Introduction

Hello and welcome to "Mindennapi Magyar." For those of you who don't speak Hungarian, the blog title means "Everyday Hungarian." The concept is simple: linguistic analysis and discussion of found objects in Hungary. A focus on a combination of language and culture, generally with a sociolinguistic/anthropological approach.  An emphasis on grammatical forms for the Hungarian language learner. Written by an American anthropologist living in Hungary.

Personally, I've been studying Hungarian on and off since 1996 through a variety of means, including group courses at many different language schools in Hungary and private instruction with many exceptional teachers in Hungary and the United States. Not having any Hungarian family, I started at 0 with the language when I began to learn some basic phrases from my Hungarian-American housemate in college in California. (Her parents were '56ers -- meaning they left Hungary around the time of the 1956 revolution -- and she was one of the major reasons I came to be interested in this wonderful little country.)

Currently I'm a student at the Budapest branch of Debreceni Nyari Egyetem, which I heartily recommend to anyone and everyone interested in getting a handle on this language. The super-intensive spring course I took from them in Debrecen in 2003 was the turning point for me in my language study, the point when things finally began to gel. The school has been around since the 1920s and they always have excellent, very competent teachers, who are patient and thoughtful and excellent at breaking down and explaining the grammar in an understandable fashion. Hungarian is notoriously difficult for foreigners to learn, and it can be very frustrating. But it's a fascinating and colorful language. And the language is what we'll be focusing on here.

One note: As noted above, I'm not a native speaker, but rather a language learner. While I do my best to explain my own understanding of the Hungarian language, I'll inevitably make errors. Corrections, alternate opinions and explanations, and other commentary are all warmly welcomed.