The Turkish Language is one of the world’s 15 most widely spoken languages. It is one of the Turkic languages with around 70 to 80 million people having it as their first language and 15 million people having it as their second language. It is a mix of Persian and Arabic; however, since the Turkish Language Association was set up in 1932, several Arabic and Persian words were replaced with Turkish alternatives.
Reasons to start learning the Turkish Language:
Learning a new language is always a great decision. While there are many languages one can think of, Turkish had come the forefront as a perfect choice with so many advantages! Whether for professional or personal interest, learning the Turkish Language is definitely a beneficial investment. It may as well be a major step that would help you shape your future perfectly! While there are several reasons one can think of for learning Turkish, we decided to share few of them with you.
1. Establishing your own business in Turkey:
Turkey is an attractive destination for investors, traders and entrepreneurs. If you’re a business owner, you’d probably want an active market to sell your brand. Whether you’re willing to establish your first company, or to extend your current one, Turkey would definitely be a country you’d have to consider. Being one of the best 20 economies in the world makes it a perfect destination for new businesses.
A business in Turkey doesn’t necessarily sell there only!
Turkey’s exports amounted to $180.46 billions in 2019, making it stand as one of the top 30 countries in international trade. Thanks to the enormous support the government provides to exporters, a company based in Turkey can easily spread worldwide by exporting its product to all extents of the world.
2. Better exploring Turkey’s wonders:
Turkey is one of the top 10 touristic destinations worldwide. It attracted about 51.9 million tourists in 2019, contributing to $34.5 billion revenues, according to the Turkish official Statistical Institute (TÜİK). So, if you’re not sure what your next destination is, Turkey would be the perfect choice. Turkey’s diverse culture makes it one of the most desired touristic destinations. Exploring the wonders of Turkey while being able to communicate well with natives would bring your experience to a whole new level.
Not only an experience, but also a family..!
Turks are friendly and welcoming in nature. However, their friendliness multiplies by 10 once they know you speak their language! They highly appreciate the time and efforts you’ve invested in learning their language, and that’s so obvious in the way they treat you when you speak as they do. Their hospitality and warmth will make you feel like you’re communicating with a friend you’ve known for years, or maybe a family member! Some may even be ready to explain a whole grammar lesson for you to make communication easier. Not to forget that warm smile that gets drawn on their faces the moment you start the conversation with a “Merhaba”.
3. Studying in Turkey:
Turkey has a quality higher education system. A degree obtained from Turkish Universities would be recognized all over Europe. With so many scholarship opportunities and affordable tuition fees, Turkey has been a great destination for those willing to opt out for Higher education. In addition to that, being one of the newly industrialized countries, the Republic of Turkey has invested much of its resources on academic researches, which opened a lot of chances for students with high potentials. In order to attract students, Turkey has provided a large range of facilities to its students, from discounted rates of public transportation to the numerous scholarships granted for students.
Knowing Turkish = A better chance in getting scholarship
Being able to communicate in Turkish would expose you to a larger number of Turkish scholarships. It will also make you stand in the crowd and be a more competing candidate!
4. Career Opportunities
Working in Turkey doesn’t necessarily mean you have to open your own business. There are a lot of career opportunities available for foreigners in different fields! As most Turks can only speak Turkish, being able to speak 2 or more languages (with Turkish being one of them) makes you a preferred candidate!
Knowing Turkish = Higher salary
It is true that some multinational companies would hire you even if you do not speak Turkish, yet having it as an extra skill would definitely mean some extra value added to your salary. As you’ll be able to communicate with both foreign and local customers, your company will possibly provide you with a salary that’s relatively higher than others with less competencies.
5. Saving Time & Money:
Being able to communicate with natives using their language would save you a lot of time trying to explain in any different language! Once you speak Turkish, people would also be willing to help you much more as they would be glad listening to you trying to talk as they do. They feel in love with your accent!
It’s not just time that’s your saving, it’s money as well!
Who wouldn’t want to get discounts while shopping?! Now, you can! Bargaining with a Turkish seller would be way too powerful when you’re speaking his language. You can possibly get up to 50% discount on any item once you bargain in Turkish! It would also prevent you from being deceived by a lot of cheaters who seize the opportunity when they know you don’t know Turkish; thus, you can neither make a complaint about them to the police, nor take your right back easily!
Other Advantages:
A. Learning the Turkish Language is EASY!
The Turkish language is written in Latin letters which makes learning it easy for anyone who knows English or any other language that uses Latin letters. Another interesting thing about the Turkish Language is that all words are pronounced exactly the way they’re written. For example “telephone” is written as “telefon” in Turkish. That makes learning new vocab way easier as you don’t have to overthink the pronunciation!
B. Makes learning other Turkic Languages easier
The Turkic Languages are a group of languages that have similar features (phonology, morphology and syntax). They are spoken as native languages by more than 180 million people, mainly across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Siberia. The Turkish Language has the greatest number of speakers among others as it account for about 40% of all speakers. Thus, learning the Turkish language would make it so easy for you to learn any other Turkic Language!
C. Unique skill, less competing
As there are not so many people who know Turkish as a second language, you would be unique if you learned it! That would provide you with more opportunities whether for studying or working in Turkey! It would also make you loved by most of Turks as you can communicate with them using their own language!
D. Entertainment:
Who wouldn’t want to be able to watch the new episode of the Turkish series the moment it’s uploaded?! Learning the Turkish Language would allow you to watch series without waiting for translation or subtitles! It would also allow you to watch new movies, read books, and listen music while fully understanding them on your own! Finally, it would give you the chance to communicate with a lot and a lot of natives who will gladly introduce you to their culture and traditions!
E. To live in Turkey:
Last but not least, learning the Turkish Language is definitely a must if you’re willing to live in this beautiful country! Knowing the language would save you a lot of time, money, and effort! It protects you from deception and prevents you from unknowingly breaking the law! It also ensures you are treated as a citizen who can do almost every task on his own!
What are other reasons you may think of?! Share your opinions in the comments!