Istanbul A1 Turkish Language Course Book Set Beginner Level with Workbook

Merhaba! I am an English speaker with very little exposure to Turkish before this coursebook. I had been looking to start learning Turkish. My girlfriend is Turkish, and I have always been an avid learner of languages, so trying to pick up some Turkish sounded like a fun idea and made sense to me. For a language with as many speakers as Turkish has, I was surprised to find that the amount of language resources was limited. I wanted to find a course which spanned all the way from beginner to advanced, in case I ever get that far. The first thing you will notice about this coursebook is that it is colorful and engaging. It makes you want to pick it up and go through it. It is full of dialogues, exercises, pictures, and listening exercises. The book contains six units, which are further broken down into 3 sections each. Each unit has Speaking, Reading, Listening, Writing, and Grammar sections.The sections start with some key words and phrases, followed by some more vocab accompanied by pictures, and some dialogues or other readings. The accompanying workbook is also broken down the same way and provides even more practice. The textbook unit ends with a Culture section and a quiz, as well as a full word list. Some things to note: - The amount of English in this books is very little. Personally, I appreciate this, as it helps to create a feeling of immersion when I am studying or learning. - The vocab is introduced very fast. I am just finishing chapter 2, and I have over 300 flash cards. So definitely don't be fooled by how thin the book looks like when you first receive it. Some things for the publisher to improve: - The workbook has an answer key, but the main textbook doesn't seem to have one. - The 'How should I use this book' section is in Turkish I have also been taking the online skype lessons offered by the publisher (also available here on Amazon). They use this book exclusively, and complement the book very much. I think it is absolutely worth it, since the teacher has access to book, the answer key, and a lesson plan, and can customize the learning of the language to my needs.

The book is well put together and the additional workbook looks nice but no CD was sent as described in the item for sale & the photos published. I'm trying to find a way to contact the seller to see if they can send the CD so that I can use the product as intended.

Ok, first things first, as other reviews have noted, the book, including the instructions (!) are in Turkish. If this is your first steps in Turkish, or in a non Indo European language, I would start with a Teach Yourself book rather than this. If you are a seasoned language learner, however, this is a great book! In full color with lots of illustrations, it keeps y our attention. Plus, seeing that this from Turkey made by native Turkish speakers, you can be confident that you are getting the most natural version of Turkish, with no mistakes ( I have seen other books confuse the dotted and the undotted "i" , two different sounds in Turkish). With dictionary in hand, you will have fun figuring out the text, which will also strengthen the learning process.

Not a A1, if you can't read Turkish like me, the book is USELESS. A1 means beginners, no beginners know how to read a new foreign language. I should have read more reviews but I was smitten by the pictures and description from the publisher.

This book is clearly designed for a classroom setting where the teacher gives the instructions and encourages participation and group work. The topics and first bit of grammar I have learned with other resources, the rest I'm putting together using google translate. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to use the audio CD with the textbook. Find the sections that say "dinleme" and has the picture of the CD. Easy enough once I finally found the first image. From what I've figured out it has a nice layout and provides a good size vocabulary and basic grammar. But I'm not decided yet if Ii like this for self study or not. Maybe better with a native, or experienced, Turkish language user that could help you understand the text and do the conversation practice sessions with.