Bringing a growth mindset to learning Hungarian

Within a week of arriving, I’d signed up for a course over in Buda. In the next 12 weeks, I learned a smattering of words and one sentence perfectly: Nem jól beszélek magyarul (I  don’t speak Hungarian well).

Then I had a teacher who would show up at my flat with pictures of fruit and veg and groceries cut from magazines to prepare me for my trip to the market. I came back from holiday to find that she’d died. I hope it wasn’t from frustration at my not being able to correctly pronounce tej (milk).

I tried an intensive Debrecen course. Twice. Once in person (I got an A in the final exam but still hadn’t mastered the accusative t) and once online (I was by far the worst in my class; because I spoke a little quite well, I was incorrectly assessed, something that would happen again, and again, and again).

I made yet another attempt last year and came away frustrated and disheartened. But this time, I learned two valuable lessons.

First, there is a place for ageism in language learning.

My ageing brain doesn’t soak up as much as the bright young med students in the same class. I don’t process things as quickly as the engineer who’s moved here from the Emirates. And I can’t get my tongue around the sprinkles as well as someone who already speaks four other languages.

And second, even though I give group workshops, I’m not a group learner.

Midway through my most recent attempt earlier this year, feeling increasingly frustrated by the relentless pressure to absorb on the spot, Facebook coughed up an ad for three free sessions with a young woman called Zsófi.

I was fed up and frustrated and it was free. So I signed up.

Zsófi is a Hungarian living in Transylvania with her Italian husband, Mark. They met while attending agricultural college in Gödöllő, later moving to Rotterdam, where they both learned Dutch and worked in sales and marketing in the agricultural sector. Fast forward a few years, Zsófi brought Mark home to Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș).

They bought the oldest house in a village and began a long renovation, planting crops and raising animals, living off their savings and what little they could make from their produce. The few jobs that were available didn’t offer much by way either compensation or challenge.

Mark busied himself learning Hungarian, and on that learning journey, the pair spotted a huge gap in the market.

Available materials were often subpar, dated, and irrelevant. The teaching was dry and devoid of cultural context and broader references. Timing was an issue, too, as weekly classes meant you had to swallow whole what was handed to you; there was little time to savour and get a feel for the lessons. And if you missed out, you missed out. Your loss.

Between them they speak six languages, so they know what they’re at. They didn’t learn Dutch because they had to. They could have survived without it. But they wanted to integrate, to feel more comfortable, to feel as if they belonged. This is something too often ignored in traditional teaching, which is more functional than emotional.

They decided to create something of value, something that they knew would work, building on what they’d learned from their own experiences.

If the material isn’t interesting, students give up.

If the student has an internal battle of priorities going on, language learning will often lose out.

If the student feels like they have to learn rather than want to learn, that makes a difference.

They spent two years developing audio and visual material imbued with cultural context and references. They structured the lessons to capture the three keys to effective language learning: tools, motivation, and mindset. They built their platform with the user in mind.

Mark is now fluent. Zsófi, as a true Hungarian-speaking Transylvanian, always was. The pair have something few Hungarian language teachers have, and many Hungarian students share – they have experienced Hungary from the outside.

Zsófi mentioned her time in Gödöllő, where she had just one Hungarian friend. Although she identified as Hungarian, other students insisted she was Romanian. ‘I have a Romanian passport’, she said, ‘but I was born and grew up Hungarian.’ She used her time there to practise her English.

Their online Hungarian Campus™ takes the complete novice from zero to fluent in five stages: Hungarian Incubator™ (for complete beginners or restarters); Hungarian Elevator™ (for those who have the basics and want to master the grammar); Hungarian Hero Maker™ (for intermediate speakers who want to level up); Hungarian Horizon™ (for the almost fluent to gain confidence and momentum); and Hungarian Speaking Club™ (for gaining fluency and practising). The first four stages contain 10 weekly modules sandwiched between an intro and a wrap-up. The Hungarian Speaking Club™ runs weekly for three-month semesters (try a free session).

They know it works because 70%-75% of students move on to the next phase.

I know it works because I’ve tried it.

I signed up for the Hungarian Incubator™, wanting to start over, from the beginning. I know my level. I’ve been misclassified so many times. No one can say how well or otherwise I speak after a 5-minute conversation, because if I get the right questions, I can wing it.

I was surprised by how quickly we were immersed in the language. Zsófi is a strong advocate of simply speaking. Of trying. Done is better than perfect, right?

From the outset, we were speaking, learning new words, and forming complete sentences. Much of it I knew already, but I had been missing the reasoning, the rationale, the explanations as to why something is the way it is.

For the first time, Hungarian began to make sense.

I recaptured the joy of learning something new. It was fun. And when I’m having fun, I’m not stressing about what I’m doing wrong. As Mark noted, ‘When you connect language learning with positive emotions and come away happy and uplifted, you’re more inspired and more inclined to continue learning.’

Getting a language psychologist in to talk about barriers to language learning is just one of the many innovative markers of the Hungarian Campus™.

Their website boldly asks one question: Do you want to feel at home in Hungary? Yes. Yes. And yes again.

Confident in the knowledge that anyone who gets a taste of their methodology will want more, they offer 60 minutes of free content over 10 videos. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself.

Knowing that my life has been peppered with good intentions, I worried that I’d fall behind, which I did, and drop out, which I didn’t because I could catch up. If I missed a session, I could replay the recording. I could go back over old modules.

Zsófi estimates that with 90 minutes a week for the live session, 90 minutes for the module, and 90 minutes for homework, an average student will progress. That’s four and a half hours a week.

The games and quizzes are extras. The leaderboard plays to competitive spirits. And the contextual explanations and cultural references make Hungarian and the reasoning behind it more understandable.

Zsófi and Mark want to grow the Campus, to scale up to where they can employ additional teachers and continue to build what is already a growing community from around the world who come together with a common goal – to learn Hungarian. Some do it for work. Some do it for family. Some do it to reconnect with their heritage.

Just as these two former agricultural students now tend to their crops, they also tend to their students. By applying a growth mindset to teaching Hungarian, they’re cultivating an appreciation for the culture and the country, for its traditions and its stories, and for the language with all its complexities.

Zsófi also uses this winning combination in her 1-2-1 coaching for the Hungarian Citizenship/Residence Permit exam. Contact her at info@hungarianwithsofie.com

Whether you’re a complete beginner or already fluent but with no one to speak to, the Hungarian Campus is where you want to be. Try it and see.

Mary Murphy works to help people find both their written and their spoken voice. Read more at www.irjjol.com | www.unpackingmybottomdrawer.com | www.anyexcusetotravel.com | www.dyingtogetin.com