Culture

 9. Tétel - Culture - Szabadidő - művelődés, szórakozás

• music (listening to music, concerts, opera, playing an instrument)

• theatre

• museums, exhibitions

I listen to music at home and in the car. I’ve never been in classical concert, only in rock concerts. I don’t like operas so much, but I would like to go to the Opera-house and the Theatre of light opera sometimes.

I like both going to the cinema and the theatre. It’s true that I go to the cinema more often because of the ticket prices and parking. Our car was stolen once when we was in the theatre. Nowadays we go to theatre by public transport. 

If you want to go to the theatre it is often necessary to book a seat before you go. Normally it is not necessary to book seats at the cinema.

If you book seats you can choose the ones you want on a plan. Seats on ground level are normally called the stalls; seats on the first floor are called the circle (or the balcony); if there are seats on the second floor they are called the balcony. When you go into the cinema or theatre an usherette will take your ticket and show you to your seat.

In my town there are lots of museum and famous art galleries: Museum of Fine Arts, National Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Tranportation, Postal Museum, Science Museum, Museum of History and so on.

I go to exhibitions very rarely because I haven’t so much freetime and my daughter doesn’t enjoy these visitations.

10. Tétel - Free time activities - Szabadidő

• going out

• parties, balls, festivals

• hobbies

• other ways of recreation

There are lots of pleasure grounds all over the world. I think everywhere there are pubs, discoes, clubs, etc. We go out with my friends especially to pubs where we can chat, listen to music, dance and eat something. But the garden parties are more friendlier and cheaper. We usually organize barbecues with children, this time they can play and run in the garden.

I usually go to a wellness-weekend with my husband once a year in winter because we work a lot all of the year. There are some well-known spas in Hungary, for example, Hévíz and Hajdúszoboszló, and many people, including foreigners, go there.

A hobby is an activity that you like doing and do quite often. Hobbies are a form of recreation. If you have a hobby, it’s easier to regain energy after a hard day’s work. Depending on the type of the hobby, you can also make friends.

Unfortunately many Hungarians spend their free time at home watching TV. But there are some who do some physical activities regularly, like swimming, aerobics or hiking. Nowadays many young people spend much of their time playing computer games either at home or in internet cafes.

I think men and women usually have different kinds of hobbies, for example, very few women go fishing and they are not so interested in extreme sports, either. On the other hand, men generally aren’t interested in needlework or pottery. In my opinion both men and women do gardening but they tend to do different jobs in the garden. Women like dealing with flowers, they weed the flowerbeds, plant new varieties and they design the whole garden. Men usually prune the trees, trim the hedges and mow the lawn.

Collecting stamps, coins, autographs, phone cards, beer mats or napkins, model building, doing needlework or woodwork, pottery, basketry, playing an instrument and dancing are indoor hobbies, while hiking, mountaineering, caving, sailing, fishing, canoeing and bird-watching are outdoor hobbies. My sister’s hobbies are collecting phone cards and diary writing. I like reading about feng-shui and I like to be an Avon consultant. I used to play handball for years, nowadays I only watch handball games on TV.

As far as I know, the English like playing golf and cricket, and there are quite a few soccer fans among them. They often mow the lawn and wash their cars at weekends, while some British people go to horse races to bet or just to watch the race. 

Some Americans go to baseball and basketball games regularly to support their teams. But there are others who prefer staying at home and watching these games on TV while eating snacks. 

I think Hungarian people collect the same things that people like collecting all over the world, mostly stamps and coins. 

If we considered a sport that many people pursue popular, the most popular sport in Hungary are football, handball, hiking and aerobics. If a popular sport means a sport that many people watch, besides football and handball, the most popular sports are Formula 1 racing, water polo and boxing.

11. Tétel - Learning, education, the school system - Oktatás, tanulás

• school system, school types in Hungary

• school system, school types in English-speaking countries

• candidate's school experiences

• tertiary education

• learning outside school: courses, etc

• student exchange programmes, student mobility

When children are 2 or 3 years old, they sometimes go to a nursery school, where they learn simple games and songs. In England there are not enough nursery schools for all children under five, so parents themselves often form play groups for children under five where they can go a couple of times a week. From 5 to 7 years, children go to infant schools and from 8 to 11 years to junior schools. From the age of 11 most children attend a comprehensive school until the age of 16 or 18. Higher education covers universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

In the United States children start the 8-grade elementary school at the age of six. After the elementary school, the students attend four years of high school. In some cases students between 12-14 go to junior high school and then attend a 3-year high school. After high school the students can attend university for four years. State and private university masters’ degrees are completed in one to two years, and doctoral degrees can take seven year. 

It’s the same in Hungary. Children’s first real school is called a primary school. Usually at the age of six, but parents can decide whether those childen who wee born in autumn start when they are six, or a year later.  In England they start at the age of five and in the States the system is the same as in Hungary. Secondary education begins at the age of about 14. 

In Hungary there are secondary grammar, secondary technical and vocational schools. Mostly those students choose secondary grammar schools who plan to go on to higher education. Students who would like to learn a trade or profession besides passing their school-leaving exam go to secondary technical schools. I passed the school-leaving exam in a Secondary School of Economics. Vocational schools train skilled workers, such as plumbers, joiners and hairdressers. The training lasts three years in these schools.

After high-school graduation they can go to university or college. These courses normally last 4 years and then students graduate, which means they receive their degree. At university, teaching is by tutorial, seminar, lecture and of course private study. Most people who receive a university place are given a grant by the government to help pay their fees and living expenses.

Full-time students attend school on weekdays and correspondence students go to classes mainly on Fridays and Saturday. I went to college every second Friday and Saturday, so I could work or I could stay at home with my child.

Other facilities of continuing professional education are the crash-courses and OKJ trainings, where you get an official and received certificate.

Nowadays most young people want to become economists, lawyers or deal with some field of computer science. Many of them think that it will be easy to find well-paying jobs with these degrees.

The program of student barter is a very good thing. Students can meet foreign people, countries and cultures, and during they learn foreign languages. I think it has only advantages.

12. Tétel - Learning foreign languages - Idegen nyelvek, nyelvtanulás

• the role and importance of foreign languages

• language learning opportunities

• language learning experiences

It’s important that we take a language exam because it’s necessary if you want to get a degree, and it is an advantage when a student wants to go on to higher education. Nowadays if you want a good job, you will have to be able to speak foreign languages, and it’s good if you can prove it with a certificate. Of course, knowledge of an foreign language is advantage for you in your weekdays and in your travellings too.

You can learn foreign languages alone at home from a book, with a private teacher or at a language school, and of course abroad. 

I’ve been learning English for 15 years, and if I pass the language exam, I’ll learn Dutch and Italian.

I began foreign language learning when I was 12. I remember my first English book, it was a story-book about Linda. I learnt English seriously at the secondary school and at my first workplace, I had a private teacher. I got an elementary language exam, and later when I learnt English at London Studio, I passed the verbal intermediate language exam.

Now I’m learning at Métisz Studio, and I hope that my exam will be successful.