FenTiger

I was about to say something along the same lines about using fingers but Duztee beat me to it .... I use my thumb for 'one' and if it's 'two' I add the index finger.

FenTiger

This seems a much better way to learn. I've understood and grasped more in two minutes reading this thread than the 11 years I have been with my Hungarian wife!

llareggub

I'm learning by going to the pub and chatting with the son who works behind the bar, shame he doesn't like football but between Formula 1, movies an music I have expanded my Hungarian no end! Shame about the alcohol dependency though (joke)

Peter_in_Hungary

If you were to learn the numbers you could then choose the cheapest pump seen on the way to the cash desk

duztee

Yes so much nicer and easier to have someone explain the word and it's use than just telling me that is the word use it.

One more while we are still on the simple stuff!
In England 'Good morning' is used widely and freely right up till noon.
But 'jo reggelt' seems to struggle to get past 8'o'clock.
my personal theory is that in the UK we think 9 is a civilized time to start work, and anything earlier is a tad unGodly, whereas the Hungarians like the Germans tend to start work in the middle of the night, so by 8 (nyolc) the morning is already gone.

Likewise I have never heard anyone use either Good Afternoon or Evening, it just seems to be Jo napot right up till it is time to say Good night.

llareggub, I could speak fluent spanish in the bar at night when I lived there, problem was I still didn't understand a word when I was sober in the morning.

Pollypaprika

We speak perfect Hungarian in the local, we must be able to as we are always invited to parties etc and we all seem to be able to communicate

I also like to know why I am using a word rather than just using it because it is 'right'. I have a Hungarian teacher, in fact I have had a few, and they all concentrate on the grammar. I believe that language is about communicating, so at first the grammar should not be the focal point, this should come later. With me the grammar makes a lot more sense once I know why I am am saying something...if thats makes sense

Carrot_Cruncher

It's a difficult one and a balancing act between vocabulary and grammar. I would prefer to be able to put a coherent sentence together with limited vocabulary and add to my vocab as I went along. On the other hand my parents, who are in the 70's and 80's and moving over with us, want to concentrate on the vocab and not get bogged down in the grammar. They say they are too old to get tied up in the complications of the language.

I suspect frustration will force me to adopt a vocab approach but we will have to wait and see.

As an aside my wife swore blind that watching English TV with subtitles helped her with her English. Does anyone have any views on Hungarian subtitled TV?
With the amount of work to do on the house and garden, there may not be enough time to watch TV

Pollypaprika

[QUOTE
As an aside my wife swore blind that watching English TV with subtitles helped her with her English. Does anyone have any views on Hungarian subtitled TV?
With the amount of work to do on the house and garden, there may not be enough time to watch TV[/QUOTE]

I think watching subtitled films etc is a very good idea. Also listening to the radio...the words begin to make sense...eventually

llareggub

We would have to travel a fair distance to get an Hungarian teacher and now we only have mopeds rather than a car it means winter lessons are a no go, so we run the vocabulary approach and let the technicalities of the language happen over time. I'm with Polgardi on language, it is there for no other reason than to communicate so as far as I am concerned if I can hold a "conversation" with our friends and neighbors then my Hungarian works.

We don't watch a lot of Hungarian television, in fact we only have a very poor analogue signal but I find watching the news works as a good gauge of my language progression although I don't think it helps me to learn.

Pollypaprika

I have Skype lessons, no transport costs and can do them at any time. We don't even have a TV...I watch everything online...

llareggub

I'm a bloke, I can't "do" the telephone As far as I am concerned the exist to convey location and time of meet, other than that they are useless!

llareggub

What URL do you use to watch Hungarian TV online?

We almost exclusively watch online now but all english stuff through a proxy.

Pollypaprika

Sorry, I meant UK TV, not Hungarian. We did have a telly in a place we stayed once which had the normal channels...but watching it just gave me a really bad headache and was like being transported back to the 50s. There was some cop show on which was more vicious than The Sweeney.

Carrot_Cruncher

I used to be able to speak Spanish to a basic conversational level and understood the TV, but struggled to understand the radio. With TV I got a context from the picture, but with radio there was no 'guidance' for me, especially if I tuned into a programme halfway through.

duztee

I have to use subtitles for some english tv now, especially if it is of american origin, Bruce Willis is the worst mumbler of them all, except perhaps for Kimi Raikkonen, thankfully Kimi never says much at interviews anyway.

I had a few lesson before I moved from a young Hungarian girl who was living in the UK, they seemed sensible at the time, it was only when I arrived did I realise my time would have been better spent learning basic words than correct grammar.
How much easier would my life have been IF I had learnt 'Push' and 'Pull' instead of looking a wally every time I try to get in or out of a shop.
and surely the very first lesson should be a translation of an ATM screen (cash machine) fine if I use my Barclay card, it will give me the option of english, but if I use my OTP card which is my general spending card then it assumes I am Hungarian, with no language option.

So I am a learn the word person, as long as you have the correct word then the person you are talking with is on the same page as you and can usually work out what you are trying to impart.