On Monday (and all following weekdays), you will get an email with the following:

 

Your words of the day are:

Állat                             animal (n.)

Ház                              house  (n.)

Ház + “i”                      house   (m.)

Háziállat                       pet (“house animal”)

Vad                             wild

Vadállat                       wild animal

 

Hungarian culture:

Since this week animals will be our main vocabulary topic, let’s pay them a little tribute here. There are quite a few famous Hungarian dog breeds, but the most well known are probably the Hungarian dogs that place very high in agility and other competitions, and tend to have either funny names or funny looks… or both.

 

Take the Hungarian Vizsla, (Magyar vizsla) for example. This beautiful, gracious creature was one of the first dogs ever to be used for hunting. Hungarian aristocrats loved their vizslas, and they are still very popular among people from all walks of life. They are great companions, wonderful family dogs, and they are easy to train.

 

These medium-sized, short-coated, golden-brownish dogs have a distinct look: muscular body, which is robust but still light. To see their pictures and find out more, click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Vizsla

 

Please take not of the pronunciation: it is vizsla with a “zs,” not an “sz,” as most people tend to say it. J

 

And since we are already talking about animals, do you know what the most popular / typical dog and cat names are in Hungary?

“Bodri” is the winner for dogs and “Cirmos” (or “Cirmi”) for cats.

 

On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, you will get the same type of material as above.

 

On Saturday, you will get the following:

 

Hungrian Grammar lesson:

 

Last week, we practiced using the “-i” suffix to create adjectives from nouns. This week lets do the same with “-s.” If you remember the rules from last week, this should not be hard. Just substitute your noun in the equation:

                       

Noun + (…)+S

e.g.       kávé   +         S            = kávés

(with coffee, also used as in coffee-flavored, coffee-stained, coffee-sized, anything “with coffee”…)

                                    use: A kávés süti a kedvencem!

                                           My favorite is the coffee cake/biscuit.

                                           Kávés lett a pólóm.

                                           My T-shirt got coffee stained.

 

e.g.       állat   + (o)  +S = állatos

                                    use: Az állatos pizsamámat veszem fel.

(I will wear my “animal” pajama. – as in one that has a bear on the front of it or one that has an animal print.)

 

Practice your Hungarian:

1. Create adjectives from the following nouns.

 

kutya                ……………………………………………………

macska             ……………………………………………………

hal                    ……………………………………………………

ruha                  ……………………………………………………

magyar            ……………………………………………………

 

 

2. Now use the adjectives you just created in a sentence. Try to substitute whichever one makes sense in the following sentences:

 

A “Kovács” tipikusan ………………….. név, nem?

Nem szeretem a ………………….. filmeket.

Az IKEA a legjobb, ha olcsó …………………..szekrényt keresel.

Szerinted melyik ………………….. film a jobb, a “Lassie” vagy a “Beethoven?”

A halászlé ………………….. vagy disznóhús leves?

 

 

3. Translate the following Hungarian sentences.

 

Magyaros nevem van.                   ……………………………………………………

Az a kékes autó a tiéd?                   ……………………………………………………

A citromos tea sárgás színu.                 ……………………………………………………

Miért nem szereted a kávés sütit?             ……………………………………………………

Hol van a virágos kis füzet?               ……………………………………………………

 

Hungarian Mini Test:

Which one of the following four is correct?

1.            a.   Szeretem a kutya pólómat.

b.      Szeretem a kutyás pólómat.

c.       Szeretem a kutyám pólómat.

d.      Szeretem a kutyákat pólóm.

 

2.            a.   Az oroszlán ház állat.

b.      Az oroszlán vadállat.

c.       Az oroszlán háziállat.

d.      Az oroszlán ott állat.

 

3.            Milyen állat a vizsla?

a.       A vizsla egy magyar állatfajta.

b.      A vizsla egy kutyafajta.

c.       A vizsla nagyon okos állat.

d.      Mindegyik.

 

4.            Hol laksz?

a.       Egy házakban.

b.      Egy háziban.

c.       A vadban.

d.      A házamban.

 

5.      Melyik nem állat?

a.       malac

b.      angyal

c.       kacsa

d.      zsiráf

 

Soultion for last week’s test:

1. c      (There is no such thing as “kertesi.” It is either “kerti” or “kertes.” If you did not get this right, look at the “kertes + ház” and “kerti + törpe” example.)

2. b      (The rest are grammatically wrong.)

3. c      (The rest are made up. J)

4. a      (Even though all of them are pretty close, “a” is the only correct one.)

5. d      (The word order is wrong in the other three sentences.)

 

PLUS you also get the following (that could not be displayed here):

-printable flashcards of your weekly vocabulary words and their uses (pdf) - Hungarian and English

-an audio recordings of all material in mp3 format, so you can listen to it on your iPod or computer to practice your pronunciation.

-two articles / translation pieces that helps you put your vocabulary and grammar in practice (pdf)

-an extended phone session to practice your pronunciation and go over any questions (can be scheduled for another day as well)!

-an audio recorded dictation to help you practice your listening and spelling skills. You will receive the solution the following week.

-a weekly surprise: a video recording, a song with lyrics in both languages, a film or some jokes to keep you interested in learning this beautiful language! :)

 

 

Please check back for these pdf files and audio and video samples, as well as samples of the other courses (or just subtract whatever is not included in the course you are interested in.)

 

Happy Hungarian Learning! J