Learn Turkish from Brazilian Portuguese with PBC Languages
Learn Turkish for free starting from Brazilian Portuguese: small classes with native teachers plus 1-to-1 exchanges, half hour each language, at PBC Languages.
Create your free accountNo card needed. Exchanges between members are always free.
The sounds that trip up Brazilian Portuguese speakers are the ones Turkish has and Portuguese doesn't: ı (a vowel with no dot, no rounding, said with the mouth almost closed), ö and ü, which don't exist even in your nasal vowel inventory. Then there's the letter c, which in Turkish sounds like the 'j' in 'já', and ç, which sounds like the 'tch' in 'tchau' — easy to mix up at first because the letters look like they should read like Portuguese. Your nasal vowels (ão, ãe) are also a reflex you'll need to switch off, since Turkish has none of that.
Structurally, Turkish word order is subject-object-verb, so 'eu como pão' becomes, word for word, 'I bread eat'. There's no gender, so the mental habit of sorting everything into o/a disappears — that part is a relief. What replaces it is agglutination: instead of prepositions, Turkish stacks suffixes onto the root, and vowel harmony decides which vowel each suffix takes depending on the word. A word like 'evlerimizde' (in our houses) is house + plural + our + in, all in one block, and it follows rules that feel arbitrary until you see the pattern a few times.
Where you'll move fast: Turkish spelling is completely phonetic, so once you know the letters you can read anything correctly, no exceptions to memorize like in Portuguese. Verb conjugation is regular from day one, with none of the irregular subjunctive forms that make Portuguese grammar heavy. And a handful of words that entered Turkish through French are the same ones that entered Portuguese through French, so vocabulary like otobüs, taksi or sürpriz gives you an immediate foothold.
Words you will actually hear
| Here | Elsewhere | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| para | para | In Turkish it means money; in Portuguese it means 'for' or 'to'. Same spelling, completely different job in the sentence — a classic trap in early conversations. |
| pasta | pasta | In Turkish it's a cake or pastry; in Portuguese it's paste, or a folder/briefcase. If someone offers you 'pasta' in Turkey, it's dessert, not a document. |
| otobüs | ônibus | Both come from 'autobus' and sound close enough that you'll recognize it the first time you hear it. |
| taksi | táxi | Practically identical, borrowed by both languages from the same international word. |
| otel | hotel | Same word, Turkish just drops the silent h. Easy to read and use immediately. |
| polis | polícia | Close enough in sound and spelling that context makes it obvious even before you've studied it. |
| kravat | gravata | Both borrowed from French 'cravate'; the Turkish version is shorter but clearly related. |
| sürpriz | surpresa | Same French root, similar sound, one of those words that lowers the guard in a new language. |
| kahve | café | Both trace back to Arabic 'qahwa', so the word for coffee feels familiar even though the languages aren't related. |
| lira | lira | Turkey's currency shares its name with the old Portuguese and Italian currency, both from Latin 'libra' — same word, different economies. |
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
How long does it take a Brazilian Portuguese speaker to get comfortable in Turkish?
It depends on how often you show up, but the grammar itself isn't the slow part — vowel harmony and agglutination take repetition, not talent. Most people need a few months of regular practice before they can hold a simple conversation without translating in their head first.
Is the 1-to-1 exchange actually free?
Yes. You spend half an hour helping someone with Portuguese and half an hour they help you with Turkish — no money changes hands, no subscription behind it. What you're paying with is your own time and effort, which is exactly why both sides show up prepared.
What level of Turkish do I need before joining a class or an exchange?
For the exchanges, none — you can start from zero, since your partner is also learning your language and remembers exactly what that's like. The small group classes with native teachers are organized by level, so you're not thrown in with people three steps ahead of you.
How exactly is the half hour and half hour split during an exchange?
You agree on it with your partner before starting, but the usual pattern is straight down the middle: thirty minutes in Turkish, thirty in Portuguese, with a clear switch in between rather than mixing both the whole time. That structure is what keeps the exchange fair and keeps both people actually practicing, not just chatting in whichever language is easier.
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