Cultural Life

Cultural Life

Cultural life is about festivals, family, food, music and traditions. In this module you will learn the key Turkish words for them. Turkish is written in the Latin alphabet, so there is no transliteration, but it has special letters (ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü) that are part of the spelling. Turkish nouns take no article.

Anahtar kelimeler (1)

Learn these four cultural words:

Match each Turkish word to its meaning

Ne demek?

What does the Turkish word "müzik" mean?

• music
• food
• family
• festival

Anahtar kelimeler (2)

Now four more words about celebrations:

Match each Turkish word to its meaning

Kültürel hayat

Select the TWO things that are part of cultural life.

• Celebrating festivals with family
• Enjoying music and dance
• Ignoring all traditions
• Never celebrating anything

Choose the Turkish word

In Turkish, the word for 'family' is _____, and the word for 'music' is _____.

Special letters

Turkish adds special letters to the Latin alphabet: ç, ğ (soft g), and, importantly, ı (dotless i) and i (dotted i) are different letters, plus ö, ş and ü. Spell them carefully: it is müzik and şarkı. A düğün (wedding) is a big celebration with family, food and dancing.

Özel bir gün

What does the Turkish word "bayram" mean?

• festival or holiday
• homework
• school
• the weather

Turkish closes the sentence with the verb

The festival words become sentences with the verb at the end, and a grade-9 answer never stops at the opinion: - Ben bayramı seviyorum = "I like the festival". Ben (I), then what, then the verb last. bayram takes -ı because it is the thing being liked. - Bayramı seviyorum çünkü müzik var = "I like the festival because there is music". çünkü (because) joins the reason to the opinion. That second half is what lifts the mark, and var closes it in the usual way.

Attach a reason, in Turkish

A grade-9 answer attaches a reason to the opinion. Which of these does that?

• Bayramı seviyorum çünkü müzik var
• Ben bayramı seviyorum
• Bayram seviyorum çünkü müzik var
• Bayramı seviyorum, müzik var

Kültürel hayat

Think about how cultural life works, using the words you have learned.

• During a bayram, families gather to share...
• The Turkish word "müzik" refers to...
• Traditions, gelenekler, are...

Bir tane daha

The Turkish word for 'food' is _____, and the word for 'festival' is _____.

Your turn: write in Turkish

Write two or three sentences IN TURKISH about a festival and what is enjoyed at it.

• Name it: bayram (a festival) or kutlama (a celebration)
• Name two things enjoyed: yemek (food), müzik (music), dans (dance) or şarkı (a song)
• Join them with ve (and): yemek ve müzik (food and music)
• Mention gelenek (tradition) or aile (family)