E19: Zero Reason The Should Be An Episode (Day 368)

Good morning. We have 15 minutes of morning left. Saturday, November 23rd. I lost my pen.

Found it.

So: for this morning’s recording, I’m going to record my Hungarian homework as a timestamp of my progress. No one will ever need to listen to this but me. That’s how I give myself permission.

[What follows is a working session with the morning’s vocabulary and sentences. Each one read aloud in Hungarian, translated, new words noted.]

Hatékony — efficient. “Old Hungarian buses are slow and not efficient.”

Elnézést — excuse me.

“Elnézést, kéjekvájtok?” — Excuse me, are you locals? — helyek is the new word.

“Pozsonyban régi házak, keskeny utcák és drága üzletek vannak.” — There are old houses, narrow streets, and expensive stores in Bratislava. “I’ve only been once. I should go back.”

“Szállást kell foglalni.” — We have to reserve accommodations. — szállást = accommodations, kell = must, foglalni = to reserve.

“Ki vágja fel a tortát?” — Who cuts up the cake? — “felvágnál if it’s a statement; you reverse fel and vágja and separate them if it’s a question.”

“Előadást tart ma?” — Who is giving a lecture today? — előadást = lecture, accusative form.

“Nem hiszük, hogy ő francia.” — We don’t believe that he is French.

“Amikor esik az eső, magammal viszem az esernyőt.” — When it rains, I carry an umbrella with me. — magammal = with me.

“Fáj a védőoltás?” — Does a vaccination hurt?

“Egy belépőjegy.” — An admission ticket.

“Elárultál.” — You have betrayed me. “I don’t need that. No one’s gonna betray me.”

“Soha nem árulok el.” — I will never betray you. “That I might need.”

“A turisták elkéstek, mert eltévedtek a városban.” — The tourists were late because they got lost in the city.

“László mindig megeszi az ebédjet.” — László always eats his lunch. — “Interesting word, ebédjet.”

“Közel van ehhez az épülethez.” — It is close to this building.

“Nem lepődtem meg, mert tudtam, hogy jönnek.” — I wasn’t surprised because I knew they were coming.

“Nem hívtalak meg, mert nem akarok veled találkozni.” — I didn’t invite you because I don’t want to meet with you.

“Nem hívtam meg Josht a bulira, mert már nem vagyok szerelmes belé.” — I didn’t invite Josh to the party because I’m not in love with him anymore. “Sorry, Josh.”

“Megfelelt, vagy nem felelt meg?” — Was it suitable or not?

A note on pronunciation from my teacher: Hungarian has a lot of e sounds — there’s e, é, eh. She said if you want to speak eloquently, the poets find different words to break up the run of eh, eh, eh. Something to pay attention to.

To be continued.