Learning Turkish In Turkey - Good Idea?

Hello dear
Sure you can come in Turkey anytime when you like I don't know which country you are living now but when you come it will be not refugees for you because you will come with tourist visa or legally 90 days stay  in without visa depend on which countries should provide visa or not. If you like to learn Turkish language it will be better in Istanbul with istanbul university  or timer language course in taksim istanbul..
2 ör 3 months will be enough for beginning but each month your cost will around 800 or 1000 $ us for rent house , food , drink  and language course depend on how you spend money ...
Good luck

Hi,

Foude1, since you asked the advice of a resident: I have been residing in Turkey for the past three years. Things are not as great as they were a couple of years ago, however, its still pretty good. Life goes on normally. And yes, there have been incidents here and there, its not as bad as you see in the media.

As far as your concern about locals 'engaging especially towards a middle eastern looking foreigner with a poor command of turkish', it should not be an issue. The locals are pretty helpful towards the foreigners. Me as a South Asian, I find it easy to interact with (a few English) people despite my whatsoever lack of Turkish. However, going around doing everyday tasks without Turkish will be a massive task! Its nearly impossible!

Having said that people are friendly, your major concern will really be saving yourself from getting ripped off! Hand down! I have to keep an eye open every time I take a taxi, get a handy man to fix something at the house or anything else where a trade is involved. If you cant speak English, you will oddly be assumed as if you do not know anything about how the things work. In such cases, get yourself a good friend who can speak Turkish, thats the best option.

Regarding you r question about choosing a place, what are your priorities other than the city being non touristic?

Z

THanks for the replies folks, that has eased my mind

My priorities are value - i'd like somewhere affordable but also cosmopolitan/lots of things to do. My main concern is the cost of accommodation in the center of a big city such as Izmir. I want to be able to mingle with Turkish people as much as possible, as well as like minded foreigners trying to learn the language.