This Turkish courseware package contains 20 lessons that include both dialogues and readings performed by Turkish native speakers using the speed and intonation of normal conversational speech.

When beginning a lesson, view or listen to the dialogues and readings several times without looking at the written text. Observe the speakers' facial expressions and the movement of their lips as they speak. Later, observe the same dialogue or reading in its written form. As you read to yourself, try to remember how this text sounded when spoken by the Turkish speakers. Your goal is to understand every word and sentence when you hear or read it--the recognition of systematic patterns will greatly aid you. Eventual memorization through intensive use of the exercises and repetition of the material will prove of great benefit in assisting your progress in mastering each lesson.

By all means, avoid translating sentences from English into Turkish since language and culture are inseparable. Do strive for accurate contextual use of Turkish. For example, if your friend has come down with a terrible flu, you may wish him a "speedy recovery" in English. The Turks, however, use an expression that looks ahead to the future, when your friend's illness will be but a memory. They use the expression, "geçmis olsun," "may it soon be in the past."

Of course, the more you immerse yourself in the study of Turkish history, literature, folklore, and culture the better your understanding and use of the language. Turks use many idioms and proverbs that are intrinsic to their culture; memorization of these pithy expressions will give you greater insight into that culture.

Since everyone has his or her own unique way of learning, the following suggested approach is but one way of utilizing the exercises in each lesson, albeit a very effective one.

Click on the "word level" in the text and listen to the Turkish pronunciation of the individual words--in extreme cases you may access the English translation of the word. Also, check to see whether there is a footnote associated with the word. Useful grammatical and cultural information is contained in these notes. You can also record your own pronunciation of the Turkish words for comparison with the pronunciation of the native speaker. As you carry out these activities you will be committing the words to memory.

At the sentence level you will hear the words as they appear in the continuous speech of sentences. Record your own voice, taking special care to reproduce both the pronunciation and intonation of these sentences-- especially useful in conversation--and compare them to the Turkish speakers' voices. Some sentences also contain footnotes [in green underlining] that you may click on for additional grammatical and cultural information.

After familiarization with the Turkish word and sentence material, immerse yourself in the following exercises:

Flashcards. There are several features of this exercise that are not found in traditional flashcards: words whose meanings have not yet been memorized can be heard in their audio form, and for further clarification can also be displayed in their sentence context.

Dictation uses the audio versions of the Turkish sentences found in the dialogues and readings. Type in the written form of each sentence, and the computer will score your accuracy.

Multiple Choice reinforces the proper use of the Turkish vocbulary you are learning.

PAX gives you practice in Turkish word and sentence pronunciation.

Cloze should be done last, since your task is to fill in missing words in the dialogues and readings that make up each lesson. Your performance will be scored automatically.

Turkish proverbs will aid you in speaking: try memorizing them, and learning their use in Turkish culture from the footnotes.Cultural Dimensions of Turkish is a section that contains numerous facts about major holidays, major cities, traditional culinary dishes, currency, and other information; it provides for a deeper understanding of Turkey.

Good luck to you in learning Turkish. Turks traditionally appreciate foreigners learning Turkish. They believe, as one of their proverbs states, "respect for the language is respect for the people who speak it."