Question About Türkçe
 

I am trying to learn a moderate amount of Turkish for my upcoming trip to Turkey. I'm using the Pimsleur method, which asks the learner to repeat what they hear, with no accompanying text. I am unsure about a few of the sounds, and would like to be exact. I cannot find these words in my Turkish/English dictionary, because I don't know their spelling. Would anyone know of a source where I might verify the Turkish spelling of a few words? Or could anyone with command of the Turkish language possibly verify a few words for me? Thanks for any help.

Fire away. There are plenty of Turkish speakers around these parts.

One place to start would be to review the Turkish alphabet or phonology (depending on your comfort with linguistics).

A basic Turkish alphabet primer:

http://www.onlineturkish.com/alphabet.asp

Info on Turkish phonology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_phonology

Problem #1 is the phrase "I too am well", which on the recording sounds like "ben de iyiyem", where ben=I, de=too, and iyiyem=I am well. Another phrase, "At our place", sounds like "bizde", where biz=we/us, and de=in/at. The "de" sound is similar in both phrases when spoken on the tape, but I don't see how they can be spelled the same, since they mean two different things. Thanks again for any help.

The "de" is spelled the same.

(It shouldn't matter that the meanings are different. If I say "trip" in English, do you think of travelling or do you think of falling down?)

It is "iyiyim" by the way - long "i" all the way through.

Wow - that is some great information, and it explains a lot. If I may present two additional issues:
Problem #2
The speaker on my CD is saying the statement "This place here". I have narrowed the spelling down to either "burasa / boo-rah-sah" or "burası / boo-rah-suh". A related question is the spelling for the question "Is it this place here?", which might be either "burasamı?" or "burasımı?"
Problem #3
"Fine, let's eat" sounds like either "Olur, iyelem" or "Olur, iyelım". A related question is the spelling for "Let's drink/Let me drink", which sounds like either "içeyem" or "içeyım".
Thanks for the first round of help, and thanks in advance for any help you can give on this set of issues.

#2 It's "burası". And the question would be "burası mı?"

I'm a little rusty...

#3 The construction for first person imperatives in the plural is -(y)alım/-(y)elim.

The form for the singular is -(y)ayım/-(y)eyim. So it would be "içeyim" - let me drink - in your second example.

Keep in mind the concept of vowel harmony. You will (almost) never have a word with both the "i" and the "ı" sounds.

Good luck - it sounds like you are doing fine. I wouldn't worry about the finer points of spelling at this point. The written forms may distort your proper pronunciation that you are learning from the tapes. Pimsleur would be mad at you. But do keep in mind the idea of vowel harmony. It sounds like that would answer a good bulk of your inquiries.

I will make the necessary changes, and begin practicing. Thanks again for the great help.

No problem - but take it with a grain of salt - I am no native speaker. It's a fun language and your knowledge of basic Turkish will be a tremendous asset on your trip. Enjoy!

I learned pronunciation and basic phrases for our month long trip, and the locals were totally charmed. We had a great time, and made a few Turkish friends we've kept in touch with. Good for you --it will make a big difference!

Iamogood and woyzeck, i am very impressed. Good questions and very good answers. You do not need a Turkish speaker like me, who is stuck in London (now in Colchester) waiting for the Ash to dissipate, with infrequent access to WiFi.

If you have any tough ones and i can reach the forums, i will also pitch in.

Thanks for the validation otherchelebi. Yours is a beautiful and welcoming country.

What would you say the general Turkish attitude is towards tourists attempting to speak the native language? I found in my travels that my basic Turkish went a long way, that it seemed to be understood well, although I had a very hard time understanding Turks speaking Turkish. I was able to speak to a family of farmers in the Ihlara Valley, for instance, but hardly able to understand what they were saying to us.

Woyzeck, the man (or woman) in the street (soorry meant 'lady') will love it if you can speak even a few words.
If you know more than a few, they would try to improve your pronounciation or grammar also. But i would not try it with the restaurant touts, touristic shopkeepers and large hotel receptions. The first two will try to take advantage of you and with the receptionist, you will just waste time in getting your wish.

when ordering food, it will be good.
when buying at the weekly street markets it will be very useful.
in Eastern Turkey or the Black Sea Coast, it may be a requirement.

Do not ever feel shy. The regular Turk will try to understand what you are trying to say and try to help you along. Not at all like the French. :)

By the way, was the play i once acted in named after you? :)

My current Pimsleur lesson has only one confusing phrase. When the speaker asks "Shall we eat there?", it sounds like: "Orada iyelime? / oh-rah-dah ee-yehl-eem-eh?". Might you be able to correct any errors in this phrase? As always, thanks for the help.

The first word is correct. the second one should be yee-yeh-lim-mee.

good luck.

by the way, we are still stuck in UK, currently at Marks Tey, near Colchester, within a hop, skip and jump of Stansted. Tomorrow's flight cancelled. earliest scheduled flight available on 27th.

Thanks once again. I am creating my index cards of phrases as a reference. Before I print them, do I need to make any corrections?
1) "What shall we eat? = Ne iyelim ?
2) "What shall we drink?" = Ne içeyim ?
3) "What would you drink?" = Ne içersiniz ?
4) "I'd like to drink coffee" = Kahve içeyim
5) "Shall we drink coffee?" = Kahve içelime ?
6) "Shall we eat there?" = Orada iyelime ?
7) "Let's drink here" = Burada içelim

To eat is "yemek yemek"...

...so #1 should be "Ne yiyelim?"

Similarly, #6 should be "Orada yiyelime?"