Compliments of the Professor Who Likes Turkish the Most Out of the 50 Languages ​​He Knows

The most common one is “To have salt in the soup.” statement, “Drop by drop, a lake becomes a lake.” Professor who loves the proverb. Dr. Johan Vandewalle; To the warm voice of Halit Kıvaç, Zeki Müren’s smooth pronunciation someone who admires. The first Turkish book that Vandewalle read was Çalıkuşu by Reşat Nuri Güntekin.

Vandewalle, who learned not only Turkish but also Turkish culture Your unique words about Turkish We will also tell you how he knows so many languages. If you are interested in learning a new language, perhaps the tips he gives will be useful to you.

Prof. Dr. Johan Vandewalle’s adventure in meeting Turkish

Born in 1960, Prof. Dr. Johan Vandewalle, Ghent University in Belgium Head of the Turkish Department of the Department of Translation, Interpretation and Communication. Vandewalle, who founded the Center for Eastern Languages ​​and Cultures with his wife in 1994, gives Turkish translation courses and conducts different research on translation.

His first encounter with Turkish was when he was 13 years old. While Vandewalle and his family were going on a holiday to Romania, they planned their trip through Istanbul because the planes were full and thus came to Turkey. Here he met the Turks and impressed by hospitality Vandewalle decides to learn Turkish.

Underlying his interest in Turkish is a travel rule that runs in his family. Their father wants them to learn certain words about the spoken language, no matter which country they go to. “Hello how are you?” like. When coming to Turkey approximately learn 30 words Vandewalle’s first word is also a number.

When they enter the market, they have to buy 5 cokes, but since neither his brother nor his mother speaks Turkish, Vandewalle He uses his first Turkish word by saying “five”.

Those who can speak 11 or more languages ​​are called “hyperpolyglot”, but another word is needed for Vandewalle.

Prof. Dr. Johan Vandewalle, speaking 22 languages, was held in Belgium in 1987. He participates in the “Babylon Language Competition”. Vandewalle comes first in the competition organized to determine the person who speaks the most languages.

Over the years, Vandewalle has continued to pursue his passion for learning languages. more than 50 languages is learning. However, he does this not with the word “learning” but “to examine” expresses it with the word. The Belgian linguist also says that a human lifespan is insufficient to fully learn a language.

Let’s talk about Vandewalle’s words about our language, which we are enchanted by.

Vandewalle, a student in the Latin mathematics department when he started to learn Turkish, The structure of Turkish He’s starting to get interested. Famous scientist and language researcher Max Müller said, “Even if a person has no intention of learning Turkish, he gets great pleasure from reading a Turkish grammar and getting to know that system.” Vandewalle, who fully agrees with his statement, states that he also admires this system.

According to Vandewalle, Turkish is a mathematical and economic language. Each rule has a single form and there is no limit to the application of the rules, and the rules can be combined with each other. For example, the adjective verb used in the sentence “The cat sleeping on the couch” can be applied more than once. The sentence “The boy who caressed the cat sleeping on the sofa” can be continued as “The woman who knew the child who caressed the cat sleeping on the sofa.”

Some of Vandewalle’s words about Turkish are as follows: I believe that a native speaker of Turkish thinks in short sentences, and when speaking, creates complex structures by connecting these short sentences together in various ways. This ‘tendency to connect sentences’ It may be weak in some speakers, and strong to the point of illness in others.

The linguistic structures that emerge in this last situation reflect the superior possibilities of the human mind in the most beautiful way. Although I have studied many languages ​​belonging to different language groups, no language has ever met me. Complex sentence structures in Turkish I can say that I have never come across a structure as fascinating as this one.

If you allow me to be a little sentimental, sometimes I say to myself, “I wish Chomsky had learned Turkish in his youth…” I’m sure contemporary linguistics then It would have been shaped according to Turkish, not English. (Noam Chomsky is a very famous slicer).

Vandewalle: Chess and Turkish are very similar to each other.

The fact that the number of rules has been minimized is another admirable factor for Vandewalle. Vandewalle compares Turkish to chess. Saying that a 7-year-old child can learn the rules of the game and not have any difficulty in doing so, Vandewalle says that someone who plays chess can reach higher levels by playing this game all his life. Vandewalle, among the features of the ideal mathematical system It also makes unlimited combinations similar to Turkish.

Vandewalle: There is polarization regarding language in Turkey.

Vandewalle states that there are two poles in Turkey, such as loving pure Turkish or Ottoman. He not only loved both native Turkish and Ottoman Turkish, but also Türkiye Turkish, He said he also loved Azerbaijani Turkish. He underlines that Turkish is happy to be a passenger in time travel.

Vandewalle also reminds that the words used in Ottoman Turkish are still used in Azerbaijani Turkish. According to him, learning Azerbaijani Turkish is one of the ways to better understand Ottoman Turkish. Vandewalle wants everything to be loved if possible, instead of polarizing the language.

Vandewalle is not the only one who says boastful things about Turkish.

President of the Institute of Turkish Studies at Washington Georgetown University, Prof. Dr. David Cuthell also has some thoughts about Turkish. Cuthell speaks Turkish as if hundred higher mathematics professors He says it’s as if they came together and created it. The production of many words from one root and the change of meaning according to sound harmony are also factors that influenced Cuthell.

Cuthell also states that Turkish is a language in its own right. language of emotion, logic, philosophy and thought states that it is. Cuthell says that while other languages ​​focus on learning the static meanings of words, Turkish is based on extracting these meanings and making dynamic meanings, and states that there is almost no exception in Turkish.

Like Vandewalle, Cuthell likens Turkish to mathematics. Cuthell said, “Turkish is more than based on mathematics, it is almost It is mathematics in disguise.” says.

Vandewalle also gives some advice to those who want to learn a language.

Vandewalle says that in order to learn a language, there must first be a desire and interest to do so. Instead of thinking that we cannot achieve success when we learn, to persevere He expresses that it is necessary and that success can come if we continue.

Vandewalle, those who want to learn a language A good textbook or a quality language course He adds that it should be written. The linguist says that it will also be effective if a person exposes himself to the language sufficiently, and says that for this purpose, tools such as television, radio, news on the internet or novels can be used.

When he learns a new language, Vandewalle always goes to the country where that language is spoken and makes friends with native speakers of the learned language. lots of speaking and writing practice He adds that it should be done.

Regularly allocating time to language every day, repeating what has been learned and learning new things are among the other things that can be done. Vandewalle says that learning a language requires determination and perseverance.

Vandewalle, who attracted great attention from Turks after participating in a TRT program years ago, shares some tips for learning a language on his Instagram account. If you are interested in Turkish or learning a new language, you can follow the Turkish posts on his account.

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