Autumn 2003 (11.3)
Page 11

Readers' Forum
Chinese and Azeri

I'm from Shanghai, China. I studied Turkish in the past and now I am very interested in studying Azeri along with its history, culture and achievements.

Actually, I learned Turkish on my own. I have three volumes of Elementary Turkish for Foreigners and some reading materials, including novels. And I have a few close Turkish friends here at the Turkish Consulate in Shanghai. Thanks to one of my Polish friends, I have a Polish-Turkish, Turkish-Polish dictionary.

I would be very indebted if you could provide me with any information related to comparative grammar studies between Turkish and Azeri. Such material would be indispensable for my studies.

I should mention that I speak a few other languages. I'm fluent in Japanese, Korean and English and have a good command of French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Polish. I'm so keen to travel throughout the world and have already visited a few countries.

As you probably know, Turkic people live in China, primarily in the Xinjiang Province which borders Central Asia. Mainly they are the Uigur people. Quite a few of them live in Shanghai and operate restaurants where they feature their own cuisine and specialties. It's strange but all we know in China about the former Soviet Union relates to Russia and the Russian language. We have no basic knowledge about any of the republics or ethnic groups. As far as Azerbaijan is concerned, I've never seen anything written in Chinese about it.

I noticed that in your articles written in 2000 and 2001, Azerbaijanis were complaining about the shortage of books published in the Latin alphabet. What are the present circumstances? Has the situation improved?

Finally, I would like to express my enduring respect to you for the great work shown on your Web site-AZERI.org. You have created so many illustrated articles written in such compelling, easy to understand, but perfect English, free of melodrama or sentimentalism. Nowhere have I been able to read so much about the Azeri language.

Is there any chance that you could assist me in connecting with an Azerbaijani who would be interested in learning Chinese, in a friendly exchange for my practicing some Azeri with them via email?

Lin Jing-Hua
Shanghai, China
Email: Roland.Lin@fourseasons.com

Editor: See Kurtulush Oztupchu's article: "A Comparison of Modern Azeri with Modern Turkish in Azerbaijan International" (AI 1:3, 1993). Search at AZER.com.


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