Exploring Hungarian from Folksongs for English Speakers: 101
What you'll learn
- Explain what a digraph is
- Give examples of digraphs in English and Hungarian
- Correctly pronounce Hungarian digraphs
- Read aloud the words to Kilenc kis gólya
- Optionally sing the folksong Kilenc kis gólya
- Count from 1 to 10 in Hungarian
- Form plurals for regular nouns in Hungarian
- Explain the idea of “vowel harmony”
Requirements
- Need to be able to read English.
Description
In this course I am going to share two of my passions – Hungarian language and singing. The singing is optional – but by singing the words you will find it sticks better.
An easy, fun introduction to the Hungarian Language.
- Learn to read Hungarian words aloud
- Learn to sing a simple Hungarian song
- Learn how to count to 10
- Form simple plurals
Learn to speak Hungarian by singing.
I decided on this approach to learning Hungarian as I struggled with keeping up spoken Hungarian in an English speaking environment. I remembered my Hungarian family who would sing for hours and realized it is a great way to practice the language.
This course will introduce you to the Hungarian alphabet. We start first with the consonants which stress out English speakers (those combined letters like “sz” or “ty”). Using that knowledge, we will try the words of a simple Hungarian folksong.
You will find that much of Hungarian pronunciation is predictable and easy as we try to read the song lyrics. I will help you with the words – and tell you what they mean. Then I will sing them to you. I encourage you to sing along at home.
Then we will explore some vocabulary and grammar suggest by the song. In this case counting and plurals. And yes, there is a 102 planned.
You should finish the course with a sense of achievement and a new song to sing.
Who this course is for:
- This course is suitable for those who would like to get a taste of Hungarian language from a different perspective - or who like foreign language folk songs.
- This course requires no previous experience in foreign languages – or singing ability.
- This course is not suitable for those wanting a quick once over for tourist Hungarian or extensive, systematic analysis of grammar.
Instructor
![Judith Varga](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.5 Instructor Rating
- 16 Reviews
- 187 Students
- 2 Courses
I am a New Zealander of Hungarian descent with an interest in Hungarian language and culture. I have made several trips back to Hungary to visit family and friends and two to study Hungarian at the month-long Debrecen Summer School.
The discipline involved in singing with my Hungarian family made me realize that learning songs is a great way of reinforcing language skills. It just needs someone to select the right songs in the right order and add the necessary grammatical points. That would be me.
When you do my language courses, you will be gaining insights from someone who is both within and outside the Hungarian culture. I can think like an English speaker – and recognize some of the potential issues; I can compare Hungarian with other (human) languages I have dabbled in; and there is also a deep background with family who still live in Hungary and enjoy discussing (among other things) the language and music.
My initial training was as an Electrical Engineer and I have worked as such as well as a Software Engineer. Both of these taught skills in analysing and simplifying large amounts of information. In addition, I am a trained High School teacher; I have a Certificate in Dance Teaching; and have completed courses in Adult Tutor Training. When not programming, I still teach computer skills as well as exercise and dance. So, not only can I analyse and create courses - I have current experience teaching a range of topics to adults.