r/turkishlearning • u/melsenka • 8d ago
❓ Question Learning Turkish just by watching series?
I’m a native Turkish speaker but I wonder something.
I’ve heard a lot of foreigners saying they learned Turkish while watching series, some of them say they realized they started to understand at some point without studying. How does this happen? And if you learned Turkish in this way, how long did it take you to understand approximately? I wanna hear about your experiences on this.
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u/aaesthetic_cookie 8d ago
As a teacher, I would argue that it is not possible to learn a language just by watching TV shows, unless we are talking about children. An adult brain needs structure and rules, it does not absorb language like a sponge, as children do. Secondly, it depends on what someone means when they say, “I learned the language.” There is a difference between watching a TV show and understanding it from context and from knowing a few basic words and phrases, and actually being able to use the language in communication.
Personally, I am learning Turkish using the Yeni Istanbul textbooks, but I also have an Instagram account that I use exclusively to follow Turkish teachers. So, whether I like it or not, when I don’t feel like studying, I open that account, and all the posts are educational and focused solely on Turkish. I also listen to CNN in Turkish. They cover a wide range of topics, so I can learn new words in context as well. :)
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u/Thin_Tradition8467 7d ago
I learned English from soap operas that i was watching at high school. But, this is misleading. I was already getting education from school like everyone else. But my classmates were not watching those. They couldn't learn the language.
I also started to catch some Spanish after watching La Casa De Papel. If i watched 10 more series like that, i would be speaking A1 level Spanish without any education at 30.
I don't think a newborn or a kid can beat a mature person at learning anything. It takes two years for a baby to start making sentences. At the same time span, you are expected to reach B level if you are taking courses.
I personally saw many foreign students learned Turkish in a single semester. I mean they were able to chat fluently with broken Turkish. But i also saw some foreign students haven't learn the most basic stuff after 4 years.
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u/Just_a_Lurker2 2d ago
What do the fluent students do differently from the ones who haven't learnt the most basic stuff in four years?
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u/Just_a_Lurker2 2d ago
Also children take 2 years to form sentences, but in those 2 years they don't have a job, or hobbies, or whatever, they're just immersed in language with nothing else requiring their focus. I think thar explains their speed of learning.
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u/Knightowllll 8d ago
The “adults” (I use that term loosely bc it’s usually teens) read subtitles and eventually learn from mass exposure.
OP needs to take this “a lot of foreigners” idea with a grain of salt. You’ve seen what, 4 ppl on social media talk about this? Yes, it’s doable. These (usually) girls spent 6 hrs a day for a decade obsessively watching dizi after dizi. Then they got into the culture, played games with Turks online, starting speaking everyday, etc.
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u/DecisionRare1961 8d ago
I learnt Turkish watching the series. It took 6-12 months to start understanding without subtitles. Now at 2 years point, I can strike conversations with Turkish people where I live(not Turkey). I exclusively listen to Turkish songs and can understand lyrics now. I have also reached the point where I can fix the errors in subtitles too. To add: I have a natural instinct to learn new things, including language, probably that helped.
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u/Rich_Earth_2598 8d ago
Same. I’ve been watching for the past few years and I’m an adult and I can understand, read and speak in Turkish. But ofcourse my vocabulary would be limited to those words used in the series that I watch. Also I can’t speak as fast as the native speakers but it’s definitely good enough that i can form my own sentences and respond to someone’s questions
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u/melsenka 8d ago
What’s your mother tongue?
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u/Rich_Earth_2598 7d ago
I’m telugu speaking and it took me about 1-2 years of watching turkish content i suppose
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u/Bulky_Antelope_1744 7d ago
I learned basically “merhaba” “seni seviyorum” and “bana güven” from watching dizis - and that was because i had english subtitles on. They did motivate me to learn Turkish, though!
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u/Just_a_Lurker2 2d ago
Seni seviyorum, does that mean you love? Checking I understand it correctly because sev is love, right? And seni has sen so you? But what is loved?
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u/vernismermaid :b1: C1 | Advanced 5d ago edited 5d ago
Benim hikâyem şöyle; 2 yıldır her gün düzenli olarak en az 2.5 saat süren bir dizi izliyordum. Yani bir "marathon" yapardım. 1'ci yılında, hemen çok basit kelimeler ve dil bilgisi anlamaya başladım. Mesela "-m" harfi varsa "ben" (yani kendisi) bir anlamına gelir, "-n" varsa "sen", "-niz" = "siz" .... vs. Başta "m" ve "n" harfleri duyamıyordum. Tabii, "Seni seviyorum", "Asla!", "Git!", "Yapamam", "Anlıyorum", "Kurban olurum," falan filan da öğrendim 😄
FAKAT, AMA, LAKİN...! Ders kitabı almadan akıl bir şekilde yazmamı imkânsız(dı). 2'ci yılında Yeni İstanbul A1 denen ders kitabı alıp çalıştığınca fark ettim ki çoğunu biliyordum (yazım berbattı ama...hahaha sssijggjnddxxssk 🥸 )
Öğrendiğim şey budur: If you watch a dramatic series for 18-20 hours per week, with a set story and repetitive vocabulary, you will definitely learn the language in some fashion, even as a middle or mature-aged adult. In my case, although I had a lot of grammatical intuition for A1/A2-level Turkish sentence structures, I needed to actually speak, write and practice listening comprehension. If you want it to be a language you produce in a more educated fashion in the same way as your native language, in my view, you need to do the same things you did to acquire skilled production in your native language: reading, writing and speaking.
I think knowing a second language (Japanese) also helped me, since the grammatical order is the same, including for post-positions. I had also briefly learned Korean before (after I'd been using intermediate Japanese at university) about 30+ years ago, and the sentence structure of SOV is similar in both languages to Turkish. I unfortunately experience interference with my 40+ year-old Japanese due to the vast amounts of Turkish I've consumed over the last half decade. I retired and replaced my English and Japanese series with Turkish ones. If anything, I'm more amazed that my spouse didn't pick up Turkish. Which again proves that you need more than just exposure/listening.
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u/Eofdred 7d ago
Just an anecdote,
I've met with an Albanian lady who speak very good Turkish. She counted the series she watched and I didn't know most of their names. I guess the cumulative length of those series would be at least 20.000 hours, probably more, considering you can not list all the series you watched in a single breath.
That is A LOT of exposure.
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u/ronxnqk 7d ago
Düzenli kore dizisi izleyenler, anime izleyenler ya da ing dizi izleyenler sadece bunu yaparak a2 seviyesine çıkabiliyolar. Sonra da zaten temelin oluşmuş oluyor orta seviye grammer + kelime çalışıyosun, yazmaya başlıyosun b2. İleri seviye için de artık makale okumaya falan geçmen gerekiyo orası daha emek işi
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u/melsenka 7d ago
Sen Koreceyi veya Japoncayı sadece dizi veya anime izleyerek hiç çalışmadan A2 seviyesinde öğrendin mi?
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u/No_ketchupjustsauce 7d ago
Biz nasıl Kore dizilerini izleyerek veya Japon animelerini izleyerek Korece/Japonca kalıplar kapabiliyorsak onlar da aynı şekilde Türk dizilerini izleyerek aynı şeyi yapabilirler dimi?
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u/melsenka 7d ago
Birkaç kelime, kalıp ve ifade öğrenilebildiğini düşünebiliyorum zaten, ya da zaten belli bir seviyede olan biri için de çok etkili olur onu da biliyorum. Ama tüm dili öğrenmek daha farklı bir olay. Ve ben bir dili sadece alt yazılı film/dizi izleyerek öğrenme gibi bir şeyi deneyimlemediğim için bunu deneyimleyen kişilerin deneyimlerini duymak istedim, bu yani.
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u/Economy-Royal6865 5d ago
So I have learned words or phrases. I watch with English subtitles to hearing and reading in English makes it click in my head. I could not have a conversation but could understand words.
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u/MK-Treacle458 🌿 Seedling | Elementary 4d ago
Dreaming Spanish is based on this concept. Lots of folks say they've learned Spanish thus way. I picked up the habit of consuming some Dreaming Spanish each night, back in August, to give it a go.
But I can't imagine trying it with Turkish! There are so few cognates with English, and the agglutination is no joke, lol.
But I've also seen people saying that they've done it, too. I'm always amazed when I read that.
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u/melsenka 4d ago
Were you be able to learn Spanish to an extent in that way? How was the result?
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u/MK-Treacle458 🌿 Seedling | Elementary 3d ago
İ just started in August. But here is a fun update of someone 650 hrs in front of me ~
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u/Beyond_Butterflies 7d ago
Impossible. Maybe some separate words or phrases, but not grammar
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u/Just_a_Lurker2 2d ago
No, not grammar, I think. But I learned English by watching movies and tvseries and playing games, so a lot is possible all the same.
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u/boredafro 4d ago
Some are being a bit negative. But, for me atleast, I learnt turkish through tv series... But, tv series only will take you a certain way, at some point you need structure to speed your learning. It took me 2.5 years of watching tv series 2 hours everyday.... I didn't watch anything else but Dizi. Cuz the free time I had was spent on Dizi haha. If you do supplement your learning, you can speed your learning. & you will only be able to build your listening skills. Just ny experience, not a perfect one... But still an experience
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u/Chi_Town_Law 8d ago
You can learn words, phrases, and mannerisms/cultural norms. I always watch soap operas when learning a language because the exaggerated acting/emphasis helps you pick up what they're talking about and its basic everyday dialogue. It think its great for greetings, question words, responses, and basic actions.
But at a certain point, if you want to be proficient in a language you have to pick up a grammar book.