Before deciding in Turkish
A friend advising whether to accept a job offer in Turkish. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «İş teklifini kabul edeyim mi, bilmiyorum.» — I don't know whether to accept the job offer.; «Anlat bakalım. Maaş iyi mi?» — Tell me about it. Is the salary good? 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 friend advising whether to accept a job offer. 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.
- İş teklifini kabul edeyim mi, bilmiyorum.I don't know whether to accept the job offer.
- Anlat bakalım. Maaş iyi mi?Tell me about it. Is the salary good?
- İyi, ama şehir uzak. Yol aşağı yukarı iki saat.It is, but the city is far. The commute is about two hours.
- Senin yerinde olsam bir hafta düşünürdüm.If I were you, I'd think for a week.
- Vaktim yok, cuma cevap vermeliyim.There's no time, I have to answer by Friday.
- O hâlde artıları ve eksileri yaz. Avantajı ne, dezavantajı ne?In that case, write out the pros and cons. What's an advantage, what's a drawback?
- Yazdım zaten. Büyük ihtimalle kabul edeceğim.I've already written them out. Most likely I'll agree.
- Karar sana kalmış. Ama bence denemeye değer.It's up to you. But in my opinion, it's worth a try.
Lines one by one
| Turkish | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| İş teklifini kabul edeyim mi, bilmiyorum. | — | I don't know whether to accept the job offer. |
| Anlat bakalım. Maaş iyi mi? | — | Tell me about it. Is the salary good? |
| İyi, ama şehir uzak. Yol aşağı yukarı iki saat. | — | It is, but the city is far. The commute is about two hours. |
| Senin yerinde olsam bir hafta düşünürdüm. | — | If I were you, I'd think for a week. |
| Vaktim yok, cuma cevap vermeliyim. | — | There's no time, I have to answer by Friday. |
| O hâlde artıları ve eksileri yaz. Avantajı ne, dezavantajı ne? | — | In that case, write out the pros and cons. What's an advantage, what's a drawback? |
| Yazdım zaten. Büyük ihtimalle kabul edeceğim. | — | I've already written them out. Most likely I'll agree. |
| Karar sana kalmış. Ama bence denemeye değer. | — | It's up to you. But in my opinion, it's worth a try. |
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?
“İş teklifini kabul edeyim mi, bilmiyorum.” — I don't know whether to accept the job offer.. 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.