Something New (No 9)

[smallhobbit]

After the success of German with Duolingo last year, I've started the Hungarian course, since we're planning on going to Budapest in the autumn.  It is not easy and I'm not convinced I'm learning much, but I shall keep going for the moment.  The simple exercise of hearing and seeing Hungarian for a few minutes every day will at least give a certain familiarity.

And on the note of being prepared to try new things, I've signed up for a day workshop in sketching at Nature in Art, which is where I made the Christmas wreath.  It's not until September - they run a selection of workshops throughout the year on different art forms.  It said it was open to everyone who wants to draw, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Comments

[debriswoman]

Impressed with your range of challenges:-)

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much.

[rachelindeed]

Ooh, that's wonderful that you're going to visit Budapest later this year! I only visited there once, on a long weekend in my college days, but I had such a wonderful time. I have really fond memories of the city. Delicious food, nice people, I thought St Stephen's was a beautiful church, taking a dip in the public baths was surprisingly relaxing, and (being young and excited to try new things) I went caving, which was wild! I also remember, randomly, that I fell in love with the white grape juice they sold in the grocery stores there -- so tasty! I didn't speak a word of Magyar, but so few people do that the locals didn't act annoyed with my English, but I think your efforts to pick up the basics will be very welcome among the people who live there as well as being interesting in and of themselves. I hope you have a lovely trip!

I'm also trying out a little sketching here and there -- I'm not taking any classes, it's all just me fooling around with a sketch pad and some colored pencils, but it's fun and I hope to do more of it this year. I hope you'll share some of your drawings with us when the time comes!

[smallhobbit]

We have to start booking things. The pictures I've seen look great. I doubt I'll be able to say anything, but even a slight feel for the language might help.

I've done a little sketching - mostly drawing little sketches of paintings we've seen in various galleries. I think having a little professional help might enable me to get more out of it. I'm sure I shall be posting something.

[angelofthenorth]

I can recommend the technique of trying to compose a sentence a day to back up lessons as a way of making headway. Even if you're really repetitive to begin with, it'll fix the words in your head. I'm doing it with Welsh, and my fluency has improved dramatically in a month after eight years of learning.

[smallhobbit]

That's an interesting suggestion. I may try it.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Wow! I'm so impressed. Hungarian sounds very challenging. That's wonderful that you're giving it a go. And Budapest! Wow! So much to look forward to!

Oh, I'm so envious of your sketching class. I took one art class 20 years ago but it was wonderful. I look forward to seeing what you learn.

[smallhobbit]

It is challenging - I keep wondering if I should give up and then thinking I'll carry on for another day.

It will be interesting - I'm looking forward to it.

[luthienberen]

Good luck with Hungarian!

[smallhobbit]

Thank you - I shall need it!

[howsmyenglish]

I admire you for taking up Hungarian! it is said to be one of the hardest languages to learn. A friend, who is Hungarian, once tried to explain some of the grammar peculiarities to me (and I'm really good friends with grammar), and... I don't think I understood anything :D
(or maybe he didn't know how to explain, of course))

anyhow, I wish you lots of success both with language learning and drawing!

[smallhobbit]

I've only been doing it for four weeks, very slowly and it's already getting very confusing. At least with Duolingo there's a choice of words to select so I have some hope - but when you have to add one letter to a noun to make a plural plus another when it's also in the accusative and put the correct vowel in between the two, and that's just to say 'I see the apples' I can't see myself getting very far.

[margaret_r]

Good luck with the Hungarian, it sounds hard! Like the idea of the sketching workshop, that would be really interesting.

[smallhobbit]

It is. We'll see how it goes.

I'm looking forward to the workshop.

[adafrog]

Holy cow. Go you with the languages.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you.

[corvidology]

A trip to Budapest sounds wonderful to me. I was only there for a couple of days a few years ago but it really left an impression on me.

[smallhobbit]

Yes, we really need to get on with organising it. It sounds a great place to visit.

[moth2fic]

The Hungarian will certainly give you a sense of familiarity. I did the same thing with Polish, some years ago, and found the main use was that I could read things like place names and shop signs without feeling I was getting the pronunciation totally wrong. Plus, I could at least manage basic greetings etc. It helped to make an expedition through Poland more comfortable.

We will all look forward to seeing your new art forms!

[smallhobbit]

I think that's about all I'm hoping for. Basic greetings always seem important to me.

You will - I'm sure I shall blog about it.

[kat_lair]

Very impressed with all these new things and crafts and activities. And Budapest is definitely on my 'want to visit' list, perhaps next year... Hungarian and Finnish are related but only in the same way English and germanic languages are...

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. Budapest looks so lovely in all the pictures I've seen.

I'd heard Finnish and Hungarian were related, but it doesn't sound quite as close as I'd been led to believe.

[kat_lair]

This breaks down the relationship quite well https://histdoc.net/sounds/hungary.html