There’s a site, duome.eu, where one may track one’s progress by username at Duolingo. According to that site, I learned Hungarian on April 30th.
I can assure you I have not done that. I have finished the course, with all gold circles and won the little golden owl, but I have not “learned Hungarian.” There are cases I am yet to see, much less master. And verbs are still… really, do we need a definite and indefinite conjugation? But aside from checking in daily to do little practice sessions (I want a 365-day streak!) there isn’t much left for me at the site, which means I have to look elsewhere for my study, or lose what I’ve learned.
I have had a couple of decent, 30-second conversations with my native-speaker mom. We’ve discussed taking the cat to the hospital, and the mouse that ran out from under the cabinet in the kitchen. My comprehension is getting better. But it’s not very regular.
Then there’s Netflix. I figured out how to tell Netflix my profile is Hungarian, and I get my screen in that language. Netflix original programming often comes with a Hungarian language track, so I watched Space Force that way, with English subtitles. I don’t know what it’s doing for me, except for teaching me the odd vocab and confirming the knowledge of curse words that my late nagymama taught me. To work on my reading comprehension, I watch Community with Hungarian subtitles, pausing the video once they appear, sussing out the meaning, then playing the video to hear the translation. I actually think that bit is helping. I’m not watching The Witcher again, because I did not like that show at all. But I found this video and have decided I will learn how to sing the song. I am tickled that the word they use for “witcher” also means, apparently, “cheese.”
And I guess I should read those Sweet Valley Twins books I have. But I’m getting a little frustrated and bored, and the lack of actual conversation is my big problem. So if anyone reading this is fluent and wants to be a pen pal/conversation buddy, well, the link to my contact form is at the top of the page.
Jessica Lévai, Writer 