How to Surround Yourself with Turkish (Even When You’re Not in Türkiye)

If you’re learning Turkish, chances are you’ve heard this advice before: “You need to practice every day!” And while grammar books and lessons are essential, they’re only half of the story. The other half, the fun and living part, comes from exposure. The kind that makes Turkish sneak into your daily life naturally, without you even realizing you’re learning.

Here’s how to make Turkish part of your world, one habit at a time.

Turn Your Phone Into a Mini Turkish Teacher

Change your phone’s language to Turkish. It will feel confusing at first, but that’s exactly the point. You’ll start recognizing words like ayarlar (settings), fotoğraflar (photos), arama (call), gönder (send), and sil (delete) just by using them daily.

I did this with Spanish once, and it worked wonders. Suddenly, I knew words like guardar (save), seguir (follow), and borrar (delete) without ever studying them. It’s one of the most effective “passive” learning tricks you can do.

If you’re scared of getting lost, change only one or two apps first, like Instagram or WhatsApp, to Turkish.

Watch What You Already Love but in Turkish

You don’t have to watch something you’re not interested in. Instead, watch what you already enjoy but in Turkish. Netflix and YouTube are full of Turkish dubs and subtitles.

If you love animated movies, switch the audio to Turkish. Animation movies such as Shrek and Ice Age have perfect Turkish dubbed versions. If you’re into cooking, watch Turkish recipe channels by searching yemek tarifi. If you like gaming, find Turkish streamers talking about the same games you play. Elraen is one of my favourites.

You’ll be surprised how many words you pick up naturally just by listening to context.

Turn Music Into Memory

Turkish music is a goldmine for vocabulary and pronunciation. From pop icons like Tarkan and Aleyna Tilki to poetic legends like Sezen Aksu, every song can teach you new expressions. Also, Zeynep Bastık is a good option with a modern and acoustic touch to legendary songs. Many foreigners love her for some reason.

Start by picking one song you like and reading the lyrics (şarkı sözleri) while listening. You’ll notice how emotional and rhythmic Turkish can be. You may as well start lip-syncing them. I guess my somewhat fluent English comes from lip-syncing to 2pac songs.

By the third listen, your brain is already doing grammar practice without realizing it.

Follow Turkish Creators

Social media is full of opportunities to learn Turkish without studying.

Follow Turkish influencers, meme pages, or vloggers who post about things you already like.

Some of the famous YouTube channels in Türkiye and their content:

Ruhi Çenet: Documentary-style deep dives, research-based videos on history, culture, science, and global events. Very polished, educational yet engaging, with multiple subtitles and dubbed options.

Orkun Işıtmak: Challenges, experiments, fun “what happens if…” videos, social experiments.

Elvin Levinler: Lifestyle vlogs, daily routines, health, wellness, motivation, and personal development. She often shares “day in my life” style videos, productivity tips, and positive lifestyle choices.

Evrim Ağacı: Science communication, evolution, biology, psychology, critical thinking, myth-busting. Very educational, often backed by research and explained for a wide audience.

Barış Özcan: Storytelling about technology, art, design, science, and culture. He blends creativity with education, often inspiring viewers to think differently.

Murat Soner: Humorous commentary and critiques of Turkish TV series, movies, and media. He highlights clichés, plot holes, and absurdities with a sharp comedic style.

Nefis Yemek Tarifleri: Cooking recipes, step-by-step food tutorials, Turkish cuisine specialties, quick and practical kitchen tips. One of the biggest cooking channels in Turkey.

The list can go on, but these are the top YouTube channels that I can think of currently. You may share more in the comments section.

Some Turkish channels are specifically creating content for Turkish learners. You may also follow those.

Create a Turkish Bubble

• Replace the small daily moments with Turkish.

• Change your Google search language to Turkish.

• Read headlines on BBC Türkçe or NTV.

• Write your shopping list or to-do list in Turkish.

The more Turkish you let into your routine, the less you’ll have to study it. It will just become part of your daily rhythm.

Exposure isn’t about studying harder, but about making Turkish a part of your environment. You don’t need to move to Türkiye to hear it every day. You can build your own Turkish world wherever you are.

Books teach you the rules, but exposure teaches you the rhythm.

So, change your phone language, sing that song, watch that dubbed movie, and start creating your Turkish world one ayarlar at a time.