Let’s Learn Hungarian!

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 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

As recommended by Györgyi in the last lesson, here’s a few videos of the Hungarian pop band Jazz+Az, featuring the work of entrepreneur/musician Péter Geszti.

I kind of prefer their more upbeat songs, but these two aren’t bad. This is “Csepp a tengerben” (“Drop in the Ocean”), which has a hypnotic quality about it:

“Megint hétfő” (“Monday Again”) showcases Geszti’s low-key rhyming skills, and the video features some Budapest landmarks: Liberty Bridge, the old skool Tram 49, and the even older-skool Metro 1:

enjoy,
steven

Lesson 7 brings us a dialogue between two old friends, Csaba and Katalin, who unexpectedly run into each other in a restaurant after not having met for a long time. Katalin wants to have a drink with Csaba, but he has a surprise for her!

See below for the script for this lesson’s material and the new vocabulary words. See how much of it you can memorize for the next lesson, as I’m sure we’ll have another review waiting for you.

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!

Intro music: Curtis Maranda, “7th Heaven”. Check out more of Curtis’ work at http://www.curtismaranda.com/

Outro music: Mookie Brando and the Second Cousins, “Mister Cliché”. You can find out more about Budapest-based Mookie Brando at http://www.mookiebrando.com/ Thanks to Curtis and Mookie for allowing us to use their original music on the podcast.

Download Lesson 7 here (MP3 audio, 24:18)

Dialogue for Lesson 7 (informal speech):

Katalin: Csaba, te vagy?? Én vagyok, Katalin.

Csaba: Hű, szia Katalin!

Katalin: Hát, ezer éve nem találkoztunk.

Csaba: Igen. Hogy vagy? Minden rendben?

Katalin: Kösz, jól. Most…

Pincér: Tessék parancsolni.

Katalin: Ööööö, mit iszol, Csaba? Kávét? Teát?

Csaba: Nem, köszönöm. Most már nem iszom kávét.

Katalin: Komolyan? Miért nem?

Csaba: Mert Hare Krishna lettem.

Katalin: Micsoda??!?!?

Dialogue for Lesson 7 (English translation):

Katalin: Csaba, is that you? It’s me, Katalin.

Csaba: Whoa, hi Katalin.

Katalin: Wow, we haven’t met in ages.

Csaba: Yeah. How are you? Is everything ok?

Katalin: Fine, thanks. At the moment…

Waiter: May I take your order?

Katalin: Uhhh, what will you have to drink, Csaba? Coffee? Tea?

Csaba: No thanks. I don’t drink coffee anymore.

Katalin: Really? Why not?

Csaba: Because I’ve become a Hare Krishna.

Katalin: What??!?!?

Vocabulary for Lesson 7:

Hogy vagytok? – How are you? (when speaking to more than one person)

mindenki – everybody

Mi újság? – What’s up?

semmi – nothing

tizenegy – eleven

tizenkettő – twelve

kínai – Chinese

lassabban – more slowly

te – you (informal singular)

következő – next

hát – well, um…

Ezer éve nem találkoztunk. – We haven’t met in ages.

Tessék parancsolni. – May I take your order?

iszol – you drink (something)

Mit iszol? – What are you drinking? What are you having to drink?

kávé – coffee

tea – tea

iszom – I drink (something)

most már nem – not… anymore

komolyan – really, seriously

mert – because

lettem – I’ve become (something)

micsoda – what (often used to express surprise)

Hi folks,

The next lesson is in the can and will be out within a few days. Sorry for the delay in getting it out. Györgyi and I went on vacation for a week, so we’re a little behind with the podcast.

But I wanted to mention that for Budapest residents, you should all go out and see an art exhibition by contemporary artist Bullet Shih. Based in New York and Budapest, Bullet is someone I’ve known for many years, and has had a few exhibitions up in town which I’ve enjoyed in the past.

There’s an article in the Budapest Sun about Bullet and his show here. The show is until April 19.

Bullet Shih: Life on the Meniscus
www.bulletshih.com
Chinese Characters Contemporary Art Space
Kertész utca 4, Pest, District VII.
Open Wed, Thu 3-7pm, Fri 4-10pm, Sat 11am-3pm
www.chinesecharacters.hu

Lesson 6 presents some very useful phrases for the traveler to Hungary! Have a listen and try to memorize as much as possible. This lesson’s dialogue isn’t as long as in previous lessons, so it shouldn’t be that hard to memorize it all.

We also discuss some Easter traditions in Hungary, and present the winner of last lesson’s challenge to continue the mineral water dialogue between the restaurant patron and her waiter.

Our music is again provided by the very talented Budapest-based Mookie Brando and the Second Cousins, who were kind enough to offer us their song “Angelina” for this podcast. Please see more of their work at http://www.mookiebrando.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/mookiebrando where there are several songs available for download! Thanks so much to Mookie and his kin for allowing us to use their music on the podcast.

Thanks for listening to the podcast, and if you have any comments or questions, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment on this post or on any other one.

Download Lesson 6 here (MP3 audio, 26:00)

Dialogue for Lesson 6 (formal speech):

Woman: Elnézést, meg tudná mondani, hogy mennyi az idő?

Tourist: Öööööö, bocsánat, beszél angolul? Én csak egy kicsit tudok magyarul.

Woman: Ahhh, külföldi. Az idő. Mennyi az idő?

Tourist: Idő? Idő… Ah, az idő! Most tíz óra van.

Woman: Köszönöm szépen.

Tourist: Nincs mit.

Dialogue for Lesson 6 (English translation):

Woman: Excuse me, would you tell me what time it is?

Tourist: Uhhhhh, sorry. Do you speak English? I only know a little Hungarian.

Woman: Ahhh, you’re a foreigner. The time. What time is it?

Tourist: Time? Time… Ah, the time! It’s ten o’clock now.

Woman: Thank you very much.

Tourist: Not at all.

Vocabulary for Lesson 6:

két – two (of something)

holland – Dutch

Holland vagyok. – I’m Dutch.

már – already

Most már mindent értek. – I understand now.

Meg tudná mondani, hogy… – Would you tell me…

mennyi – how much, how many

idő – time

Mennyi az idő? – What time is it?

bocsánat – sorry

beszél – you speak (formal)

angolul – in English

Beszél angolul? – Do you speak English? (formal)

Beszélsz angolul? – Do you speak English? (informal)

én – I

csak – only, just

egy kicsit – a little, a little bit

tudok – I know

magyarul – in Hungarian

Tudok magyarul. – I know Hungarian.

külföldi – foreigner

óra – o’clock, clock

Tíz óra van. – It’s ten o’clock.

Nincs mit. – Not at all.

Easter – Húsvét

Happy Easter, everyone! Easter in Hungary is a two-day affair, comprising both Sunday and Monday, with the latter an official holiday.

Easter Monday is also when some people observe the Hungarian tradition of “locsolkodás,” or “sprinkling.” According to custom, men sprinkle water or cologne on women they know, starting from dawn on Easter Monday. Typically they also say some type of poem to the girl before sprinkling, and in return the female gives the male a present, often a painted egg.

Several years ago, and even today in some villages, men toss buckets of water at women in their finest traditional clothing. Or at least, they do it for the cameras!

All-in-all, it’s a fun tradition, but clearly the man gets the better end of the deal, as he gets an egg and the woman gets either soaked or ends up smelling like cheap perfume at the end of the day.

There are a lot of funny sprinkling poems out there, so share some here if you know any!

Hey folks,

Have a look at our new page of Hungarian language learning resources, which you can find by clicking on the link at the top of the page.  You can also purchase every resource listed through the links on the page.

Also, please share with us if there are any learning materials that you’ve used yourself and can recommend to others.

Köszönjük szépen!

–steven

Inspired by an email by listener Kathy and mentioned in the last lesson, here is the short rhyme that Hungarians use to practice rolling their “r” sound:

Répa, retek, mogyoró,

korán reggel ritkán rikkant a rigó.

Carrot, radish, hazelnut,

The blackbird rarely chirps in the early morning.

Although the version Kathy mentioned was slightly different:

Répa, retek, mogyoró,

mind a három nagyon jó.

Carrot, radish, hazelnut,

All three are delicious.

Have a listen to Lesson 5 for the correct pronunciation of these two rhymes!

Lesson 5 shows us a conversation between Ági, a customer, and a waiter. Ági just wants a drink, but has a hard time getting one!

Please see below for the dialogue and vocabulary for Lesson 5 below. Try your best to learn all of the new expressions, and see if you can memorize the dialogue too!

This lesson’s music was brought to you courtesy of Budapest-based Mookie Brando and the Second Cousins, “Slow Walk Home.” Find out more about this excellent band by going to http://www.mookiebrando.com/

Thanks for listening! And feel free to leave a comment or a question below. We welcome your feedback!

Download Lesson 5 here (MP3 audio, 26:48)

Dialogue for Lesson 5 (formal speech):

Ági: Legyen szíves!

Pincér: Parancsoljon.

Ági: Kérek szépen egy sört.

Pincér: Elnézést, nincsen sör.

Ági: Nincs sör? Akkor kérek egy kólát.

Pincér: Sajnos, nincs kóla.

Ági: Akkor mi van?

Pincér: Ásványví­z van.

Ági: Jó. Kérek szépen egy ásványvizet.

Pincér: Tessék. Ezer forint lesz.

Ági: Ezer forint??!?!?!?

Dialogue for Lesson 5 (English translation):

Ági: Excuse me!

Waiter: At your service.

Ági: I’d like a beer, please.

Waiter: Sorry, we don’t have beer.

Ági: No beer? Then I’ll have a cola.

Waiter: Unfortunately, we don’t have cola.

Ági: Then what do you have?

Waiter: We have mineral water.

Ági: Fine. I’d like a mineral water, please.

Waiter: Here you are. That’ll be 1,000 forint.

Ági: 1,000 forint??!?!?!?

Vocabulary for Lesson 5:

Erzsébet – Elizabeth

is – also, too

belga – Belgian

Belga vagyok. – I’m Belgian.

hat – six

hét – seven

nyolc – eight

kilenc – nine

tíz – ten

legyen szíves (formal) – please

parancsoljon – at your service

Kérek szépen… – I’d like…

sör – beer

elnézést – excuse me, I’m sorry

nincs (nincsen) – we don’t have, there is no

kóla – cola, soda pop, Coke

sajnos – unfortunately

Mi van? – What do you have?

ásványvíz – mineral water

ví­z – water

ezer – one thousand

Grammar for Lesson 5:

1. there is/there isn’t

There is (something). –> (Something) van.

Ex. Ásványvíz van. We have mineral water.

There isn’t (something). –> Nincs (something).

Ex. Nincs sör. We don’t have beer.

2. Direct object ending

-the direct object takes a “-t” ending:

kóla –> kólát

sör –> sört

Kérek szépen egy kólát. I’d like a cola, please.