Passive verbs are generally formed by the addition of -il (for verb stems ending in consonants) or -n (for verb stems ending in vowels), and less often by -l, -in, or -len in making a noun into a verb:

Ayşe kötü yaptı – Ayşe did it badly

Kötü yapıldı – It was done badly

Kimliğini öğrendim – I learnt his/her identity

Kimliği öğrenildi – His/her identity was learnt

Cenk evi temizledi – Cenk cleaned the house

Ev temizlendi – The house was cleaned

Reflexive sentences also have -in or -n (and much less often -l or -il) added to the verb. These are different to the passives, and you will come to recognise them over time. They are also, unlike passive verbs, able to take a subject:

Soyundum – I have taken my clothes off.

Uyandın – You woke (yourself) up

Abdullah yıkandı – Abdullah washed himself

Çok sevindim – I pleased (myself) very much (meaning “I became very pleased”)

Kız süslendi – The girl decorated herself (meaning “the girl dressed up”)

Causatives are marked by -r, -t, -ir or -tir/-dir (according to consonant harmony):

Yattım – I lay down

Yatırdım – I lay someone else down or I put down/invested some money

Musa öldü – Musa died

Harun Musa’yı öldürdü – Harun murdered Musa

Harun Defne’ye Musa’yı öldürttü – Harun had Defne murder Musa (double causative)

Yapıyorum – I am doing (it).

Yaptırıyorum – I am having it done (by someone else).

Ararım – I will look (for it)

Aratırım – I will have it searched for (by someone else).

Saçını mı kestirdin? – Did you have your hair cut (by someone else)?

Reciprocal elements are used when two things are acting on one another rather than a single subject acting on an object. They are -ş or -iş, or occasionally -leş in making a noun into a verb:

Sevmek – To like/love/caress

Sevişmek – To make love together

Bakmak – To look

Bakışmak – To exchange glances

Telefon ettim – I telephoned (him/her)

Telefonlaştık – We talked on the telephone

You can often include causative, passive, reflexive, and reciprocal elements together:

Musa öldürüldü – Musa was murdered (to die + causative + passive)

Uyuşturuldum – I was anaesthetised (to sleep + reciprocal + causative + passive)

Kabullendireceğim – I will make (him/her/them) accept (it) (acceptance + passive verb + causative)

Tartışıldı – It was debated (to weigh + reflexive + passive)

The post Passive, Causative, Reciprocal and Reflexive Verbs in Turkish appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

With greater flexibility and choice comes an increased need for students to be motivated towards greater productivity. Yet, without the structure and support of lectures, faculty staff and fellow students to hand, that is not always an easy thing to do for busy individuals with multiple commitments. Here are five tips that every student needs to take on board, to avoid becoming just another drop-out statistic.

Be organised

Campus-based student life is set around a structured timetable, and the smart distance learning student will follow the same model. Create a study calendar at the outset, factor in deadlines and milestones, and designate study time.

By being organised, you can set aside time that works around other commitments, for example after the kids are at school or in bed. Too many students merely commit to studying “as and when they get a chance,” which simply means it never happens.

Plan ahead

This means more than just being ready for exams and assessments – look at the “big picture” of your course syllabus, see what is coming and you will be able to make more effective use of your time.

Check in every day

These days, we are better connected than ever. If you are able to engage every day with friends on Facebook to discuss what you had for lunch or last night’s TV, then you are able to check in with your college or university too. It doesn’t have to be to do coursework even – just log in, check what’s happening and feel part of the scene, and you will be better equipped to, quite literally, “stay with the program.”

Don’t suffer in silence

Last, but certainly not least, remember this. Every student struggles to keep up from time to time. The difference between the success stories and the failures are those who do something about it.

If you find you are falling behind or struggling to cope, speak up.  One thing is for sure, your course instructors will understand, and they are in a position to help. Remember, they want you to succeed almost as much as you do yourself!

Text by Jackie Edwards

The post Time Management Tips That Every Online Student Should Know appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

11000111010001001111101001000001011110011011001001000100110101001000110101001011000001111010001011000100000010111001110101100101

In Turkish, binary code is easy, because, while the Turkish for ‘binary’ is İkili, the Turkish for bit is just bit. The normal, decimal notation for the above binary number is:

264,874,523,137,473,303,357,471,584,988,705,824,101

In English, you would say:
264 undecillion 874 decillion 523 nonillion 137 octillion 473 septillion 303 sextillion 357 quintillion 471 quadrillion 584 trillion 988 billion 705 million 824 thousand 101.
In Turkish, this is:
264 undesilyon 874 desilyon 523 nonilyon 137 oktilyon 473 septilyon  303 seksilyon 357 kentilyon 471 katrilyon 584 trilyon 988 milyar 705 milyon 824 bin 101.

If you compare the two, you will notice that after a billion, the Turkish just becomes a phonetic writing of English. So if you thought that Turkish language is difficult, be reassured that when it comes to what really matters in business (the big numbers), being familiar with basic Turkish pronunciation and writing is more than enough!

“Why does internet security need such large numbers?” you might wonder. The astronomically large numbers are used to prevent a third person from ‘guessing’ a numerical key that gives access to sensitive details. The numbers need to be large enough that even the fast computer possible wouldn’t be able to generate enough guesses to make a correct guess within the lifetime of a security key.

In websites, these big numbers are used, for instance, for Unique Identification Numbers (UID). A UID is much safer to prove that you are you, than to keep sending your user name and password every time you interact with the website. Furthermore, UIDs make it possible to keep logged in after closing your browser or app, without storing your password inside your computer or mobile device .

The big numbers also bring some extra challenges though: First of all, they are quite long, requiring more storage space and bandwidth. And secondly, the usual mathematical functions of a computer cannot deal with such large numbers.

The length of the numbers can be reduced by using a more information-dense representation. This is useful to reduce their length when used inside a URL reference. As you can see above, the conversion to a decimal number already reduced the length from 128 to 39. A common number type used in security software is the hexadecimal representation, where 6 extra values (‘a,b,c,d,e,f’) are counted after to the numbers 0 to 9. This makes our secure number above look like this string of only 32 characters:

c744fa4179b244d48d4b07a2c40b9d65

In Turkish, that’s easy again, because the Turkish for hexidecimal is heksadesimal.

But we don’t have to stop here. We can make the string even shorter by adding more possible characters. Why not use all 62 alphanumeric characters ‘0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuwvxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUWVXYZ’?

Representing our number in alphanumeric characters reduces it to only 22 characters:

640ZKfPtQpDfcLRAhThnIp

And it is still easy in Turkish, since the Turkish for alphanumeric is alfanümerik.

However, the complicated part is now for the computer, because random number generators usually provide a hexadecimal output. The computer then needs to convert this to alfanümerik. Usually, this is done by repeatedly dividing the number through 62 to get each subsequent alfanümerik character. Unfortunately, the software on an internet server can only calculate with 32 bit numbers, or 64 bit for some modern servers. A 128 bit number is simply too big for the computer to divide. Splitting it up into smaller blocks doesn’t work either, because 62 is not a power of two.

If you recollect your childhood, though, you might realise that there is a simple way to divide a number of any length, called the ‘long division’. In Turkish it is called uzun bölme. So all we needed to do to get alfanümerik security numbers is to apply the uzun bölme method to the heksadesimal string.

You could easily do this on a very long piece of paper:

Here 3E is the heksadesimal notation of 62. I have to admit for this example I cheated, since I find it quite difficult to calculate with even small heksadesimal numbers. Also, I didn’t finish it all the way down. A meticulous job like this is perfect to do with a computer, though. The final remainder of this division, all the way down, would be 19 (which is 25 in decimal). This gives us a ‘p’ as the first (right most) character of the alfanümerik notation, since ‘p’ is the 26th number in the row of  alfanümerik  characters (counting starts with 0). To get the next alfanümerik character ‘I’, you just do another uzun bölme to divide the answer ‘336ca3adccd32a896ec90a3a852c49a’ again by ‘3e’. And so on, until you get an answer smaller than ‘3e’.

For those who might also want to convert their own big hex numbers, below is the piece of PHP programming code that does the conversion using long division. It works on a hex string of any length and can easily be adapted to convert to any other encoding, including binary, by simply modifying the list of character in $chars.

function hex2alphanum62($hex)
{
	$chars = '0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuwvxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUWVXYZ';
	$setbase=strlen($chars);

	$answer = '';
	while (!empty($hex) && ($hex !== 0)) {

		$hex_result = '';
		$hex_remain = '';

		// divide by base in hex:
		for ($i=0;$i<strlen($hex);$i+=1){

			$hex_remain = $hex_remain . $hex[$i];
			$dec_remain = hexdec($hex_remain);
			// small partial divide in decimals:
			$dec_result = (int)($dec_remain/$setbase);

			if (!empty($hex_result) || ($dec_result > 0))
				$hex_result = $hex_result . dechex($dec_result);

			$dec_remain = $dec_remain - $setbase*$dec_result;
			$hex_remain = dechex($dec_remain);
		}

		$answer = $chars[$dec_remain] . $answer;
		$hex = $hex_result;
	}

	return $answer;
}

For more questions about this, please feel free to contact the developers at:

info@handsonturkish.com

HandsOnTurkish is an EU-funded project from a consortium of publishers, programmers and language learning experts. Learn Turkish online or download the apps (available for iOS and Android).

The post Crunching big numbers is easy in Turkish appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

Meeting in Bath, UK: Carl, Udo and Neal had a quick meeting to iron out all the bugs in the First Steps In Turkish and start preparing the Turkish Language Test. We were joined by Marc Jones later to discuss the video.

So far the partners have been fortunate with the weather but due to the colossal amount of work to be completed in a short space of time, they have been unable to make the most of the English summer weather in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe!

Turkish language certificate

The first test is called “HandsOnTurkish Entry Level”.

A language certificate is desirable for any vocational learner, businessperson or student who wishes to have their Turkish language learning recognised. The certificate ought to be achievable and indicate an initial understanding of Turkish language, culture and business etiquette. The name “Entry level” reflects this.

It is equally important that the test conforms to an international standard and is rigourous.

Carl and Udo laid out the structure of the exam according to the needs of the Common European Framework for Modern Languages.

The first trials of the language testing facility were developed by Neal Taylor. The online testing will test listening, reading and writing skills.

A first glance at the Turkish Language test demo

The partners have also found an innovative solution to the oral testing which they will be testing in due course.

Our Dutch colleague, Jeroen Lichtenauer, is currently researching further OpenBadges and how they can be integrated into our apps, courses and testing. More information about this coming soon.

Video: Why learn Turkish?

Work continues on the video. We have had an on-going discussion whether to create one longer video or a couple shorter videos. Still to be concluded.

The video will help to spark interest in the language, engage them and, hopefully encourage them to try our Turkish language learning materials.

First Steps in Turkish

We have also updated the “First Steps” course. This is a shorter version of HandsOnTurkish and is ideal for general learners who simply want to try out if they want to learn Turkish and learn a few phrases.

Currently there are three complete units, each with six modules covering listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. The First Steps course also features language activities, culture and a few basic notes about the language.

The post Preparing the Turkish Language Certificate appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.

Frank and Sarah have identified three or four potential business partners who they want to meet in Turkey during a visit there.

The most interesting company appears to be a small textile business in Bursa, in the northwest part of Anatolia. It is run by Yasemin and Deniz. They manufacture silk textiles, boutique type textiles and home textiles. They would also like to do business with European companies. What appeals to Frank and Sarah is that Yasemin and Deniz have lots of contacts to other manufacturers in ceramics, lamps, tiles, etc.

Deniz maintains an office in Istanbul, where he meets clients. Yasemin looks after production in Bursa.

Frank and Sara have arranged to travel to Turkey to meet Yasemin and Deniz.

Deniz has booked them into the Pera Palace hotel, a famous landmark in Istanbul, which has hosted guests such as Alfred Hitchcock, Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie.

As Deniz has an office in Istanbul, they will have an opportunity to get to know each other better and establish a good personal relationship which is vital when doing business in Turkey. They will also be able to do some sightseeing, try some Turkish food and do some shopping. They will then drive with Deniz to Bursa to meet Yasemin, inspect the factory and discuss their ideas for collaboration.

During the journey to Bursa they will take the car ferry across the Sea of Marmara. This will be another opportunity to consolidate their personal relationship …

The post The Storyline So Far … appeared first on HandsOnTurkish.