcesavailable. I watched some videos off Youtube for alphabet pronunciation,counting zero to ten, and learning the words for the days of the week.There was a lot more than I didn't even get to, like introductorylessons to the Turkish language. Doubtless some of them are morereliable than others, so I'll need to be careful of the credibility ofresources that I find online, especially forums where anyone can upload.

Some other resources I've found that I'll be using more in the futureinclude specific-for-learning-Turkish resources, such as online lessons,sites with useful phrases, Rosetta Stone, and a site calledwww.turkishlanguage.co.uk whose purpose is to make language resourcesavailable like detailed grammar explanations, basics, glossaries, anddaily talk. I can also use a dictionary, whether print or online, andthere are other resources which are more accidental but just as useful,like Turkish music and podcasts, international internet TV, and BBC inTurkish.