greetings shimlad
the Turkish lingo is very hard to understand as the people tend to speak very fast and there seems to be several ways of saying the same thing but in our experience most waiters and shop-keepers will grasp what you are trying to say in English or pigeon Turkish but I feel that it is only manners to learn a little if only the NICETIES like gunaydin (good morning ) and Lutfen (please ) & teshekur ederim (thank you very much) etc .
regards wee.john

I have been going to Turkey for many years and lived there for 3. I did used to understand a lot but my Turkish is very rusty now. I would love to speak better but don't have the time at the moment to learn. I should be able to learn as my husband is Turkish but he never bothers teaching me. When my girls are a bit older I am going to get back into it