Intermediate Kazakh

Watch video and learn about greetings, shopping, food, dining out, weather, education, literature, holiday traditions, and more. With our specially designed video player for language learning you can pause the video at any point and scroll the transcription. Read annotations about culture and grammar. Click on almost any word or sentence to hear it spoken, along with translations.

This course can be used either by independent learners or by students in a traditional or self-instructional classroom setting, and is the equivalent of the material covered in a one-year college course.

Classroom-Tested and Peer-Reviewed

“I love the books.” — Shana Nolan, Google 5 Star Review

Intermediate Kazakh was originally published as part of the highly reviewed University of Arizona Critical Languages Series, and we have added many new mobile-friendly features.

Multiple Choice, Fill in the blank, and Listening Dictation exercises are provided for each lesson. A searchable audio glossary with thousands of words and translations helps you find every occurrence of a word or part of a word in all of the lessons.

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Sample Video: Unit 1, Dialog 1

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Table of Contents and Free Sample Lessons

Unit 1 – Education

1. A conversation with Айгүл, a university student, try a Listening Dictation
2. Secondary and Higher Education
3. A conversation with Хадиша апай, a chemistry teacher
4. Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations and World Languages

Unit 2 – Government and Diplomacy

1. Kazakhstan’s Diplomacy
2. Political Parties
3. Relationships Between Kazakh and Kyrgyz Countries
4. Republic of Kazakhstan’s Political System

Unit 3 – Natural Resources

1. Oil and Gas Industry
2. Tengiz deposit
3. Oil and Gas Projects
4. History of Oil Industry in Atyrau

Unit 4 – Business and Agriculture

1. Kazakhstan Industry
2. Business and Economy
3. Business Culture
4. Agriculture

Unit 5 – Culture

1. Kazakh People’s Culture
2. Kazakh Traditions and Customs
3. Kazakh National Pedagogy
4. Kazakhstan’s Cultural Life

Instructor’s Guide

Grammar

• Unit 1
  • Vowel and Consonant Harmony
  • Third-Person Possessive in the Locative, Accusative and Dative Cases
  • The Past Participle in Relative Clauses
  • The Present Participle in Relative Clauses
  • Adverbial Clauses of Time with Postpositions “соң” and “кейін”
  • The Present Continuous Tense
• Unit 2
  • The Passive Voice
  • Auxiliary Verbs
  • The Infinitive
  • Necessity
  • Obligation
  • Noun Suffixes
• Unit 3
  • Third-Person Possessive in the Genitive, Ablative and Instrumental Cases
  • The Past Participle as a Predicate
  • The Infinitive in the Locative, Dative and Accusative Cases
  • Conditional Sentences
• Unit 4
  • The Infinitive in the Locative, Ablative and Accusative Cases
  • Expressing Want
  • Conjunctions and Postpositions
• Unit 5
  • More on Adverbial Clauses of Time
  • The Postposition “бұрын”
  • Pronouns “барлық”, “бәрі” and “өз”
  • Probability and Possibility
  • First-Person and Second-Person Possessive in the Locative, Dative and Accusative Cases

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What Our Students are Saying

“I love that in your lessons, I can click on each word individually for both pronunciation and meaning in English. I really need the pronunciation aspect in my language learning, and this is so helpful…”

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About the Author

Akmaral Mukanova received her master’s degree in English Language and Linguistics from the University of Arizona, where she was a Visiting Scholar with the U.S. State Department’s Junior Faculty Development Program. Her professional experience includes English and Kazakh language instruction, adult education, curriculum development, and online training. She managed U.S. government-led international programs and curriculum development initiatives. Her interests include adult learning and workforce development, instructional design, and e-Learning. She is also the author of our Advanced Kazakh course.

Other Kazakh Resources

• A Learner’s Dictionary of Kazakh Idioms by Akmaral Mukan
• Language Canvas Beginning Kazakh by Ablahat Ibrahim
• Language Canvas Advanced Kazakh (Coming Soon!)
• Kazakh Language – Wikipedia

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Course materials © 1995–2026 Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona. Used under license.

Frequently asked questions

How much material does Intermediate Kazakh cover?

Intermediate Kazakh covers the equivalent of a full year of college-level Kazakh instruction — roughly 120 hours of material — delivered as structured video lessons with full transcriptions and translations.

Do I need any prior experience to take Intermediate Kazakh?

Some. Intermediate Kazakh is designed for learners who already have a beginner's foundation in Kazakh — about a year of study, or our Beginning Kazakh course.

How are the lessons delivered?

The course is fully online and self-paced. You learn from native-speaker videos with on-screen transcriptions and translations, then practice with interactive exercises — on any device, on your own schedule.

How much does Intermediate Kazakh cost?

Access is $9.99/month with a three-month minimum, and one subscription unlocks the entire course.

Who created Intermediate Kazakh?

Intermediate Kazakh was originally created by the University of Arizona Critical Languages Program as part of the Critical Languages Series. It was designed by Akmaral Mukanova, published by Language Canvas, and used under license.