Learning to Read Turkish, Lesson 1

In this lesson, you will master Turkish letters and learn to read Turkish words. Most Turkish letters represent only one sound, and many of them have equivalents in English. This makes it possible to learn reading Turkish in just one lesson.

A, a = “ah” (like in “father”)
B, b = “b” (like in “bed”)
D, d = “d” (like in “dog”)
E, e = “eh” (like in “bed”)
H, h = “h” (like in “hat”)
İ, i = “ee” (like in “see”)
K, k = “k” (like in “key”)
M, m = “m” (like in “mom”)
N, n = “n” (like in “net”)
O, o = “o” (like in “more”)
P, p = “p” (like in “pen”)
R, r = “r” (rolled, like in Spanish)
S, s = “s” (like in “sun”)
T, t = “t” (like in “top”)
U, u = “oo” (like in “moon”)
V, v = “v” (like in “very”)
Y, y = “y” (like in “yes”)
Z, z = “z” (like in “zebra”)

adam, anne, baba, ben, bir, dede, deniz, dost, ders, ekmek, evet, ev, haber, her, hasta, kara, kent, masa, mavi, nam

ne, okul, on, para, pazar, renk, saat, sen, su, tam, tane, tek, var, ver, yaz, yeni, yok, zaman, zor, zen

Ç, ç = “ch” (like in “chair”)
Ğ, ğ = silent letter that lengthens the previous vowel
I, ı = “uh” (like in “support”)
Ö, ö = “eu” (like in French “deux” or German “schön”)
Ş, ş = “sh” (like in “ship”)
Ü, ü = “ew” (like in French “tu” or German “über”)

çağır, dağıt, eşit, geçti, haşhaş, ışık, karşı, meşhur, ödemek, şans, üstün, vapur, yaşamak, zayiat, çocuk, dalga, ebedi, garip, hayal, ilgi

kapı, miço, nihai, oda, parmak, rekor, sezon, tekrar, uygun, vizyon, yanlış, zarf, çiftlik, damga, efe, gergin, hava, ilaç, kalite, moda

nizami, olgu, pasaport, resmi, sevimli, toprak, uzun, viray, yatak, zavallı, çimento, darbe, eğlence, gecikme, harita, inanmak, kanat, motor, nokta, organ

pano, resim, seyahat, tutku, uydu, vidalar, yazı, zafer, çözüm, datça, ekonomi, gemi, havuz, iptal, kapital, muhasebe, normal, orta, parti, ritim, sayfa, tünel, ulusal, vejeteryan, yavru, zerre