Placing the furniture in Turkish
Two people arranging things in a new room in Turkish. 9 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Dolabı nereye koyalım?» — Where shall we put the wardrobe?; «Duvara bitişik olsun, pencerenin yanında.» — Let it stand against the wall, next to the window. Every line can be played right on the page. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two people arranging things in a new room. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- Dolabı nereye koyalım?Where shall we put the wardrobe?
- Duvara bitişik olsun, pencerenin yanında.Let it stand against the wall, next to the window.
- Kitapları rafa yerleştireyim mi?Shall I put the books on the shelf?
- Yerleştir ama kalın olanlar üstte dursun.Put them up, just let the thick ones stand on top.
- Şu kutu çok yer kaplıyor, dipte mi kalsın?This box takes up a lot of space, should it stay in the back?
- Kalsın. İçeriği zaten kırılgan, karıştırmayalım.Let it stay. The contents are fragile anyway, we won't disturb them.
- Aynayı da asalım mı? Çerçevesi oval, güzel duruyor.Shall we hang the mirror too? The frame is oval, it looks nice.
- Asalım. Ama önce yüzeyi silelim, tozlu.Let's hang it. Just let's wipe the surface first, it's dusty.
- Tamam, bir saate her şeyi yoluna koyarız.Okay, in an hour we'll get everything in order.
Lines one by one
| Turkish | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Dolabı nereye koyalım? | — | Where shall we put the wardrobe? |
| Duvara bitişik olsun, pencerenin yanında. | — | Let it stand against the wall, next to the window. |
| Kitapları rafa yerleştireyim mi? | — | Shall I put the books on the shelf? |
| Yerleştir ama kalın olanlar üstte dursun. | — | Put them up, just let the thick ones stand on top. |
| Şu kutu çok yer kaplıyor, dipte mi kalsın? | — | This box takes up a lot of space, should it stay in the back? |
| Kalsın. İçeriği zaten kırılgan, karıştırmayalım. | — | Let it stay. The contents are fragile anyway, we won't disturb them. |
| Aynayı da asalım mı? Çerçevesi oval, güzel duruyor. | — | Shall we hang the mirror too? The frame is oval, it looks nice. |
| Asalım. Ama önce yüzeyi silelim, tozlu. | — | Let's hang it. Just let's wipe the surface first, it's dusty. |
| Tamam, bir saate her şeyi yoluna koyarız. | — | Okay, in an hour we'll get everything in order. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Turkish in this situation?
“Dolabı nereye koyalım?” — Where shall we put the wardrobe?. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.