How to Learn Turkish: A Step-by-Step Plan for Beginners

The short answer to how to learn Turkish as a beginner: take things in the order the grammar builds. Start with the sounds, then greetings, then three building blocks you will use constantly: vowel harmony, “to be” and yes/no questions. Cases and verb tenses come after that. Study a little on most days, and speak out loud from the first week.

Order matters because Turkish grammar stacks. A word like okuldayım (“I am at school”) is a root plus two endings, okul + da + yım, and each ending takes its vowel from the syllable before it. Learn those rules early and every new ending fits onto something you already know.

Below are six steps, from your first Merhaba to the A2 past and future tenses, each with a can-do goal and the matching unit of Mitsling’s course. Then come a sample study week, a comparison of resources and CEFR self-checks. For difficulty and how long it takes, see whether Turkish is hard to learn.

Step 1: Learn the sounds and the alphabet

Turkish has 29 letters, and almost every letter has one fixed sound, so this step usually takes only a few sessions. Focus on the letters that work differently from English: c sounds like the j in “jam”, ç is “ch”, ş is “sh” and ğ is silent and usually lengthens the vowel before it. ı (no dot) and i (with a dot) are two different vowels, and ö and ü are rounded, as in German.

• kapı

  door

• çocuk

  child

• şimdi

  now

• cadde

  avenue, main street

• soğuk

  cold

• gün

  day

Our Turkish alphabet guide goes through all 29 letters one by one. Can-do goal: you can read any Turkish word aloud, even one you have never seen, and hear the difference between ı and i. In the course: Unit 1, Merhaba! (“Hello!”), ends with a lesson on Turkish sounds.

Step 2: Greetings and survival phrases

Next, learn a handful of phrases as whole chunks. Some contain grammar you will only study later, and that is fine: when you reach the rule, you will already know examples of it.

• Merhaba, nasılsın?

  Hi, how are you?

• İyiyim, teşekkürler. Sen nasılsın?

  I’m fine, thanks. How are you?

• Benim adım Emma.

  My name is Emma.

• Memnun oldum.

  Nice to meet you.

• Bir daha söyler misiniz?

  Could you say that again?

• Görüşürüz!

  See you!

Turkish has two kinds of “you”. Sen is informal, for friends and family; siz is polite and plural, for strangers and older people. So Nasılsın? is for a friend and Nasılsınız? is for a shopkeeper.

Can-do goal: you can greet someone, ask how they are, give your name, ask them to repeat something and say goodbye. In the course: Unit 1, Merhaba!

Step 3: Vowel harmony, “to be” and questions

Everything later builds on this step. Vowel harmony means an ending changes its vowel to match the last vowel of the word. Two-way endings switch between e and a, and four-way endings switch between i, ı, u and ü. The vowel harmony guide explains both patterns in detail.

The first four-way ending you will meet is “to be”. Turkish has no separate word for “am” or “are”: you add an ending to the noun or adjective, with a buffer y after a vowel.

• Mühendisim.

  I’m an engineer.

• Açım.

  I’m hungry.

• Mutluyum.

  I’m happy.

• Türküm.

  I’m Turkish.

Yes/no questions use the particle mi, written as a separate word but following four-way harmony: mi, mı, mu, mü. Personal endings go onto the particle.

• Bu kitap mı?

  Is this a book?

• Öğrenci misiniz?

  Are you a student?

• Mutlu musun?

  Are you happy?

• Türk müsün?

  Are you Turkish?

When an ending looks strange, find the last vowel before it. That vowel decides the form of the ending almost every time.

Can-do goal: you can say who you are, what you do and where you are from, and ask simple yes/no questions. In the course: Unit 2, Ben öğrenciyim (“I’m a student”), and Unit 3, Bu ne? (“What is this?”).

Step 4: Numbers, time and everyday words

Turkish numbers are very regular. Learn zero to ten and the tens, then put them side by side: yirmi beş is twenty-five and yüz elli is a hundred and fifty. Practice hearing numbers as well as saying them, because prices come at you fast.

• Bu ne kadar?

  How much is this?

• Yüz elli lira.

  A hundred and fifty lira.

• Kaç yaşındasın?

  How old are you?

• Yirmi sekiz yaşındayım.

  I’m twenty-eight.

• Saat kaç?

  What time is it?

• Saat on bir buçuk.

  It’s half past eleven.

• Bir kız kardeşim var.

  I have a sister.

Grow your vocabulary in groups that belong together, such as family, food or places in town, and always inside a short phrase. Learn var (there is) and yok (there isn’t) early, because with the endings for “my” and “your” they give you “I have” and “you have”, as in Bir kız kardeşim var.

Can-do goal: you can understand a price the first time you hear it, give your age and phone number, talk about your family and tell the time. In the course: Unit 4, Sayılar (“Numbers”), Unit 5, Ailem (“My family”), and later Unit 10, Saat kaç? (“What time is it?”).

Step 5: Cases and the present continuous

Turkish uses endings where English uses words like “in”, “to” and “from”. Beginners need three of these endings, called cases, almost at once. All three follow two-way harmony. The “to” ending adds a buffer y after a vowel, and after a hard consonant the d of the other two becomes t. Names take an apostrophe before the ending: İstanbul'da, Ankara'ya.

In Turkish schools, the hard consonants are taught with the phrase Fıstıkçı Şahap (“Şahap the pistachio seller”). It contains all eight: f, s, t, k, ç, ş, h and p. After any of them, -de/-da becomes -te/-ta and -den/-dan becomes -ten/-tan.

Alongside the cases, learn the present continuous, -iyor. It describes what you are doing now, and in everyday speech it often covers routines too. Its vowel follows four-way harmony. A verb stem ending in e or a drops that vowel (bekle- becomes bekliyorum, anla- becomes anlıyorum), and gitmek (to go) turns its t into d: gidiyorum. For “not”, put -mi- (or -mı-, -mu-, -mü-) before -yor: gelmiyorum.

• Şimdi evdeyim.

  I’m at home now.

• Okula gidiyorum.

  I’m going to school.

• Nereden geliyorsun?

  Where are you coming from?

• İşten geliyorum.

  I’m coming from work.

• Annem mutfakta yemek yapıyor.

  My mother is cooking in the kitchen.

• Bugün işe gitmiyorum.

  I’m not going to work today.

Can-do goal: you can say where you are, where you are going and what you are doing, and describe a normal day. In the course: Unit 6, Neredesin? (“Where are you?”), Unit 7, Nereye gidiyorsun? (“Where are you going?”), and Unit 9, Her gün (“Every day”).

Step 6: Past, future and longer conversations (A2)

Once the present feels comfortable, move on to the past with -di and the future with -ecek. Both reuse what you already know: vowel harmony, the d → t change after hard consonants (yaptım, gittim) and the buffer y after vowels (okuyacağım, where the k of the future ending also softens to ğ before a vowel).

• Dün akşam ne yaptın?

  What did you do yesterday evening?

• Evde kaldım ve kitap okudum.

  I stayed at home and read a book.

• Cumartesi müzeye gittik.

  On Saturday we went to a museum.

• Bu akşam erken yatacağım.

  I’m going to bed early tonight.

• Hafta sonu dinleneceğim.

  I’m going to rest this weekend.

A2 also adds the object ending -(y)i, which marks a specific object. Kitap okuyorum means “I’m reading a book”, while Kitabı okuyorum means “I’m reading the book”. Notice the p softening to b before the vowel.

Your sentences also start to link up. Join them with önce (first), sonra (then), ama (but) and çünkü (because): Önce kahvaltı yaptım, sonra işe gittim (“First I had breakfast, then I went to work”).

Can-do goal: you can tell someone about your weekend in five or six linked sentences and make plans for the next one. In the course: the A2 course (Premium), Unit 1, Dün ne yaptın? (“What did you do yesterday?”), and Unit 3, Yarın ne yapacaksın? (“What will you do tomorrow?”).

How to learn Turkish each week: a sample study plan

A useful week mixes four things: new material, review, listening and speaking. Learners often do plenty of the first and very little of the last. Here is one way to balance them around three course lessons.

Review is the part people skip, and it is where words stick: come back to each lesson the next day and again a few days later.

Speaking deserves its own slot, even at A1. Reading sentences aloud, copying audio line by line and describing your day to yourself all count. For more ideas, see how to practice speaking Turkish.

Course, app, tutor or textbook: choosing your resources

There is no single best way to learn Turkish, but a good setup covers three needs: a main resource with a clear order, a way to practice speaking, and free material for listening.

Learners who switch resources every few weeks often end up repeating the beginner material each time. Pick one main path, stay with it until the end of a level, and add the rest around it.

On Mitsling, the first three units of the A1 course are free, and Premium opens the whole course, A1 to C2, for $19.99 a month or $99 a year. Live lessons with Kerem, a native Turkish teacher, start with a $10 trial lesson and then cost $12 per 50-minute lesson, in monthly plans of 4, 8, 12 or 16 lessons with Premium included, for when you want feedback on your speaking.

How to check your progress with CEFR goals

The CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) describes six levels, from A1 to C2, by what you can do rather than how long you have studied. Try each task out loud, without notes; if you can only do it slowly or with notes, count it as half done.

If you can say sentences like these without stopping to build every ending, you are near the end of A1:

• Londralıyım ama şimdi İzmir'de yaşıyorum.

  I’m from London, but now I live in İzmir.

• Hafta içi saat dokuzda işe gidiyorum.

  On weekdays I go to work at nine.

And these show that you are well into A2:

• Geçen hafta sonu ailemle Bursa'ya gittim.

  Last weekend I went to Bursa with my family.

• Maalesef bu akşam gelemem. Yarın olur mu?

  Unfortunately I can’t come tonight. Is tomorrow OK?

Frequently asked questions

What is the best way to learn Turkish? For most beginners, a structured course that follows the order of the grammar, short practice on most days, and regular speaking with feedback from a teacher or language partner.

Can I learn Turkish by myself? Yes. You can get through A1 and much of A2 on your own with a good course, audio and the habit of speaking aloud. The hardest part to do alone is getting feedback on your speaking, which is where a teacher or language partner helps.

Where should I start learning Turkish? With the sounds and the alphabet, then greetings. Leave grammar tables and long word lists until you can read words aloud with confidence.

How much should I study each day? Twenty to thirty minutes on most days is a realistic start, plus some relaxed listening. A short session you actually do is worth more than a long one you keep putting off.

Start your plan with the free A1 lessons

Steps 1 to 5 of this plan follow Mitsling’s A1 course: ten units with audio for every phrase and speaking practice, and the first three units are free. Start with Unit 1 and take the units in order. Kolay gelsin! (“May it go easily for you!”)