Turkish Language Resources
Below we have highlighted a number of free Turkish language resources that we have found especially helpful. You can find these and additional resources for Turkish and our other languages and regions in the Resource Library. If you are a language teacher, student, or resource creator with a resource you would like to see us feature on the website please email us at ceeres@uchicago.edu.
Dictionaries
Tureng — Turkish-English and English-Turkish Dictionary
A widely used and regularly updated online dictionary for modern Turkish to English translation. The dictionary also includes a number of common grammatical constructions. YouGlish integration means you can hear the word you are searching for pronounced in context.
Sesli Sözlük — Turkish-English and Turkish-Turkish Dictionary
Another popular online dictionary Sesli Sözlük provides a wide range of potential meanings in English for each Turkish word search and suggests and defines related words on a single page.
Kubbealtı Lugatı — Turkish-Turkish Dictionary
This Turkish-Turkish dictionary is popular with Ottomanists as it contains both modern and Ottoman Turkish words. The dictionary provides standard definitions as well as idiomatic and literary meanings commonly found in Ottoman. For words of Arabic and Persian origin the dictionary displays the spelling in Perso-Arabic script and in formal transliteration. Crucially, Ottomanists can search the dictionary for these words using Perso-Arabic script by clicking "Metin içi arama" (in-text search) above the search box.
LexiQamus is an Ottoman Turkish word-solver that provides users with the ability to search the old Redhouse Ottoman-English dictionary in Perso-Arabic script. The ability to omit letters or try multiple letter combinations in a single search makes it especially useful for Ottoman paleography. Free users receive three searches per day, while those signed-in through the UChicago Library proxy receive unlimited searches. Anyone can access the back-end of the site for free at www.osmanlicasozlukler.com and search a number of Ottoman dictionaries, including Redhouse, using either modern Turkish transliteration or Perso-Arabic script.
Textbooks
Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar — Jeannette Okur
Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar was developed for intermediate level Turkish language courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Intermediate learners and their instructors may use it for different purposes: self-study, classroom instruction, tutoring, or as a pastime. The lessons in Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar integrate reading, listening and viewing comprehension, writing and speaking practice, grammar, vocabulary, and cultural activities. Dozens of audio and video clips of Turkish speakers describing their lives, their culture, and their country support and enhance these activities. The Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar textbook, accompanying public Canvas course, and Youtube channel comprise a media-rich open educational resource (OER) developed by Dr. Jeannette Okur at the University of Texas at Austin and published by the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning. All units and lessons in Her Şey Bir Merhaba ile Başlar as well as a PDF of the textbook are free and accessible via the link above.
Online Courses & Sources
Learn Turkish via a Graphic Novel! — Ralph Jaeckel and Mehmet Süreyya Er
A Turkish graphic novel with mouse-over translations as well as Turkish-English vocabulary sheets, exercises, and translations tests.
Turkish Tutor consists of interactive lessons in which users watch short video clips from the popular Turkish TV show Bizimkiler and listen to audio clips of dialogue and vocabulary. The lessons focus on listening comprehension and offer users the ability to listen to slowed down audio of the scene.
A series of self-taught courses and exercises designed for individuals trying to teach themselves Turkish in Turkey. However, the advanced grammar section provides grammatical sketches and examples for a large number of more complex grammatical structures as well as an exam for self-assessment.
Türkçe Öğreniyorum is a free and complete online self-guided learning system designed to help students reach A-1 level competency in Turkish.
The popular language learning app now supports Turkish.