Practice Turkish in Berlin with Native Speakers
Practice Turkish in Berlin with native speakers: small group classes and 1:1 exchanges by video, fitted around Kreuzberg and Neukölln schedules.
Create your free accountNo card needed. Exchanges between members are always free.
Turkish is part of daily background noise in Berlin, not something you have to go looking for. You hear it on the U8 platform at Kottbusser Tor, at the Maybachufer Türkenmarkt on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, in the tea houses and bakeries along Sonnenallee, and in half the shops on Karl-Marx-Straße in Neukölln. People who want to practice it here are often neighbors in Kreuzberg or Wedding, partners in mixed German-Turkish families, or colleagues who hear it at work every day and are tired of only catching fragments.
Finding someone to actually sit down and practice with is another story. Berlin is spread thin: getting from Prenzlauer Berg to Neukölln for a coffee is a 40-minute trip on a good day, longer if the U7 is doing weekend maintenance again. A lot of people here work Schicht in gastronomy or retail, or freelance with no fixed hours, which makes any 'let's meet Thursday at 7' plan fragile. Add four months of the year where it's dark by 4pm, and the WhatsApp exchange group that seemed like a good idea in October quietly dies by December.
Doing it by video removes the part that keeps falling apart: the commute and the cancellations. A small group class with a native Turkish teacher at a slot that actually survives your shift pattern, plus a 1:1 exchange split 30 minutes in Turkish and 30 in your own language, gets you the contact without needing everyone's calendar to align in the same corner of the city.
Words you will actually hear
| Here | Elsewhere | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Lan | used as 'hey' or 'man' | Turkish word for addressing a friend informally, picked up whole into Berlin street German, especially among younger Kreuzberg and Neukölln residents |
| Abi | big brother / mate | literally 'older brother' in Turkish, used on the street to address almost any guy respectfully, common around Sonnenallee |
| Moruk | old man / dude | Turkish slang for an older man, used affectionately between friends regardless of age in Berlin youth speech |
| Babo | the boss | from Turkish/Kurdish 'baba' (father), became mainstream Berlin slang after rapper Haftbefehl, means the one in charge |
| Aman | oh man / come on | Turkish exclamation of frustration or disbelief, heard constantly in daily exchanges around Neukölln |
| Vallah | I swear | Turkish/Arabic word to affirm something is true, used across languages in Berlin youth slang |
| Yallah | let's go / hurry up | loanword used alongside Turkish in mixed-language Kiez speech to push someone along |
| Kiez | neighborhood | standard German word but central to how Berliners identify themselves, each area from Kreuzberg to Wedding has its own Kiez identity |
How it works here
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Sign up and say your level
Two minutes. If you do not know your level, we place you in the first class.
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Pick a class or an exchange
Classes are led by a native teacher. An exchange is with another member: half the time in their language, half in yours.
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Join by video, nothing to install
From your phone or your computer. If you cannot make it, cancel and get your place back.
Questions about this
I just moved to Kreuzberg and only know market Turkish from Maybachufer, is that enough to start?
Yes. Small group classes are split by level, so someone who only knows market phrases starts in a different group than someone with a Turkish partner at home. The 1:1 exchanges also work at any level since your partner is learning your language too and knows what it's like to start from basics.
What time do people usually connect, given how many of us work Schicht or freelance?
Slots run across the day specifically because Berlin schedules are irregular, from gastronomy shifts to freelancers working late. You pick a class time and a 1:1 slot that fits your week rather than one fixed evening everyone has to match.
Do I need to meet up in person somewhere in Neukölln or Kreuzberg?
No, everything runs by video, which is the point: no crossing town on the U7 or U8 to make a meetup that might fall through anyway. You join from wherever you are in Berlin, or outside it.
How much does it cost?
Pricing depends on which plan you choose, group classes or 1:1 exchanges or both. Check the current plans page for the exact numbers before signing up.
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