INTRODUCTION |
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome to HungarianPod101.com. This is Upper Intermediate, Season 1 Lesson 1 - You’d Better Ace Your First Hungarian Job Interview! Eric here. |
Lena: Hello. I'm Lena. |
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn about politeness in Hungarian. The conversation takes place at an office. |
Lena: It's between Tom and Peter. |
Eric: The speakers are an employer and employee, so that means they’ll be using formal Hungarian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation
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Péter: Üdvözlöm, Kovács Péter vagyok, a cég igazgatója. Kérem, foglaljon helyet. |
Tom: Örvendek, Marley Tom vagyok. |
Péter: Az önéletrajza felkeltette érdeklődésünket, folyékonyan beszél magyarul? |
Tom: Igen, már öt éve Magyarországon élek és tanulok. |
Péter: Miért döntött úgy, hogy jelentkezik az állásra? |
Tom: Úgy éreztem, az önök cégénél új tudásra tehetnék szert. |
Péter: Kifejtené, milyen megbízásai voltak az előző munkahelyén? |
Tom: Természetesen. Üzletkötőként a külföldi ügyfelekkel való kapcsolattartás volt a feladatom. |
Péter: Értem. Köszönjük a jelentkezését, Tom, hamarosan értesítjük. |
Tom: Nagyon szépen köszönöm a lehetőséget, a mielőbbi viszontlátásra! |
Eric: Listen to the conversation one more time with the English translation. |
Peter: Welcome, I'm Peter Kovacs, the director of the company. Please take a seat. |
Tom: Pleased to meet you, I'm Tom Marley. |
Peter: Your résumé has aroused our interest. Are you fluent in Hungarian? |
Tom: Yes, I've been living and studying in Hungary for five years. |
Peter: Why did you decide to apply for the job? |
Tom: I felt that in your company, I could gain new knowledge. |
Peter: Would you elaborate on what kinds of tasks you had at your previous job? |
Tom: Of course. As a sales representative, my main responsibility was keeping in touch with foreign clients. |
Peter: I see. Thank you for your application, we will get in touch with you soon. |
Tom: Thank you very much for the opportunity, see you soon! |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Eric: Lena, how would you describe the situation with employment in Hungary now? |
Lena: Well, I must admit that it’s very different from the United States’ system. |
Eric: Oh really? How so? |
Lena: Well, you know, these days more and more companies are involved in illegal employment called “black work” or feketemunka in Hungarian. |
Eric: So...is that like when companies don't register their employees legally, or register only a small part of their employees' revenue to avoid heavy taxes? |
Lena: Exactly like that. Anyone looking for a job should be aware that a seasonal job, or a part-time job, will not be entirely registered. Gardeners, baby-sitters, or waiters are usually paid this way to avoid taxes and will not pay health insurance or retirement taxes. |
Eric: I see. |
Lena: In order to avoid this, don't accept a position where you are paid entirely, or even partly in cash, even if they offer to pay you more. |
Eric: That’s good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
VOCAB LIST |
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
Lena: üdvözlöm [natural native speed] |
Eric: welcome |
Lena: üdvözlöm [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: üdvözlöm [natural native speed] |
Eric: Next we have.. |
Lena: helyet foglal [natural native speed] |
Eric: to take a seat |
Lena: helyet foglal [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: helyet foglal [natural native speed] |
Eric: Next we have.. |
Lena: felkelt [natural native speed] |
Eric: to arouse, to wake up |
Lena: felkelt [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: felkelt [natural native speed] |
Eric: Next we have.. |
Lena: folyékonyan [natural native speed] |
Eric: fluently |
Lena: folyékonyan [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: folyékonyan [natural native speed] |
Eric: Next we have.. |
Lena: jelentkezik [natural native speed] |
Eric: to sign up, to register for, to apply to |
Lena: jelentkezik [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: jelentkezik [natural native speed] |
Eric: Next we have.. |
Lena: szert tesz valamire [natural native speed] |
Eric: to acquire |
Lena: szert tesz valamire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: szert tesz valamire [natural native speed] |
Eric: Next we have |
Lena: kifejt [natural native speed] |
Eric: to elaborate |
Lena: kifejt [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: kifejt [natural native speed] |
Eric: Next we have |
Lena: üzletkötő [natural native speed] |
Eric: sales representative |
Lena: üzletkötő [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: üzletkötő [natural native speed] |
Eric: Next we have.. |
Lena: hamarosan értesít [natural native speed] |
Eric: to get back to somebody soon, to inform |
Lena: hamarosan értesít [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: hamarosan értesít [natural native speed] |
Eric: And last.. |
Lena: lehetőség [natural native speed] |
Eric: opportunity |
Lena: lehetőség [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Lena: lehetőség [natural native speed] |
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
Eric: Let's take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
Lena: felkelti valakinek az érdeklődését |
Eric: which means “to arouse somebody’s interest” |
Lena: The verb “felkelt”, meaning “to arouse”, comes first. The noun follows the verb and has a possessive transitive ending: -at, -et, -át, -ét. |
Eric: What kinds of expressions can we use this verb in? |
Lena: You can use the verb felkelt to say…felkelti valakinek a figyelmét |
Eric: “to arouse somebody's attention” |
Lena: ...or felkelti valakinek a kiváncsiságát |
Eric: “to arouse somebody's curiosity.” |
Lena: You can substitute the verb felkelt” with its synonym “felébreszt” to talk about senses or emotions. For example, you can say... felébreszti a szenvedélyét |
Eric: “to awake somebody’s passion” |
Lena: or… “felébreszti a vágyát” |
Eric “to awake somebody’s desire”. Great! Can you give us a sample sentence using the verb “to arouse”? |
Lena: Sure. For example, you can say.. Ez a cikk felkeltette a figyelmemet. |
Eric: ..which means “This article has aroused my attention.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
Lena: jelentkezik az állásra |
Eric: which means “to apply for a job” |
Lena: The verb “jelentkezik” means “to sign up, to apply, to register for” and is followed by a noun with an ending in -ra, -re. |
Eric: You can also use this verb to say “to apply for a university”... |
Lena: jelentkezik az egyetemre |
Eric “to apply for a competition” |
Lena: jelentkezik a versenyre |
Eric “to apply for an exam” |
Lena: jelentkezik a vizsgára. The noun can also have an ending in -nál, -nél |
Eric: This will specify that you’re applying to a certain place or company. |
Lena: For example...jelentkezik a cégnél az álláshirdetésre |
Eric: “to apply for a job at the company”. Lena, can you give us another sample sentence using this word? |
Lena: Sure. How about...Jelentkeztem a novemberi nyelvvizsgára. |
Eric: “I registered for the language exam in November.” Okay, what's the last phrase? |
Lena: szert tesz új tudásra |
Eric: which means “to gain new knowledge” |
Lena: The expression tesz szert is pretty formal and usually comes after a noun with an ending in -ra, -re. It means “to obtain, to acquire or to gain something”. |
Eric: For example, you can say… “to gain a new experience” |
Lena: tapasztalatra tesz szert |
Eric: “to acquire profit” |
Lena: nyereségre tesz szert |
Eric: “to gain friends” |
Lena: barátokra tesz szert. Listeners, please note, that the dictionary form of this expression is szert tesz valamire. The word order can change to tesz szert when you add a noun that you would like to stress in the sentence. |
Eric: Can you give us an example of it? |
Lena: For example, “Tapasztalatra tettem szert.” would mean “I gained a new experience”, and not something else. |
Eric: And if you want to stress the action of acquiring something or gaining knowledge, not the knowledge itself? |
Lena: You would say, “Szert tettem tapasztalatra.” |
Eric: Ok! And one final sample sentence, please! |
Lena: Az évek során sikerült gyakorlati tapasztalatra szert tennem. |
Eric: It means “Throughout the years I managed to gain practical experience.” |
Lena: With emphasis on the experience obtained. |
Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus
|
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn about politeness in Hungarian. As you know, one of the difficulties of the Hungarian language is the complexity of its polite language. |
Lena: Right. Depending on the other person’s age, profession and the context of the conversation, the level of politeness can change significantly. |
Eric: The focus of this lesson is to learn how to address people in a formal context, and to be able to ask for favors or questions using the conditional form. Here are two tips to master politeness in Hungarian quickly. |
Lena: First, you can forget the definite articles in a possessive structure! |
Eric: In a very polite conversation, the definite article is often left out when you use a possessive. For example... |
Lena: Az önéletrajza felkeltette érdeklődésünket. |
Eric: “Your resume has aroused our interest.” |
Lena: In a less formal context, or during a polite oral conversation, you would naturally say “Az önéletrajza felkeltette az érdeklődésünket.”, not Az önéletrajza felkeltette érdeklődésünket. |
Eric: So, by taking out the definite article before the noun in the possessive form, your speech becomes even more polite. |
Lena: Right. Listeners, in written language, this rule is a must! |
Eric: Lena, what’s the second tip? |
Lena: Tip number two: get rid of the conjunction “hogy”, which means “that” and is usually found after a comma. |
Eric: For example? |
Lena: Úgy éreztem, az önök cégénél új tudásra tehetnék szert. |
Eric: This means “I felt that in your company I could gain new knowledge.” |
Lena: In casual conversation, it would still be polite to say Úgy éreztem, hogy az önök cégénél új tudásra tehetnék szert. |
Eric: Now onto the conditional. Hungarians often use the conditional form to make polite requests or ask polite questions, just like in English. |
Lena: When you are the subject of the sentence, you can also use the potential form to be more polite. |
Eric: Lena, can you give us some examples? |
Lena: For example, let's take the sentence….Megkérhetem, hogy ismételje meg? |
Eric: which means “Can I ask you to repeat that, please?” |
Lena: The more polite form will be Megkérhetném, hogy ismételje meg? |
Eric: “Could I ask you to repeat that, please?” When you’re making requests, you can use the following expressions. |
Lena: Lenne szíves megmondani... |
Eric: This means “Would you be so kind as to tell…” |
Lena: Le lennék kötelezve, ha megmondaná... |
Eric: “I would be obliged to you if you told..” |
Lena: Tudna esetleg ajánlani… |
Eric: “Could you possibly recommend…”. Listeners, you can find more phrases, as well as information on how to address men and women in a polite conversation, in the lesson notes! |
Outro
|
Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
Lena: Viszontlátásra |
16 Comments
HideLet us know if you have any questions.
Szia Bill!
Köszönöm, hogy írtál nekünk! Your Hungarian is really growing rapidly. Well done! 😎
What you have written is perfectly understandable! Amazing! Just a couple of small remarks to watch out for:
- the word "jobban" is written without an accent mark
- "I [don't] understand [the fast] conversation" = "[nem] értem a [gyors] beszélgetést" (beszélgetés --> beszélgetést)
- "but better the slower one" (i.e. I understood better the slow conversation) = "jobban a lassabbat" (slow = lassú, slower = lassabb, and in accusative form it will get a -t postfix just like the word beszélgetés earlier)
Hope this helps. Good luck with your Hungarian studies! 😇
Levente
Team HungarianPod101.com
Szia, ez a lecke nagyon nehéz volt nekem de néhány szót ismertem. A beszélgetés a két ember közt túl komlex és unalmas. Inkább jóbban érdekes lett volna ha csak mindennapi beszélgetés volt benne. Azonban, a nelvtan érdekes volt. Nem jól értettem a gyors beszélgetéset de jóbban a lassabban.
Dear Lily,
Yes, there can be differences in some case.
I hope you find both of them useful.
Jó tanulást!
Zsuzsanna
Team HungarianPod101.com
the course is not the same like what is in mobile application
Szia Patricia!
Thank you for your comment!
We are working on additional courses to help you make the jump between lower and upper intermediate level!
In the meantime, please don't hesitate to send us questions, we are here to help!
Sok sikert,
Dorottya
Team HungarianPod101.com
You need something between the Lower Intermediate lessons and the Higher Intermediate. This is a huge leap. Lower Intermediate were a little too easy for me, whereas this is very difficult. Suggest Middle Intermediate.
Hi Barbara,
Thank you for your message.
You can adjust the lesson's audio speed by clicking on the ‘1x’ button next to the volume control icon (you can choose either 0.75x or 0.5x to slow it down).
Additionally, in the [Vocabulary] tab there are the normal and slow speed audios for a better understanding of the pronunciation. You can also record your voice to practice and adjust it to the native speaker's.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team HungarianPod101.com
Evan at lower intermediate there should be a dialogue in Hungarian slightly slower. Such a shame.
Barbara
As usual I think it is a very, very, very great shame that there is not available a slightly slower Hungarian dialogue.
Barbara
Szia Barbara,
Thank you for your comment!
Actually, at an Upper Intermediate level, the next challenge is to understand Hungarian at a natural speed!
To help you, you can read the dialogue by clicking at "Lesson Materials" or download it by clicking at download PDF! You can choose between lesson transcript or grammar notes. Reading at the same time can help you practicing. Listen to it a couple of times with the transcript, stop if necessary and the most important is to learn the vocabulary!
Once the vocabulary is learnt, come back a couple of days later and try to listen to the audio again! You will see how easy it will be! :sunglasses:
Good luck,
Dorottya
Team HungarianPod101.com