Szeretném elmesélni a napomat.  Ma reggel, amikor mentem a HÉV-hez, megálltam a fodrásznál megtudni, hogy van-e szabad hely.  Régóta nagyon hosszu a hajam.  Ildinek, a fodrászomnak volt szabad ideje és levágta a hajamat.  Most nagyon jól érzem magam.  Hajvágás után HÉV-vel elmentem a Belvárosba.  Aztán elgyalogoltam az irodámba.

Segítségedet és finomítasadat köszönöm Ági!

Tonight, Laura and I went with our Canadian friends to see MI-3 in the cinema at Móm Park Mall. Of course there was a lot of guns, explosions, and spy-equipment. At the end of the movie we were able to breathe again. It’s a great action film.

Learning Hungarian is an arduous process, and I wonder when I’ll be able to speak and write meaningful Hungarian.

Recently, I watched the Kyukoshin Karate world competition. My friend helped to organize this competition. I’ll write more about (in English) in the near future.

Now my very broken Hungarian:

Ma este, Laura és én elmentünk a Canadai barátainkkal nézni a MI-3-at a moziban Móm Park-nál. Természetesen, sokkal pisztoly, kirobbanás, és kémi berendezés volt. A mozifilm végnál, mi lehelhetünk. Ez a nagyon jó film.

Én csodálkozom amikor beszélhetem és írhatom értelmes magyarul.

Mostanában én néztem a Kyukoshin Karate világi versenyet. Én barátom segit megszervezni ez versenyet. Fogok írni többet Angolulban jövőre.

sorry the blog was down for a few days! my friend Matthew has rescued utazni.com once again. thanks Matt!

i’ve been working on our visa renewals lately and learning some awesome new vocabulary. here’s some of my new hungarian words:

As I teach English and learn Hungarian I am increasingly convinced that “less is more.” This is primarily true for beginner language students. A student can only acquire a “second” language through “learning by doing.” Learning huge sets of vocabulary and conjugations leads to a wonderful passive knowledge of the language. But active knowledge comes through use alone, and this requires a different approach to learning. “Less is more” and using a small set of new phrases rather than memorizing a large set of new words will lead to fluency and a “feel” for the language.

So how does this impact my vocabulary notebook? Well, during each Hungarian class I get around 30-50 new words. I still write down all 30-50 new words, and I’m also trying to select 10 on which to focus. In my notebook I try to use these 10 new words in 10 appropriate and grammatically correct sentences. And then I try to use five of these sentences in my conversations during the week. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s a nice idea.

Some words I “know,” but I can’t recall them. I only recognize them when I hear them. Some words I “know,” and I can call them to mind. But these words I can’t use in a sentence very well. And some words I “know” and can easily use them in sentences and daily life.

So what does it mean “to know” a language? Is it to know lots and lots of words and grammitical rules? Nope. I guess the main point is to learn by doing/using/experiencing. And interestingly, this is sort of a life principle…for career, for university, for parenting, for marriage, for faith.

Ok. Ready? The longest Hungarian word is:

“megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért”

At Topher’s challenge, I’m going to attempt to translate/interpret it. To the very best of my Hungarian knowledge, I believe that this word means: “for your oath-like oneness there exists the impossibility of being anti-sanctified.”

Hmmmm. Somehow I don’t think this is even close to the real meaning.

If you read the comment, you’ll see Topher’s excellent translation of this word. In short, the true meaning is: “For your (plural) acts of putting something in the state of being impossible to desecrate.”

Here’s a few interesting English language stats from McCarthy and O’Dell, “English Vocabulary in Use.”

• Did you know that there are approximately 500,000 words in English?
• A person with a particularly large vocabulary might use around 60,000 English words.
• The average native English speaker uses about 5000 words in everyday speech.
• There are 50 words that represent 45% of everything written in English.

Would you like to learn Hungarian? Perhaps it would be good to start with the second longest Hungarian word.

“elkelkáposztásítottalanítottátok”

It simply means: you (plural) were against (the idea of) something that had been thoroughly Savoy-cabbaged.

Among a few other important things English speakers want to know when learning a foreign language is the verb “to have” and how to use it. “I have an umbrella.” “You have a cold.” “They had red car.” “He had a great time at the lake.”

What I finally realized today is that this is a passive idea in Hungarian. “The umbrella is had by me.” Or, “there is my umbrella.” I think “tetszik” is the same! “Something is liked by me.” “The shoes which are had by me are liked by me.” “Are they liked by you?”

Van egy pár cipőm. (vagy) Nekünk van egy pár cipőm. Nekem cipőm teszik. Neked cipőm testszik.

Speaking of possession, Kristof has an incredible 32 year old Zsiguli (spelling?). Oh my goodness. This is an amazing sight to behold. The speedometer reminds me of my dad’s old 1970’s model Dodge Dart speedometer! Even now, I can visualize driving my future Zsiguli down Szentendrei ut with the windows roled down and the whole family piled in the back!

Now, I should say that a person shouldn’t purchase a Zsiguli with the hope of becoming cool. A Zsiguli should be a reflection of the “coolness” within. I can also imagine racing stripes and fire painted on the side!

With a little work, I’ve corrected mz indecipherable Hungarian in my previous article. Here’s the updated version!

Tegnap az idő nagyon jó volt. A fiainkkal és négy ismerűnkkal mentünk kirándulni a hegyekbe. Mi felmentünk a Budakeszi Nemzeti Parkba, és sétáltünk egy órát. Nagyon kellemes volt. Az ösvénymellet látattünk sok állatot, például bölényt és sok madarot. A fiuknak tetszek. Utána, piknizetünk és Bocci-t játsztottunk.

Amikor azt mondom “Bocci”, mi jut eszetekbe? Nekem, süt a nap Olaszországban, és néhány jó ismerőm jut eszembe. Persze, soha játszom ezt Olaszországban, hanem én emlékszem jó időkre amikor játszottom Bocci-t ismerőseimmel észak Carolina-ban. Ha te még soha nem jatszottál, ki kell próbálnod.

The weather was so so nice yesterday. We took the boys hiking, and four friends joined us. We went to Budakeszi National Park and we walked for an hour. It was awesome. Along the trail we saw many animals like buffalo, wild boars, and wolves. The boys loved it. After hiking, we had a picnic and played Bocci ball (thanks Kristof!).

When I say “Bocci ball” what comes to mind? For me, an Italian sunny day and good friends come to my mind. I have never played Bocci ball in Italy, of course, but I do remember the good times playing Bocci ball with friends in Raleigh. If you yet haven’t played, you need to.

A feeble attempt at Hungarian

Tegnap az idő nagyon jó volt. Fiainkkal és négy ismerűnkkal mentünk kirándulni a hegyekben. Mi felvezetettünk a Budakeszi Nemzeti Parkba, és sétaltünk egy orát. A legjóbb volt. Ösvénymellet látattünk sok állat, peldául bison és sok madár. A fiuk azt szeretettek. Utana, pikniztünk és Bocci-t játsztottunk.

Amikor azt mondom “Bocci”, mi jut eszetekbe? Nekem, süt a nap olaszországban, és néha jó ismerőm jut eszembe. Persze, soha játszom ezt olaszországban, hanem én emlékszem jó idők amikor játszani Bocci-t ismerőkemmel észak carolina-ban. Ha te soha már nem jatsztottál, te kell csinalni.

I’ve been in Aachen Germany for two days…missing my family. For one reason or another, we didn’t succeed in talking on the phone yesterday. So I tried again this morning, and it was a breath of fresh air to hear the sound of their voices. Aachen is an amazing city with tons and tons of history. From what I understand, around 800 AD this was Charlemaignes primary seat of power for all of Europe.

There are only 1 or 2 million books on my reading list these days. To quote Laci, “so many books, so little time.” One that I have just cracked open and am quite excited about is “Slaughterhouse 5” by Kurt Vonnegut. I think it is a book which you must be prepared to read. I also think it is a book that makes you think about language and the use of words.

Language is such an amazing phenomenon. There’s nothing more fixed, sure, and concrete than grammar (though all grammars do seem to leak a little over time), yet there is something infintely changeable about language. Through poetry, story, and oral tradition, there are innumerable ways to piece together words, ideas, meanings, and messages. Language is alive.

Here’s my first (short) Hungarian post about the biggest snowman.

Ma reggel mi gyerekeink nagyon vidám látni a hó a földön volt. Persze én is. De, szeretnék a nap sütni. Mi kimegytunk játszani a hóban, és kell épitni egy hóhaz és a legnagyobb hóembert a világon. Tavasz fog jönni, és mi kell bejárni a hegyekben minden hétvégen és kirándulni. Nem várhatok!

Kristof and I have had a couple good conversations lately about the homeless here in Budapest. Coincidentally, there was an insightful article in the newspaper yesterday on the topic, and Kristof offered to translate it. When he is finished, I’ll post the article here. I think it will catch your attention.

The Hungarian word for “Homeless Person” is hajléktalan. Literally, it means “without a lid.”

OOOOPS!! Correction: I got my terms mixed up. The word for “Homeless” is hajléktalan but it means “without refuge.” Many homeless people try to sell a small magazine on the streets in order to make some money. The name of this magazine is Fedél nélkül, “without a lid.” Thanks Kristof!