Hungarian 101

Magyar 101
Autumn Quarter 2004
Mondays and Wednesdays 5-7pm

Instructor:
Dr. Agi Risko
Phone: 447-8528
E-mail: risko.1@osu.edu
Office: 232 Cunz Hall
Office hours: By appointment

Szeretettel üdvözöllek a kezdö magyar tanfolyamon!
Welcome to Magyar 101!

Course objectives:

Hungarian 101 is designed to give you an introduction to Magyar language and culture. By the end of the quarter, you should be able to communicate in Hungarian (magyarul) on an elementary level: to read and understand simple dialog and text, formulate basic sentences, carry on a brief conversation on an everyday topic, and write grammatically correct sentences using the structures studied during the quarter. We will be simultaneously developing the four basic language skills (speaking, reading, listening comprehension, and writing) by reading texts and dialogues, practicing conversation, doing oral and written comprehension exercises, and lots of group work. The main emphasis, however, will be on the two oral skills. The course will also provide you with insights into Hungarian life and customs as well as various aspects of traditional and contemporary Hungarian culture.

Course materials:

Textbook:
Erdös József, Prileszky Csilla. Halló, itt Magyarország! Magyar nyelvkönyv külföldieknek I-II. 4th edition. Budapest:
Akadémiai Kiadó, 1997.
We will be covering the first six chapters in volume I.

Audio Tapes:
The textbook is accompanied by two cassette tapes, which contain the recording of all the dialogs and some of the oral exercises. I encourage you to take maximum advantage of this additional listening opportunity.

Exercise materials:
Additional exercises, auxiliary materials and assignments can be found on the class Web site on Carmen.

Course requirements:

1. Participation and homework assignments
Since class work is an essential part of the course, and since our class only meets twice a week, regular attendance is absolutely necessary for the successful completion of the course. Regular, conscientious preparation for each class meeting is essential for steady progress and good performance. Since this is a five-credit course, it is the university's and my expectation that you spend 10 hours per week on, such as Hungarian 101, in order to successfully complete the requirements. Homework assignments will always be due on the day of the following class meeting and will be discussed and corrected together in class.

2. Quizzes
There will be a quiz every week, given at the end of the Monday class meeting. The quiz will test your knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures, as well as your communicative skills. The quizzes will be cumulative. Out of ten quizzes, the eight highest will be counted toward your grade. No make-up quizzes will be given.

3. Final exam
There will be an oral final examination, which will cover the entire material studied during the quarter. It will consist of an approximately 20 minute one on one conversation with me.

Grading:
Oral performance in class	50%
Quizzes and homework	25%
Final exam	25%

Grades will be assigned based on the following scale:
93–100	A	80–82	B–	68–69	D+
90–92	A–	78–79	C+	60–67	D
88–89	B+	73–77	C	below 60	E
83–87	B	70–72	C–

Academic Misconduct:

Each student is expected to adhere to Ohio State University's Code of Student Conduct, which can be viewed at the following address: http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp

Motivation:

Although the Magyar language has a reputation for being hard to learn, you will very soon discover that it is fun, interesting, extremely logical and very learnable. By investing just a couple of hours a day, you will quickly find yourself understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Hungarian. You'll be amazed at the progress that you will be making.

One of the keys to achieving success in foreign language studies is regular work and conscientious preparation. Since our class only meets twice a week, it is essential that you devote study time to Hungarian every day. The best thing is to routinely set aside time for Hungarian, and even if you don't have the same amount of time each day, make sure that you do not skip a day. Do at least a little bit of listening or reading, vocabulary review, grammar practice, homework, whatever, every single day. Put your heart into it! Love it! It does make a huge difference! Take advantage of each opportunity to use the language outside of the classroom environment. Listen to the tapes in your car. Try to get your Hungarian family members and acquaintances to speak to you in Hungarian. Take advantage of the biweekly Hungarian conversation table, which meets every other Tuesday 6-8pm at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in the Lennox Center. Make an appointment with me for a "chat" in Hungarian. I certainly always welcome the opportunity to speak Hungarian! Don't hesitate to talk to yourself in Hungarian (when you are by yourself) - it is a great way to practice. Put post-it notes on the objects at home with their Hungarian names. Do whatever it takes. Remember, your success in this class depends entirely on the amount of effort you personally invest into it.

Learning a new language is similar to building a house: it is put together from small structural and syntactical building blocks, one at a time, and each of these elements has its own place and significance in the structure. If any of the blocks are missing, or if there are loose ones, the structure cannot be stable. Therefore, it is extremely important that you do no fall behind. Please don't hesitate to ask questions either in or after class, or make an appointment with me as soon as something is not quite clear or if you are confused about something. Make sure all the elements are cemented into the structure. Don't let small problems develop into big ones. One missed grammar point may seem insignificant at the time, but since all aspects of a language are interconnected, it will make understanding the rest of the material much more difficult, if not impossible.

Once again: Practice, practice, practice! That's the only thing that will make you successful.