At the end of November 2019 I started to work in Kitzbühel, Austria. I spoke English quite well, and fortunately that was the main language at the kitchen where I worked. Although I had no difficulties not being able to speak German,
I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to learn the language in a native enviroment. Therefore I set the goal that in half a year I will pass a B2 level German language exam (intermediate). I was a beginner at that time.
I read plenty of books in German, bought DVDs, language books, puzzles. I went to the local museum and read the labels. I went to cinema to watch Star Wars 9. I didn’t understand much, but that was okay. If I had been afraid of failure or making mistakes, I would have never learnt German that quickly.
I read books and articles about learning methods especially about language learning. I even attended an online Polyglot gathering (people who speak several languages) to listen to talks about learning and various languages.
After 6 months and plenty of work, I managed to pass a successful B2 German exam in Salzburg. I was really happy and proud of myself.
I was eager to test my new skills and knowledge, so I looked for a job which required me to speak German. I found a job as a waiter in a beautiful small town 30km south to Salzburg, called Sankt Gilgen. You can see my view from my accomodations’s balcony. Maybe it is worth to learn other languages, isn’t it?
I worked there for 2 months. Most of the time I understood well what the guests or my boss/coworkers said and I was able to express myself also.
Now we are at the end of August, I had been working as a waiter for 2 months and 11 months elapsed since I’d left Hungary and I had last seen my family or my friends. Originally I left to explore Iceland where I spent a month in a farm herding sheeps, then I went to Riga, Latvia for another month where I was a “caretaker”, “do-all” in a Erasmus hostel for board and lodging.
So after 11 month I was longing for Hungary and my family and friends. In addition, my childhood best friend’s wedding was approaching quickly, so I left Austria and moved back to Hungary.
“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own”
After a few month I looked for newer goals.
I decided to concentrate now on my English. I had friends who are native English speakers and they were interested in the Hungarian language so we started to teach each other through Skype.
As the lessons passed I realized how much I enjoy speaking with them, teaching them the language and also about the culture.
Meanwhile, several months had passed since I last worked. I looked for jobs, but I didn’t really find something which would interest me enough. Anyway I kept learning English every day and speaking with my language buddies regularly.
Then it hit me. Why don’t I teach people Hungarian? I saw that many people are curious about the Hungarian language, I love speaking with people from various cultures and I could make it from home (COVID era…). It just all made sense.
In my free time I started to read books about Hungarian grammar and language, I made materials for them, jotted down their typical mistakes and the things they had difficulty with. I did it in a very systematic way, that’s how I love to do stuff, if I am passionate about it.
I am also highly critical. For example when I learnt German or English I always noticed the flaws and imperfections of a learning material or a teacher. I was like “That’s good, but this way would be much more useful for me”. So when I make learning materials I imagine myself as a student. What would I like to get from this resource if I were a student? Just a grammar explanation or a lot of examples and good exercises to practice it? Just a translation for the given word or loads of native examples how they usually use that word?
At the beginning of 2021 I started to give Hungarian private lessons online and founded hunfun.hu to be able to teach more people about Hungary and its language.
“Dolgozni csak pontosan, szépen,
ahogy a csillag megy az égen,
ugy érdemes”
“Work only exactly, nicely
As the stars go in the sky,
That's how it is worth doing it”
Exkluzív tippek és trükkök minden héten. Garantáltan a kedvenc olvasmányod lesz!
The best website to learn Hungarian and to get familiar with the Hungarian culture.
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