Archives for May2008

Speak the Hungarian Rapper on CBC Radio

May 28, 2008 by Let's Learn Hungarian! in Other | Leave a comment

Ok, I’ll admit it – I like Speak. It’s easy to laugh at the guy and his 2003 song that became a YouTube sensation, “Stop the War,” but I respect anybody who’s earnest and authentic, and he definitely comes off as that.

Uncle Drew of the excellent Budacast podcast tracked down the elusive Speak (otherwise known as Tamás Deák) and interviewed the man himself for CBC Radio’s “Search Engine” show. Link here.

And if you’re one of the few who hasn’t yet seen the most awesome video for “Stop the War” (or can’t wait to see it again), we present it here:

p.s. NEW HUNGARIAN LESSON OUT IN A FEW DAYS! (Sorry for the delay, folks… )

Lots of Hungarian music on Last.fm

May 14, 2008 by Let's Learn Hungarian! in Other | 2 Comments

If you didn’t already know, last.fm has a quite a large selection of Hungarian music, which plays on your PC in an apparent random order, mixing musical genres and styles. And if you don’t like a particular song, just a click will bring up the next song in line.

The thing I like best about last.fm is that they offer some information about each musical artist they play and how to find out more about them. Actually, I’ve mostly stopped listening to online internet radio since discovering last.fm.

Enjoy!

Link to the Hungarian channel.

A note to our dear Hungarian listeners…

May 12, 2008 by Let's Learn Hungarian! in Other | 18 Comments

Today I noticed a post about language learning podcasts in the Hungarian site Webisztán. It was basically about how many free language learning podcasts are available, and the author’s desire to continue learning Italian through podcasts.

But in the comments section we were obliquely referenced.  The first comment was innocuous enough:

grabog 2008.05.11. 20:18:11
Belehallgattam a magyarba. Hát, érdekes. :-)
(I listened to the Hungarian. Interesting.)

But the next comment also caught my eye:

richard4tus 2008.05.12. 04:37:56
ezt a podcastot már én is próbáltam, de eltántorított az elképesztő angol akcentus…
(I also tried this podcast, but the horrid English accent sent me reeling.)

Apparently he means me and my accent in Hungarian.

First of all, I apologize for butchering the Hungarian language. I probably do have a strong accent. Györgyi’s used to it by now, but I imagine that other native speakers might not be so impressed.

Second, it should go without saying, but it’s worth stating openly:  DO NOT IMITATE MY SPEECH PATTERNS.  Györgyi is the native speaker, and you should repeat after what she says ONLY. I’m only here so that she doesn’t sound lonely speaking by herself, and because a dialogue needs at least two people. 

If there was another Hungarian speaker near us, we would gladly co-opt that person into our podcast and get me out of the way.  Hopefully we’ll be able to get another native speaker on soon so you can hear two native speakers talking and imitate their speech patterns properly.  Until we can do that, I ask for the native speakers’ understanding and tolerance with my tört magyar!

—steven

Lesson 8 – Happy Mother’s Day!

May 8, 2008 by Let's Learn Hungarian! in Podcast | 8 Comments

Lesson 8 is between a mother and her son on Mother’s Day, and the son’s embarrassing admission about his gift to her. We answer several listener questions on this lesson, and also discuss the tradition of Hungarian name days and other odd tidbits of Hungarian culture that you might not have been aware of.

See below for the script for this lesson’s material and the new vocabulary. Try and memorize as much as possible so you’ll be ready for the review next time!

Feel free to ask us if you have any questions about this lesson or Hungarian in general, or just to let us know what you think of our podcast. Just leave a comment on this post or on any other one. Thanks for listening!

Links discussed in the podcast:

House of Hungarian Wines: http://www.magyarborokhaza.hu/index.php

Mátyás Pince: http://www.matyaspince.hu/

Kulacs Étterem: http://www.kulacs.hu/

Budacast podcast: http://www.budacast.hu/

Music: Ernő Király, “Bor Nota” (“Wine Song”) (1914). Source: Internet Archive

Download Lesson 8 here (MP3 audio, 29:50)

 

Dialogue for Lesson 8 (informal speech):

Fiú: Boldog Anyák Napját!

Anya: Köszönöm szépen. Mi ez?

Fiú: Ajándék!

Anya: Megnézhetem most?

Fiú: Persze.

Anya: Ó, ez nagyon szép!

Fiú: Tetszik?

Anya: Igen. Mennyibe került?

Fiú: Hát, azt hiszem, hogy az idén nem lesz mas ajándékod!

Dialogue for Lesson 8 (English translation):

Son: Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother: Thanks so much. What’s this?

Son: A present!

Mother: Can I look at it now?

Son: Of course.

Mother: Oh, it’s very beautiful.

Son: Do you like it?

Mother: Yes. How much was it?

Son: Well, I think that you won’t get any more presents this year!

Vocabulary for Lesson 8:

lengyel – Polish

brazil – Brazilian

Brazília – Brazil

boldog – happy

anya – mother

nap – day

Boldog Anyák Napját – Happy Mother’s Day

Boldog Születésnapot – Happy Birthday

ajándék – present, gift

Megnézhetem? – Can I look at it?

persze – of course

nagyon – very

szép – beautiful

Tetszik. – I like it. (Or, You like it, He likes it, etc.)

Tetszik? – Do you like it?

Mennyibe kerül? – How much is it? How much does it cost?

Azt hiszem, hogy… – I think that…

az idén – this year

lesz – will be

nem lesz – will not be

más – other, another

Boldog Névnapot – Happy Name Day

Svédországból jöttem. – I come from Sweden.

bor – wine

fehérbor – white wine

vörösbor – red wine

Van valami hagyma nélküli étel? – Do you have any food without onions?

kulacs – traditional Hungarian shepherd’s water bottle

tök – pumpkin

Podcast: Play in new window | Download