Aiming.

Dear fellow language-learners. 

As you may have noticed, this month is all about habits and promises and resolutions and whatnot. Let's make a short summary of how to say these things in the languages spoken at the Playground.

• English: Habit. Goal/aim. Motivation. Success. Failure. 
• Finnish: Tapa. Päämäärä. Motivaatio. Onnistuminen. Epäonnistuminen. 
• Swedish: Vana. Mål. Motivation. Framgång. Misslyckande. 
• Spanish: Costumbre. Meta. Motivación. Éxito. Fracaso. 
• Polish: Obyczaj. Cel. Motywacja. Sukces. Porażka.
• Russian: привычка. цель. мотивация. успех. неуспех.
• Slovak: Zvyk. Cieľ. Motivácia. Úspech. Zlyhanie. 
• Hungarian: Szokás. Cél. Motiváció. Siker. Kudarc. 

[500 Days] Most/Now

Drink: chai latte/ Ital: fűszeres tejes tea (chai latte)
Feeling: relaxed and rested/ Érzés: nyugodt és kipihent
Weather: cloudy/ Időjárás : felhős
Music: none/ Zene; semmi -  I prefer silence. Én inkább csendben vagyok. 
Today's plan: attending a baptism/ A mai terv: egy keresztség

This mini trip is somewhat refreshing - it's interesting how I always return to being a teenager when I visit my parents. For instance, I stayed up all night reading and don't feel tired at all.The Murakami book was fantastic, as I expected it to be. There are so any things I'd like to squeeze into this day, but I don't think there will be enough time for it.

Today's quote

Places: Southern Slovakia

Last weekend we made a trip to the south of Slovakia – more precisely we visited Šahy, Vinica and Balog nad Ipl'om.

The trip was actually quite amazing. Not only did it feel like we were in Hungary (the majority of people in the area speaks Hungarian and the ones we met only spoke Hungarian among each other) but the nature was very beautiful with some hills, vineyards and flatness. The kind of nature I always associated with Central Europe when dreaming of this place. Unfortunately there was a constant storm during the weekend so we did not have the chance to walk around and enjoy the nature.

The absolutely greatest part of the trip was the hospitality and kindness people were showing. We were travelling with a friend who’s from this area and for this reason were fed by her parents (great people and great food) and invited to two wine-tastings. The people were so open and friendly.

I had a very special feeling of serenity when visiting this place. It is difficult to describe such a personal feeling in this blog, but when I was walking around in a vegetable garden I felt like this is what life should be like.

Where We Went: Esztergom.

Gondolatok a könyvtárban [HU: Reflections In The Library]

There has been very little translation and very little Hungarian in this blog recently. But, when stumbling into a poem about a library, I just had to give a go at it.

Gondolatok a könyvtárban was written by Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty. It’s a long poem and can be found in its entirety here. Here’s the translation for the first lines.

Hová lépsz most, gondold meg, oh tudós,
Az emberiségnek elhányt rongyain
Komor betűkkel, mint a téli éj,
Leírva áll a rettentő tanulság:
"Hogy míg nyomorra milliók születnek,
Néhány ezernek jutna üdv a földön,
Ha istenésszel, angyal érzelemmel
Használni tudnák éltök napjait."

 

Where are you heading now, think, oh scientist,

To humankind they throw rags

In gloomy letters, like a  winter night,

Written down the scary lesson stands:

“While millions are born into poverty,

A few thousand could be welcomed to the world,

If they knew how to apply God’s wisdom, the angel’s emotion

to their lived days.”

Places: Sopron

One of my reasons for moving to Bratislava was its closeness to Hungary. Going to Hungary as much as possible was the plan, and I have done my best to follow it.

Sopron is a very cosy town near the Hungarian border. Interestingly, when we went there on a Saturday in May, the city was almost empty. The centre was well-preserved and rather pretty, but I found it slightly boring. As you can see from the photos – there weren’t that many sights that ended up on camera. The coffee was good, though!

Places: Eger

One of the most picturesque places we visited in the summer 2013 is a small Hungarian town in the northern part of the country. Two hours north-east of Budapest, it was easy to hop on the train and spend a very rainy but lovely day in Eger. We spent the day wandering around, passing on the chance to try red wines and thermal baths. Maybe next time!

Eurovision 2013

Last weekend it was time for Eurovision 2013. One of the things I like most is the opportunity to hear unknown artists from other European countries. It’s a huge plus if they sing in their own language. My favourites this year came from Hungary and Iceland.

Speaking of Iceland, listen to that language. Isn’t it beautiful or what?

Zdravím vás, leto!

And so. Summer came to Bratislava. The sun is shining, the eternal wind has turned into a pleasant breeze. The flowers are blooming, the clothes have been hidden away somewhere to await darker times.

Time is really flying, April just disappeared. So what happened?

J and I went to Budapest for a pre-birthday party He loves the city almost as much as I do, and we always enjoy ourselves tremendously south of the border.

Once we came back from Budapest, summer really kicked in and I have spent as much time as possible strolling around in Bratislava. Unfortunately there has not been so much time due to uni work. Thank goodness there is light at the end of the tunnel. One more month to go of uni and then it’s holiday-time – kind of.

February It Is

Time flies. I have been in Slovakia for over four months, the winter has almost passed. The snow is gone, the rain is delighting us with its presence.

Existentialist doubts have invaded me, driven by some sort of melancholy. I don’t know where that melancholy stems from – maybe from the knowledge that this too shall pass? There are so many things making me happy; the people around me, the things I’m reading, the nights out, the walks around Bratislava, the songs and the laughter. And deep down inside, I know this too will change. People will come, and people will go. All of this will turn into memories. Maybe that is one of the hardest lessons to learn in life, now is now, what’s now might be gone tomorrow.  It’s something that must be accepted, and appreciated.

Lately I have spent a lot of time thinking about Spain. How wonderful it was to wake up at seven, go to the gym and have breakfast with Åsa. The palm trees, the orange trees. The general atmosphere. But then again, on the other hand, I have all these memories from a lot of places. Sometimes they are overwhelming, but at the end of the day I should be thankful for actually having all these great memories.

On Saturday mornings I love drinking coffee and finding random Hungarian music videos on youtube. In a while I need to turn my focus to the European Union and tonight it’s party time again.

The other day in the pub (the perfect place for learning Slovak), I heard this on the radio and could not help myself. This is so funny (and Czech, in case someone is wondering)!

“You’re Crazy”

…that’s what my friend J told me today when I was getting *slightly* too excited about Czech writers and their ability to write beautifully.

I believe it was said with affection.

So I took it as a compliment.

And in order not to let such a great compliment go to waste, let’s train our language skills.

 

Finnish: olet hullu.

Swedish: du är galen.

Spanish: estás loco/loca.

Slovak: si blázon.

Polish: jesteś szalony/szalona.

Hungarian: te őrült.

Russian: Ты сошел с ума/ Ты сошла с ума

French: tu es fou

23.58: Phew.

On  Saturday we walked so much in Budapest that we were a gang of really energetic people who arrived on the train to Bratislava tonight at 18.10 pm. Somehow I also managed to write a minor essay on philosophical research design AND discuss some potential work possibilities AND plan for my friend’s visit to Bratislava in the weekend AND talk to my mother on the phone.

Actually. Monday will probably feel like holiday.

12/10/2012 ... unfortunately the sun was shining in my eyes...

The European Union is going to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year. This has been noticed by many a commentator - some argue it's a great, others consider it an error. In a sense this prize shows that the project of guaranteeing peace in Europe has succeeded. But the EU of today looks very different from the EEC that was created through the Treaty of Rome in 1957 - the challenges Europe is currently facing are not related to the maintenance of peace among European countries. I'd rather argue that the democratic deficit and lack of transparency are some of the key issues that must be solved if the EU is going to be successful in the future. The relation between EU institutions, national governments (the nation-state) and people is diffuse at best. As one Finnish writer noted, the European Union has achieved much, but in one essential aspect the EU has failed: to create a common voice and a shared identity. Without a shared identity there is a risk that the Union will lose whatever legitimacy it is enjoying among its citizens.

At a personal level I was once again reminded of how wonderful the Hungarian language is. One would think that in a country where almost 10% of the population consist of ethnic Hungarians, there would be a chance to learn the language.

On the Stove

It’s time for more food. Very exciting it is, this life of mine…. BUT: truth to be told, there are very few things that are better on a Sunday night than a nice meal and good company.

I have written about it here and here, so maybe my love for goulash needs no further introduction. The ingredients may vary slightly from time to time (chicken this time), and the stove may look a bit different (from 1986), but the end result is always delicious. The secret: lots of paprika, chili and time.

Something Is Happening

Something is happening, there is change in the air. Something must happen, otherwise I will go mad. If everything turns out the way I hope it will, then there will be some interesting things to read about in this blog in a month or so from now….

This summer I’ve been trying to keep my mind open, not spend too much time thinking about things, just letting them come to me. Maybe it’s working. There was a time I felt a little lost, I don’t anymore, now I know where I want to be and what I want to do, just need to figure out how to get there. I’m really grateful to all those, who have been lending me their ears and shoulders this summer.

Right now I’m listening to this Hungarian song a lot:

And. As you know, I love polka dots.

Fresh blueberries are also quite yummy

EU Vocab

I was looking for a couple of concepts on the EU website when I bumped into their multilingual thesaurus. The best thing is that one can choose one or several languages and download the entire list. I’m so excited that I have a list consisting of 6800 (yes!!) terms in 7 different languages that I can study at night before going to sleep. Unfortunately Russian wasn’t among the available languages. The list is available in all EU-languages + Croatian and Serbian.

The thesaurus can be found here.

Dreaming Some More

Goulash In Pictures...

...until I find a Hungarian babushka (or nagymama) who will be willing to invite me to try her delicious (and traditional) goulash, I'm more than happy with the one I make myself. This time I used minced meat, mushrooms, yellow pepper, tomatoes, carrot, onion, potato, tomato from a tin and chili peppers. If anyone wants the recipe, give me a shout!

                                                          The spices + herbs that I used.

The secret lies in the paprika (or in this case, pimenton). Add paprika every single time you add a new ingredient, starting with the oil. 

That's enough food for an army. Well, almost. Secret number two: the longer it's simmering, the better the taste!

                                                                      Yay, spicy stuff.

This Is Where The Difficult Part Begins

Yesterday I had my last class of Hungarian. I will not continue next year because I need to do 3rd year psychology in order to get my degree. I will also start an MSc in Sociology of Law and this time it will be about top grades – nothing else will do.

The difficult part begins when you step out of the (virtual) classroom and you are faced with reality. You need to find strategies for how to continue the language learning process. Constant development requires a proactive approach. One must also use the language in order to not forget it.

This has always been difficult for me, that’s why I’ve always preferred to learn a language with a teacher. However, I know that a lot of people have studied languages on their own and reached a very good level.

How do you do it? What are your tips?

Language Assessment

How do you know that your language skills are sufficient? Assessing one’s language level is a subjective process. People tend to either under- or overestimate their skills.  One of the reasons I’m no big fan of people who claim to be fluent as soon as they manage to have a conversation about the weather is that these subjective assessments often appear on CVs and job applications. In such cases, the perceived level of knowledge can give an unfair advantage to the weather conversationalists.

There are exams one can take. Exams that are expensive and may even require travelling. I tell you, the nearest language centre offering the possibility to take an official exam in Polish isn’t exactly next door. These exams require dedication. They are often a last option, at least for me, for getting some kind of formal proof of knowing a language.  

The reason I’m writing about this is that I need to get some certificates. I have a plan, you see. And for that I need formal proof of my language skills. 

Of the languages I know I have sufficient proof (according to Finnish requirements) that I know three.

Swedish: I took my A-levels in Swedish, and my grade in Swedish was good enough to ensure that I officially know Swedish.

English: a degree from a British university is enough to prove a sufficient level of English.

Having a university degree in a language is also sufficient. 

Therefore I have proven knowledge of Russian and Hungarian.

I need to take a language exam in Spanish, Polish and Finnish. Finnish is my official mother tongue, but since I took my A-levels in Swedish (I had no chance, as far as I know, to choose Finnish) I have no proof of this. This is the ironic part of the story. Believe it or not, I think that a Finnish exam would be the most difficult one of these.  The level is different, even though I plan on taking both Spanish and Polish at C1/C2*.

Time to study :) 

*C1: Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices. 

C2: Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations. (source: Wikipedia)