Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Brandon: Hi everyone! Welcome to TurkishClass101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 5: “Respect Your Turkish Teacher!” I’m Brandon!
Feyza: Merhaba. I'm Feyza.
Brandon: What are we going to learn in this lesson?
Feyza: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the Turkish words var meaning “to exist” and yok “not to exist.”
Brandon: This conversation takes place on the street between Asu and Hakan.
Feyza: Asu is walking back with her friend Hakan after her first day of work as a teacher.
Brandon: The speakers are close friends, so they’ll be speaking informal Turkish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Asu: Öğrencilerim beni hiç anlamıyor.
Hakan: Gerçekten mi?
Asu: Büyük sorumluluğum var. Öğrenciler de zeki.
Hakan: Merak etme. Çok zamanın var. Öğrenirler.
Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Asu: Öğrencilerim beni hiç anlamıyor.
Hakan: Gerçekten mi?
Asu: Büyük sorumluluğum var. Öğrenciler de zeki.
Hakan: Merak etme. Çok zamanın var. Öğrenirler.
Brandon: Now, let’s listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Asu: Öğrencilerim beni hiç anlamıyor.
Brandon: My students don't understand me.
Hakan: Gerçekten mi?
Brandon: Really?
Asu: Büyük sorumluluğum var. Öğrenciler de zeki.
Brandon: I have a big responsibility, and the students are smart.
Hakan: Merak etme. Çok zamanın var. Öğrenirler.
Brandon: Don't worry; you have a lot of time. They’ll learn.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Brandon: Feyza, how do Turkish people treat their teachers?
Feyza: With a lot of respect. In Turkey, primary school teachers receive the most attention from parents than any other teachers. Parents put great value on their family’s one-to-one relationship with their children’s teachers. They believe the more value, respect, and attention given to the teachers, the better the education their child will receive.
Brandon: I see. And I heard that there are private and government schools in Turkey. What are the big differences between them?
Feyza: Well, in private schools, you can get a bilingual education in Turkish accompanied by English, German, Italian, or French. In the government schools, almost all of the lessons are held in Turkish. Government schools are budget-friendly, although the quality of education is comparatively weaker than private schools.
Brandon: Okay, on to the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Brandon: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
The first word is...
Feyza: ...öğrenci. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “Student.”
Feyza: Öğrenci. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Öğrenci. [natural native speed]
Brandon: Next we have...
Feyza: ...hiç. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “Ever.”
Feyza: Hiç, [slowly - broken down by syllable] Hiç. [natural native speed]
Brandon: Our next word is...
Feyza: ...anlamak. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “To understand” or “to realize.”
Feyza: Anlamak. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Anlamak. [natural native speed]
Brandon: Next...
Feyza: ...büyük. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “Big, large, or great.”
Feyza: Büyük. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Büyük. [natural native speed]
Brandon: Next we have..
Feyza: ...sorumluluk. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “Responsibility.”
Feyza: Sorumluluk. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Sorumluluk. [natural native speed]
Brandon: Our next word is...
Feyza: ...zeki. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “Smart” or “clever.”
Feyza: Zeki. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Zeki. [natural native speed]
Brandon: Next...
Feyza: ...merak. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “Curiosity.”
Feyza: Merak. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Merak. [natural native speed]
Brandon: Next we have...
Feyza: ...çok [natural native speed]
Brandon: “A lot.”
Feyza: Çok. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Çok. [natural native speed]
Brandon: The next one is...
Feyza: ...zaman. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “Time.”
Feyza: Zaman. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Zaman. [natural native speed]
Brandon: Last we have...
Feyza: ...öğrenmek. [natural native speed]
Brandon: “to Learn.”
Feyza: Öğrenmek. [slowly - broken down by syllable] Öğrenmek. [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Brandon: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is...
Feyza: ...anlamak, which means “to understand” or “to comprehend.”
Brandon: Let’s break this word down.
Feyza: An is the root meaning “mind,” or “memory” in ancient Turkish. With the root of the verb, an-la means “the action the mind takes in order to understand.” And as explained in Lesson 1 of this series, the -mak suffix changes this verb to the infinitive form.
Brandon: How do we use it? Can we use it to mean any type of understanding?
Feyza: Yes. The use of anlamak is similar to “to understand” in English. But when you want to put more emphasis on the comprehension of a subject, you can use kavramak meaning “to comprehend,” instead of anlamak.
Brandon:Next we have...
Feyza: ...öğrenmek.
Brandon: This is a verb meaning “to learn.”
Feyza: The root of this verb öğ has the ancient Turkish meaning of “mind.” The verb refer to learning a skill, and also hearing news.
Brandon: Can you give us an example?
Feyza: Kötü haberi şimdi öğrendim.
Brandon: Meaning, “I learned about the bad news just now.”
Feyza: There’s one exception with English in terms of using this verb. Let's take the sentence, “I learned about you," as an example. In Turkish, we don't use öğrenmek when talking about learning about other people. In this case, you need to use the verb bilgi edinmek meaning “to acquire knowledge about.”
Brandon: Okay, now on to the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Brandon: The focus of this lesson is learning how to use “to exist” and “not to exist” in Turkish.
Feyza: Which are var and yok in Turkish. In the dialogue, Asu said, büyük sorumluluğum var.
Brandon: Meaning, “I have a big responsibility.”
Feyza: In this sentence, you can find the word var at the end of this sentence. It’s translated as “to have,” but actually it literally means “to exist.”
Brandon: That’s because there is no verb in Turkish meaning “to have,” right?
Feyza: That’s right. But when you want to talk about ownership, you can use these two words instead. Var and yok.
Brandon: These are two adjectives that indicate ownership in Turkish. However, they function as verbs because they’re usually placed at the end of sentences. What are the English equivalents for these words?
Feyza: Var means something like “there is” or “there are,” and it literally means "to exist" or "to be available" in Turkish.
Brandon: And what about the other one?
Feyza: Yok is the exact opposite of var, meaning "non-existent" or "absent." Yok functions as "there is not” or “there are not" in English.
Brandon: Sentences using var and yok have a relatively easy structure, especially when you know about singularity and plurality in Turkish.
Feyza: That’s right. You can simply put the applicable word, var or yok, at the end of the sentence.
Brandon: Can you give some examples?
Feyza: Sure. Pasaportum var.
Brandon: “I have a passport.” Literally it means, “A passport exists.”
Feyza: And...İştahım yok.
Brandon: Meaning “I don't have an appetite.” or literally “An appetite doesn’t exist.”
Feyza: And let’s also talk about vardır and yoktur. You may notice the suffixes -dır or -tur attached to var and yok. These suffixes are used with the third person singular or plural, and they don't alter the meaning of the sentence.
Brandon: However, by adding these suffixes, the sentence becomes more precise and absolute, almost like a statement. These suffixes make the sentence more academic, and they’re mostly used in informative, educational texts or books. Feyza, can you give us an example?
Feyza: Sure. Koltuğunuzun altında can yeleği vardır.
Brandon: “There definitely is a life jacket under your seat."
Feyza: There’s no word for “definitely” in the Turkish sentence. But by adding the suffix -dır or -tur, you make the sentence more precise as if you’re adding this word into the sentence.
Brandon: Listeners, please check the lesson notes for more examples.

Outro

Brandon: Okay, that’s it for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone. See you next time!
Feyza: Görüşürüz.

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