[Lajos Kriso]

Yes, duolingo is not the best but you can pick up some root words and pronounciation from there. I am using the MargyarOK textbook series and exercise book which I think Liz has on her Hungarian Store site. It covers the grammar and there are supplemental materials on-line to go with the book. Everything is written in magyarul so you may want to look on-line to find the instructions in angolul.

Also, check out DeepL as a helper crutch using the Hungarian keyboard (which drives me crazy trying to figure out were the letters are).

We also listen to the daily news shows in Hungarian (M1 Hirado) with captions on.

Jo tanulas!

[Lajos Kriso]

Tokeletes magyarazat! You pulled together so many of the things that I have heard and discovered about magyarul! It is very mathematical for me! My own struggle in becoming more fluent/conversant is that I am not “thinking” in Hungarian – I am translating what I hear or what I want to say between angolul and magyarul. I think more daily practice and immersion within Magyarorszag helyek is the remedy.

Koszonom szepen az elodazra!

[Lajos Kriso]

Szia Steve,
I was born in Cleveland, Buckeye utcan. Unfortunately, I lost my first language in ’56 when I started school. I learned english in 6 months from the TV and forgot magyarul. :((

But as you know, the kids raised on Buckeye have moved to the suburbs but the Magyar community is still alive. You have probably seen this video – The last Hungarian on Buckeye: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSZo07Yhnfw It is so sad (szomoru)!

I know Bocskai radio and get their weekly email.

In DC there is the Kossuth Haz with frequent programs and we have a monthly Magyar Meet-Up at a kurtoskalacs bolt in Herndon VA. But it is not like where I grew up!

My wife and I have magyarora weekly Skype-on. You are very correct about time and discipline in learning. Soe people are natural polygots but I am not – I only have magyar ver! I have slowness in translating before I understand to speak or comprehend. Yes, there is a need to “think” in Hungarian rather than to translate from english to magyarul.

Lajos

[Lajos Kriso]

This was a very interesting topic – koszonom szepen!

I remember a story told to me by my mother. In Cleveland there is Calvary Cemetery. On around All Souls Day my mother and her mother went to visit the Calvary graves. It was late in the day and the sun was setting. Calvary closed the gates at dusk and they were stuck inside the gates. So my mother had to help my grandmother climb over the fence! Nagyon vicces!!! HAHA!!!

[Lajos Kriso]

This is a wonderful weekly program from Cleveland:

🇭🇺 Cserkésznap 2025 – A legnagyobb magyar fesztivál Ohióban!

[Lajos Kriso]

Yes, we moved in the early ’60s. Now there is a Magyar csoport in Hiram. The Kossuth Haz in Washington DC tries to keep the culture alive here. We have a Bazaar in Nov and a Feszitval in Aprilis. But it is still not like Buckeye utca was!!!

[Lajos Kriso]

Szia Peter,

Magyarora minden nap nem eleg nekunk! We have been studying every week for the past 5 years but are only at A1+ level. I do duolingo every day but it is only a very small supplement to learning.

I believe that immersion is the best way for me! Az anyanyelvem magyarul, but at 5 y/o I lost it all when I started school. So when I finally come to Magyarorszag I want to go to the felvidek to be immersed in the language and culture. If I go to Budapest then people will want to speak angolul.

Reading is the easiest for me, then writing; speaking and listening are more difficult because I am “translating in my head” what I want to say or hear. This interferes with conversational fluency because it slows down the pace. I must “think in Hungarian” to overcome that slowness.

A tanarnom keeps telling me to memorize dialogue but I resist that. However, she is wonderful and so patient.

Any thoughts for the “magic bullet” to learning?

Lajos

[Lajos Kriso]

You have said it much better than I ever could…..only Hungarians will understand growing up in the Magyar heritage!

[Lajos Kriso]

Sziasztok! I am Lajos from Norther Virginia. I am first generation in the US from Cleveland Ohio – Buckeye Road. My parents and grandparents are from Hernadvecse HU. Nagypapa Szucs came to work in the coal mines in WV and then worked in Himlerville KY at a coal mine run by a Hungarian (Martin Himler). The town is now called Beauty KY.

I spoke only magyarul until ’56 when I had to start school. Edesanyam sat me in front of the TV and in 6 months I learned english but lost all of my magyarul. My wife and I have magyarora every week but are only at A1+ level. I tell people that my father was not born in this country, and I don’t have to die in this country. Maybe one day we will live in a Magyarorszag falu. Magyar is in my blood!

[Lajos Kriso]

Szaffko Ur,
Is there a link to the program?
Lajos

[Lajos Kriso]

Palacsinta, sutok sajtos pogacsa, Dios es makos kalacs……ny favorites

[Lajos Kriso]

But the vocabulary of a child is better than no vocabulary! I wish that I still had mine.

[Lajos Kriso]

Magyarul was spoken at home until I was 5. Then I “forgot” it all in 6 months because I learned angolul in front of the TV because I started school. But the ear and the tongue do not forget. The sound of magyarul is melodic and like poetry when I hear it spoken!

We have magyarora every week but progress is sometimes slow. When Pope Francis visited Hungary, he said that Hungarian is the language of heaven because it takes an eternity to learn!

Without the language there will be no more Hungary!

God Bless Hungary!

[Lajos Kriso]

I grew up on Buckeye Rd in Cleveland. At the time it was the largest Magyarok community outside of Hungary. And only now do I realize what a prize it was! I wish there were such a place in Amerika today!

I feel that I am different in some way than many other Americans. But when I am around other Mayarok I have a diffent feeling – like being with an extended family member!

[Lajos Kriso]

Turos palacsinta minden nap!!!!! Also my nickname was kaposzta szaj…..toltott kaposzta, hurka, szalonna kenyer

[Author]

Replies