Order delivery in Turkish
A batch of goods is received at the warehouse in Turkish. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Mal geldi mi? İrsaliye nerede?» — Has the goods arrived? Where is the waybill?; «Geldi. İrsaliye kutunun üstünde.» — It has. The waybill is on top of the box. 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: a batch of goods is received at the warehouse. 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.
- Mal geldi mi? İrsaliye nerede?Has the goods arrived? Where is the waybill?
- Geldi. İrsaliye kutunun üstünde.It has. The waybill is on top of the box.
- Kaç kap var? Sayım yaptın mı?How many containers? Did you count them?
- Kırk kap. Ama ikisinde işaretleme silinmiş.Forty containers. But the marking has worn off on two.
- O zaman mal kabulünü bekletelim.Then let's hold off the acceptance.
- Nakliyeciyi arayayım mı? Sevkiyat süresi zaten uzadı.Should I call the carrier? The delivery time has stretched out already.
- Ara. Sipariş verene de bilgi geçelim.Call. And we'll inform the customer.
- Tamam. Kusurlu kapları ayrı bir yere koyuyorum.Okay. I'm setting the defective containers aside separately.
Lines one by one
| Turkish | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Mal geldi mi? İrsaliye nerede? | — | Has the goods arrived? Where is the waybill? |
| Geldi. İrsaliye kutunun üstünde. | — | It has. The waybill is on top of the box. |
| Kaç kap var? Sayım yaptın mı? | — | How many containers? Did you count them? |
| Kırk kap. Ama ikisinde işaretleme silinmiş. | — | Forty containers. But the marking has worn off on two. |
| O zaman mal kabulünü bekletelim. | — | Then let's hold off the acceptance. |
| Nakliyeciyi arayayım mı? Sevkiyat süresi zaten uzadı. | — | Should I call the carrier? The delivery time has stretched out already. |
| Ara. Sipariş verene de bilgi geçelim. | — | Call. And we'll inform the customer. |
| Tamam. Kusurlu kapları ayrı bir yere koyuyorum. | — | Okay. I'm setting the defective containers aside separately. |
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?
“Mal geldi mi? İrsaliye nerede?” — Has the goods arrived? Where is the waybill?. 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.