Sunday, January 28, 2007

Office Vocabulary

Several days behind, I'm going to take steps to get caught up.

The first is just to list some words I've picked up at the office. A method I experimented with produced some success. That is, I used sticky notepads to write down the Turkish words of things in my office cubicle and then stick that note onto the object. My idea was to simulate immersion—i.e., simulate being surrounded by a new language.

One of the first words I learned this way was bilgisayar or computer. Seeing that little sticky note every stuck to my computer made it easy to have that word sink into my subconscious.

Using this method, I've learned the following words so far:
  • kâğıt (paper)
  • şiir (poem, specifically, this one)
  • kordon (cord)
  • şehir (city [a 1940s picture of the NYC skyline])
  • ataş (paperclip)
  • fincan (coffee cup)
  • bardak (plastic or paper cup)
  • duvar (wall)
  • masa (table)
  • masaüstü (table top)

This is a handy method though not a be-all-end-all, of course. It's just a good supplement to other efforts.

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