A Phone Call and a Letter

A received a voicemail yesterday from the Consulate General of Hungary in New York stating I needed to call back regarding my application for citizenship. As soon as I called and left a message, Edina Papp, the Consulate Assistant, called back. She explained to me that a letter had been received from the Office of Immigration requesting some more documentation.


The first was a copy of the marriage certificate of my maternal nagyszülei (grandparents). Ms. Papp  was surprised to hear that I had recently obtained a copy and could send it right away.


The second was proof that my grandfather had left Hungary after September 1, 1929. This has been a challenge since I first started this process. I was able to supply her with a copy of his US naturalization paperwork dated 1938 but nothing from Hungary.


I do have until October 1, 2015 to gather all that I can.


This process would grant me citizenship by birth.


I then asked if I would be able to qualify for Simplified Naturalization. She informed me that I would have to know intermediate Hungarian and that when I did I would have no issues obtaining citizenship through these means.


I told her I would continue to learn Hungarian since I was learning it prior to applying for citizenship. She said that was good but we (her and I) should continue to try through birth at the same time.


Talk about motivation!

Unit 2 Dialogue 1

I had a small breakthrough in my Hungarian. I opened up my  Colloquial Hungarian book to the next section I am working on: Unit 2, Dialogue 1: Az egyetem és a diákok

It is written:

John: Mi ez?
Réka: Ez villamos. As pedig egy busz.
John: A budapesti villamosok sárgák?
Réka: Igen, a régi villamosok is sárgák és az új villamosok is sárgák.
John: A new york-i taxik is sárgák! Mi az?
Réka: Az a megállo. Nem a buszmegálló, hanem a villamosmegállo.
John: Itt van az egyetem?
Réka: Igen, itt van balra.
John: És mi van jobbra?
Réka: Nem tudom.
John: A ’Nem tudom’ hogy van angolul?
Réka: A ’Nem tudom’ angolul: ’I don’t know.’
John: Köszönöm.
Réka: Szivesen!

I read through it before I listened to the recording and realized I had actually read and understood the whole dialogue!

Sziasztok!

It's Working

I can't believe all of this time has passed since my last post.

As I mentioned on my February 27th post I picked up a copy of Colloquial Hungarian. That along with the Memrise Course has boosted my learning. At the end of each dialog it a list of vocabulary. Someone has taken the time to take each dialog and input the vocabulary into Memrise. The real life situations also make it easier to comprehend what is taking place.

One thing I keep noticing is that I keep picking out words or small phrases as I stream in Hungarian radio.

It's the little victories that keep me moving. I am up to 400 words and growing.

Sziasztok!

Triple Force

I now have the book Colloquial Hungarian to go along with the lesson of the name on Memrise. Someone took the time to take the vocabulary from the book and add it all to create a Memrise course.

I am hoping that the book, the CD's and the Memrise course will start to move me along much faster than I have been.

I now know that I will be visiting friends in Szolnok and will see thier parents. The parents do not speak any English so I am hoping they will notice I have improved since our last visit.

Sziasztok!

Négy hónap!

Négy hónap = Magyarországon

Knowing the dates I will be back in Hungary I have a renewed sense of urgency to learning basic phrases. While I will continue with my online learning I feel it is necessary to purchase a phrasebook to practice from and also take along.

I am still trying to find someone local to meet with occasionally that I can speak with but haven't had any success. I will keep trying.

I still have time left today so I am off to study.

Sziasztok!

Száz nap!

While I have been working on my Hungarian for about a year. I did have a milestone today on www.memrise.com : száz nap! 100 days of using their services. Köszönöm!


Szia!

Tükröm, tükröm

Thanks to Kádár Mátyás , a twitterer I follow for his recent tweet: Tükröm, tükröm

I didn't have any idea as to what tükröm meant, but he had a link to a picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124435995@N05/16476060632/ and it all made sense.

Figure out the meaning by looking at the picture?

Szia!