Friday, May 9, 2008

Say what?

Hungarian language school (Debreceni Nyelv Egeterem) is wonderful! At times, my brain feels as though it may burst out of my head as my teacher Tibor explains totally unique Hungarian grammar...in Hungarian, but the course is extremely helpful. Today, for example, I was able to accost a woman on the street and ask her politely where a specific road/area was. She responded, and I got to my destination. Victory! And yesterday, I enjoyed a wonderful moment with my waitress at a kavehaz (that's right: coffeehouse). She appreciated my rough introduction and request for pronunciation correction. I thoroughly enjoyed stating the duration of my Hungarian study and ordering in the native language.
Here is a snippet of my first Hungarian essay written after only two days of class:

Én Audrey Ooms vagyok. USA-ban, El Pasoban élek, amerikai vagyok. Angolul, kicsi franciául, és kicsi magyarul beszélek. Tanárnő vagyok. Most itt vagyok Magyarországon, és Budapesten magyarul tanulok.


Basically, I'm introducing myself and explaining my current situation as a teacher in Budapest learning Hungarian. There's also a sentence in there in which I discuss the languages I speak or try to speak.

Oh, at lunch time, my classmates and I decided on lunch using Chinese, German, Hungarian, and a little bit of English--such fun--and on the bus this evening, I interacted with a French woman in the three languages I've studied. Quite the day for linguistics in Budapest!

1 comment:

Kim said...

Sounds like fun to me! Although, I understand that it might make your head spin a bit. :o) I'm praying for you - for peace and comfort in your new surroundings, and for a speedy acquisition of the Hungarian language! Love, Kim