A Learner's Dictionary of Kazakh Idioms

Kazakh, a Turkic language that uses Cyrillic script, is the official state language of Kazakhstan and is also spoken by people in parts of China, Russia, and neighboring Central Asian countries. This unique learner's dictionary features simple definitions, literal translations, English equivalents, full example sentences, and grammar and usage for over 2,000 Kazakh idioms.

As students progress to the upper-intermediate and advanced levels of language learning, they come in contact with cultural concepts embedded in simple words that they have learned as part of everyday vocabulary. Thus, they expand their vocabulary into idiomatic expressions. Upper-intermediate and advanced learners of Kazakh will find this extensive reference work useful to understand those culturally bound idioms.

Idioms in this reference volume are organized into categories—the human body, food, clothing, color, number, animals, and nature—that best represent the topics on which language learners focus at the beginning and intermediate levels of language study. Five indexes make finding the idiom you want—by idiom, keyword, or expression in both Kazakh and English—easier.

Akmaral Mukan is a lead curriculum specialist at CyraCom International, where she develops translation and interpretation training programs. She has taught Kazakh and English at universities in Kazakhstan and the United States. She is the author of the University of Arizona's Critical Languages Series for Intermediate and Advanced Kazakh. She has developed and reviewed Kazakh language testing materials for Avant Assessment and Defense Language Institute, provided Russian and Kazakh translation and interpretation for US government agencies and European organizations, and managed educational outreach programs for the US State Department in Kazakhstan.