Languages in Turkey
Overview
The medical tourism hub of Turkey is quite homogenous in its local language. The majority of the population speaks Turkish. The language is not an Indo European language; rather, it’s part of the Ural-Altaic family of languages, which also includes Hungarian. The term Altai comes from the regions around the Ural Mountains, which is where these languages are supposed to have originated from. Â
Modern Turkish has been in widespread use since the Ottoman Empire. It’s a phonetic language, and each letter of the word is pronounced while reading. Close to 90% of the population speaks it, making it the official language of this medical tourism destination. Â
Kurdish is spoken by around 6% of the population. At least 1% speaks Arabic, and there are small pockets of the country that speak Greek, Armenian, and Circassian.Â
English
English is now the preferred second language of choice, in large part because the country took an extreme interest in it shortly after WWI. In many schools across the country, English is replacing Turkish as the primary means of instruction. Students in Turkish schools can also choose to learn French or German, although English as the language of international commerce is the preferred choice. This trend alarms many Turkish nationalists who fear that English’s widespread popularity could eventually replace Turkish as the official language. However, as a medical tourism traveler, it’s comforting to know that many shops and hospitals have English-speaking staff on hand to assist you. Just be sure than any paperwork you have to sign has been translated beforehand.
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