Csenge Szollár set out on a mission impossible: teaching Hungarian to foreigners. She has held courses at Eötvös Loránd University, the Hungarian Dance Academy, the Balassi Institute and the Konfuciusz Institute, but does she think she’s Tom Cruise or what? Let’s see.

When and how did the idea of teaching Hungarian first emerge in your life?
Well, at high school I was only interested in general literature, that’s why I became a Hungarian major at Eötvös Loránd University. Then at ELTE I heard about the Hungarian as a Foreign Language Faculty, which sounded even more interesting. I decided to go for it, I felt predestined. After I started to teach I found the Hungarian language even more fascinating than before.
 
Is Hungarian as easy to teach as it is to speak?
Exactly. Understanding theory and practice are both needed. Hungarian is very different from other languages but if you understand the particles that create the language, the language becomes much easier to pick up.  

Who are the people you usually teach and what is the reason for their learning Hungarian?
Some are students, some are business people and some just met a Hungarian whom they fell in love or/and live together with. You might imagine they usually have a really good reason to learn Hungarian. Their personal reasons can vary but their goal is the same.

Have you learnt anything new about the language yourself while you have been teaching it?
I’m constantly learning, because I keep coming across problems in the classroom that I would never expect as a native speaker.... sometimes not even as a Hungarian language teacher.

What’s the average level your students usually achieve after attending your courses?
Most of the students can use this knowledge to solve their everyday problems as well as using it as a basis for their further Hungarian studies.

What’s the most difficult grammar and vocabulary element for you to teach and for your students to understand?
I think one of the most difficult parts is the word order and then we have the igekötő (prefix) as well. It’s hard to understand for a foreigner how to split a prefix if you have never used it before. It also has many different functions, which is unusual for the students.

Any funny or otherwise memorable moment(s) in your classes?
Oh yes, a lot. They invent plenty of new Hungarian words, involving funny misinterpretations as well. This can occur if they don’t feel the difference between multiple meanings. For example the word “next” can mean both “nearest” (geographically speaking) and “next time” – in Hungarian we use “legközelebb” for both. So one time I asked my student: “Mikor és hova utazol legközelebb?” (When and where are you traveling next?) I was expecting an answer such as: I’m traveling to the Netherlands on the 10th of  August, but then she answered me: to Margaret Island, because she lives really close by.

How many years (or months?) of Hungarian teaching would an average foreigner need to become a proficient Hungarian speaker?
If you practice enough, you can have a decent knowledge in a few years. Of course, that involves communicating with locals, listening to Hungarian media and generally being interested in Hungarian culture. Such practices can make it surprisingly easy to pick up the necessary vocabulary. So it’s not impossible to learn Hungarian at a very good level!!

Any special methodological element/tool that’s crucial knowledge for every Hungarian language teacher?
To be able to see our language through a foreigner’s eyes.