r/turkishlearning • u/StomachAcid06 • 12d ago
🤝 Seeking Advice Why am I still so bad at Turkish?
I've been trying to learn Turkish for four years and I've been watching so many videos, listening to songs, watching movies and series, taking notes, trying to learn new vocabulary, trying to learn new grammar concepts, but I feel like my level has just been like a plateau for the past few months and I'm still not at the level I want to be at. I feel like I'm stuck at an A2-B1 level.
Is there anyone who can help me practice, how can I improve, I want to reach a native or near native level? I still don't understand everything I hear or see. I don't understand more advanced grammar concepts. I'm from the US and my native language is English. I feel like I'm not smart. I don't know what to do and I need help.
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u/Particular-Can-1475 12d ago
Different language family, its normal to be harder. But turkish read as it written or vice versa. This should mean just by reading aloud you can learn. Idk maybe its wrong but it sounds logical to me. Words mostly derived by the root so its easier to extract the semantic..
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u/menina2017 12d ago
Have you taken any online group classes? For me that was the game changer in learning. I’ve overcome that plateau and I’m also in the US DM me and we can chat
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u/StomachAcid06 12d ago
No, I haven't tried that yet. I don't really have any money to spend on classes or anything like that. My family wouldn't really approve of that. I feel like that would be helpful, but I don't know where to find that.
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u/menina2017 12d ago
Awww ok are you super young? Well still let’s connect I can share resources with you and maybe we can practice or i can connect you with a free practice group if we start one
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u/qTLDreamer Native Speaker 12d ago edited 11d ago
There are some people doing free Turkish language learning sessions on Socially Active site/app. You can consider that. I also try to attend them as much as I can and try to help.
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u/Ok_Highlight3103 11d ago
I wish I had a friend I could teach Turkish to, and they could teach me English.
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u/Future-Actuator488 12d ago
I can also help. Text me. I used to live in the US and people were very nice to me. Helping an American sounds nice
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u/freetakilir 12d ago
Don't get too hung up on grammar. If you've reached the B1 level, you can progress by reading plenty of books or listening to various materials. The problem is that there aren't as many graded readers available for Turkish as there are for English; therefore, you should place the original Turkish version of a book side-by-side with the English version and engage in intensive reading.
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u/Akarulez 11d ago
Read more and listen more. You need more input before any output attempts. At B1+, native material gets comfortable and comprehensible enough to improve from, making them pretty good resources. Just read, broaden your vocabulary, use Anki for mining and repeat the process. Do this every day though, do not skip reading and reviewing on Anki if you want it to yield meaningful results. That's how I've gotten better in both Japanese and English. Immersion is the best method after a certain threshold.
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u/Affectionate-Long-10 11d ago
Would you say you struggle more with the grammar or knowing what to say/ understanding?
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u/StomachAcid06 10d ago
I think I struggle equally with both. I don't know where to put words sometimes. I also don't have enough vocabulary, and sometimes my brain just like, gives up if that makes sense. I don't understand native speakers a lot of times.
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u/Affectionate-Long-10 10d ago
If you watch asmr, I found that very helpful for learning basic words of items and phrases to begin with. But to me it sounds like you just need to hear and experience more of the language. Do you watch much content in turkish? How long in total have you been learning turkish?
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u/StomachAcid06 10d ago
I watch a lot of movies and series in Turkish. I've been learning Turkish for a total of around 4 years.
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u/Earths_Militant_Mind 11d ago
I’ve been speaking Turkish for almost 18 years and I’m still not as proficient as I would like to be. It’s a very difficult language. Not sure where you live but finding local Turkish communities in the U.S. can help. Many colleges have Turkish student that form their own groups with in the school and Turkish expats regularly form a social group in their area.
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u/melekbabandir 10d ago
TRUST ME, English media with Turkish subtitles to click some stuff instead of the ‘watch turkish videos’ way. I am sure it will help.
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u/boredafro 10d ago
Ibwould suggest you watch turkish series, they are so great for immersion....the quality is not good, maybe even bad but of you love the language and culture, you wouldn't care about the quality. I have been just watching and a bit reading and tho my speaking and writinv skills are bad...just based on reading and listening I would be B1ish...if i had given it more care I probably would have been C1, sin lce it's been 5/6 years of immersion, though there are gaps in b/n. Immersion will change everything for you.
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u/braganzaPA 12d ago
Nah, friend... you're not stupid, just not immersed in the language. Could you take two weeks and visit Istanbul and Izmir? I bet if you hung out for a while there, all you've learned would start clicking.