FSI Turkish Basic Course

What is the FSI Turkish Basic course?

This version of the FSI Turkish course appeared in 1966 and comprises 60 units intended for around 240 hours of intensive study. The course consists of dialogs taken from real Turkish that present new vocabulary and grammar in authentic settings.

The new language is then practiced in drills to improve fluency, there are narrative exercises to allow you to expand your learning, and the course also includes many hours of audio you can use to perfect your pronunciation.

How was FSI Turkish Basic originally used?

FSI Turkish was designed as the course material for intensive study by US diplomatic personnel destined for postings in Turkey. They were expected to spend around six hours in class each day, and this was to be supplemented by at least two hours of personal study outside of class time.

On top of this, after only the first few days, they were expected to speak Turkish in class as well as among themselves outside of lessons.

In this way, after only six months of study, they would be able to achieve a relatively high level of competence in Turkish.

How can you use FSI Turkish Basic?

Although you won’t be able to recreate the perfect study environment enjoyed by US diplomats, if you know how to use these materials correctly, you can also benefit immensely from this free online Turkish course.

Other course books may be able to give you an introduction to the language and explain the grammar, but few offer you such a wealth of materials that allow you to practice your Turkish in as many different situations.

This means that, when used as a supplement to another coursebook, this FSI Turkish course can help you develop your fluency and pronunciation while also allowing you to build up a store of Turkish vocabulary.

On the other hand, using FSI Turkish as your primary learning resource will allow you to quickly grasp the basics of the language, especially when supplemented by other materials from elsewhere.

Taking it further

As any experienced language learner will tell you, you can’t learn a language just from books, however well-written the materials are.

This is why, as soon as possible, we encourage you to take your new Turkish skills and find opportunities to practice.

Find Turkish speakers to talk with and begin using what you have already learned. When you start doing this, you will see how rapidly you progress.

After all, speaking to people in Turkish is the reason you want to learn the language in the first place – so get out there and give it a go!