English Please!

That couple was very rude i agree! Especially when it is clear what the price is!

The only thing that bothers me is when governmental people act like they do not speak english! Like the residence permit forms are in English and then they claim they do not speak it. The form i got from the ambassador was in english and the ones i saw everyone fill out in immigration were in english.

Before we moved here the Hungary Amb to Usa from 2014 some count i do not recall his name told me that ALL Hungarians MUST learn and pass basic english to graduate high school. He said anyone under about 40 can speak at least basic english. So he said if you get someone that claims to speak nothing at all they are either really old, non a basic high school grad, or not telling the truth. NOT due to any love for USA or UK, but he stated that it is to communicate with their European neighbors as no one else speak Hungarian and English is what they use to commicate with rest of Europe.

This is a quote from the Amb from 2014 i even have the emails with him saying this. Is it true? I do not know, but did Count György Szapáry Hungarian Amb to the USA from 2011 to 2014 tell me that officially, yes.

So that is that.

That said i have found the younger people ie ones under 50 really tend to be the ones less likely to speak english even when they can! I have had so many times young people say they speak nothing and do not know what the most simply thing is ie chicken or something, then a few mins later talk to a Hungarian in English or answer their cell phone and speak perfect english. And all this USA music on everywhere in public places? I do not even like that! he hee. If the general pop did not understand English they would be listening to this music. I have not heard any German, or UK or French music on the radio or in public places? Which i do not expect as they do not know it. But if they have no idea of english then why is this on?

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

The silly couple said to this clerk,"English Please"!!

That was unbelievably rude.

And clueless.

FeliciaOni wrote:

Before we moved here the Hungary Amb to Usa from 2014 some count i do not recall his name told me that ALL Hungarians MUST learn and pass basic english to graduate high school.

High school is not the same as in the USA. There are three types here: Gymnasium, vocational schools, and technical schools. Gymnasium usually requires more advanced language training. But not necessarily the others. And not all Hungarian children go to a Gymnasium. So quite a few under 40 people I know do not speak any foreign language, and if they do, it is more likely German.

FeliciaOni wrote:

But if they have no idea of english then why is this on?

Well, I like to listen to Italian opera, but I do not speak a word of Italian.

That said i feel people should respect the country and culture they are in! Any expat is a guest in the country they reside in. I did not agree with back earlier this year when Turks living in Netherlands were having rallies for someone running for office in Turkey. No part of a country allowing you to reside there is you do not get into political type of things for both your country of origin or the country you reside in.

When i say how i dis like the USA music on in Hungary or even out in smaller towns seeing NYPD shirts and stuff like that is mainly due to i feel sad that Hungarians are not connected to their culture. One thing i have disliked about being in Hungary is that lack of connection to the "old ways". This i will say is stronger in Hungary than other places in Europe i have been too, although Hungary is simlar to the other Balkan countries i have been too or lived around people of that origin.  Like i talked to many older Hungarians i am talking people in their 40s, 50s, that i have asked about this and get responses like " we have lost wars and we are poor", no i feel Hungarians are more than just that!

But honestly i am not here to change Hungary!

If the amount due was say, 4000Ft then the young man on the check out should have said 4000 thousand Pounds please (well that's English!) - that would have focussed their brains!

I honestly know nothing of Hungary so i do not know about the school thing, so thanks for telling me. This does help as i said i am just going on what the Amb told me, as i said if he mis spoke or summarized it i do not know! he hee.

I learned German in school and i have found most of the younger Huns do not know or even if they do know German they will not speak that at all. But i have been told that is do to a strong dislike of Germans. I have some German in my background well ok a lot really! he hee But i have found Huns the young ones i mean will even speak english much quicker than they will German. I have had many people call me a German symbolizer since being here which is odd! But i think they were dumb people anyway of any background, i can not take some silly post teenager or a 30 something balding guy sucking a fat gut in skinny jeans as a serious person and indication of the thoughts of his people!

Honestly it is about communication. If someone wants to communicate they will if they do not it is not due to lack of speaking the same tongue.

That said many Hungarians think if you are speaking English you are a dumb American and even more so being non white. So many times i get people str8 try to cheat me. When i call them out on it, many many times i get in english mind you " So few non white USA people live here so i thought you were tourist and i could rip you off" or " I did not know you lived in Hungary i thought i could rip you off and steal from you and i would never see you again" or my fav " You are from USA you have money, i am poor Hungarian so i try to rip you off and make a few money. You can afford me make steal from you"

Or i have had some Hungarian men tell me that women in Hungary are taught to be submissive and not speak out. They said that Hungarian men are not used to a woman that will question a man in public and call him out if he makes a mistake or does something wrong. I have no idea if this is true or not, i know nothing of the social gender things in Hungary just going on what some Hungarian men told me on to why i get negative or strange reactions from people!

Wow, my DIL was born and raised in Hungary and man oh man, she had no problems what's so ever with speaking her mind in several languages. Throwing books, pulling knives, slapping and having fits in public never seemed to bother her much.
Sometimes divorce is the only answer for crazy.
She spoke Hungarian nearly perfect German since her mom was German, French, used to make my son sit through French films all the time, English and was learning Spanish but when she moved to the US she didn't like the local way of Spanish, more Mexican then actually from Spain.
Smart, rude and a real tough cookie, gosh my Hungarian husband really disliked her allot, so much so that he wouldn't speak Hungarian to her although they both were natives of Hungary. Just to show how Hungarians can be stubborn if they are pushed into things. My husband was 100% against our son marrying this women, knew she was all wrong and never backed down on his views.
Our son for some reason had it in his mind to get married and only a women from Hungary would do,he rushed into things way too fast with the wrong person.
Just to give a idea about how non shy Hungarian women can be here's a short story.
My friend and  I got my ex DIL hired at a Vegas casino. The manager liked my friend and I allot and respected us both so he hired by DIL after just a few weeks of her going to dealing school.It was a very good job for someone just out of school and new in the US as a first job in the states.
Good money, easy work and sort of exciting. Man she pulled so much back talk, so rude to customers, messed around and thought she could tell the floor people how to run things. When my son divorced her she was still hanging on somehow to that job, I heard later through my friend that she later quit there and the manager gave a non written but verbal notice to all shifts of managers who hired to NEVER EVER hire another Hungarian. Now that is really saying something when we had people from every country possible working as dealers. She really was too much for anyone, no wallflower for sure.That casino has since been sold so I am sure Hungarians would have no problem getting hired there now but really just knowing what shame she was to Hungary was very upsetting to hear about. After all they bent over backwards to give her a good job and teach her how to deal since school doesn't cover it all.I am talking about some real old time Vegas mobster bosses from Italy. She was lucky they didn't take her on a midnight drive in the desert, could almost see that happening with her big mouth.
Oh, well that in the past... As long as I never run into her face to face everything will be dandy.
Just saying there are all types of people here, Hungarian women are not submissive at all, they are just really smart at getting their way.
Hungarians in general are tough minded people be it male or female, they just hold their emotions until the time is right to let it out, then you had better run for the hills.
Don't get me wrong, I love Hungarians mostly, like the way they are straight forward and usually let you know how they feel about things.
I have both blood and marriage relations to Hungary so what can I say, I also have a bad temper when the time for it is right.
It is true, they have different levels of High School in Europe, not like the K through 12 as in the US.
Also most HUngarians like to do things perfect and if they do not feel their language skills are good enough they would rather not make "fools" of themselves, saving face is a big deal here, not too many people act like clowns here, I can communicate alright with Hungarians who do not speak English but I am known for being both a fool and a clown at times. Worked with the public with all my jobs, had to overcome being shy.
As far as music goes, I do believe that the industry is allot larger in the USA. They can promote bands, singers without more resources behind them.
I have heard some really good rock music here in Hungary in Hungarian, also on the radio some music rock style from Germany and France. I my opinion only, do think English lyrics sounds better with rock music then any other language, maybe that's why it is played more then music from other countries. R&B was from the USA a mix of blues and black gospel , just better in English. My husband and his friends used to listen to Radio Free Europe in Hungary on AM radios totally illegal to do back then to listen to "western music" now perhaps people are just celebrating their freedom to hear whatever music they want to. I have heard rap music in Hungarian and sorry, I think it just sounds so odd.

Another thing i have noticed with Hungarian rock music is most of the musicians are very well trained, most have gone to music academy and are trained in every aspect of playing, reading music etc.
Sometimes being so "perfect" doesn't always mesh with the rock sound.
We knew a talented guy named Tamas Barta he was one of the original lead guitarist in the 70's HU rock band Locomotive GT.
They were very well known in Europe, they toured the USA when Tamas decided not to return with his band mates to HU.
My sister's old HU boyfriend even took music lessons from him.He married a Jewish American lady in S. Cal who he met at a recording studio, forgot which big studio it was. She worked in the office , she was in charge of billing and paying, she wrote out the checks for musicians for their works.
He tried and tried to make it on his own in music in the US but all he could find was back up guitar work inside the studio.
His English was not very good and his old band was not very well known yet in the US. Sort of sad, he later was "taken out" in his home by a bad business deal with other HU. Another tale of woe and sadness. All I'll say on that subject, some of those people are still kicking.
Later just to show how small the world is, we lived in a nice apt. complex in Tarzana Ca. a few years later, I had many poolside friends who were all Jewish ladies from NY. We just chatted while our kids swam. Their good friend was married to Tamas and they retold the story of his murder to me, very sad.
Everyone in that industry seems to know each other to some degree.
So even with allot of skill and talent not everyone can make it unless they can appeal to the public, English seems to be the language of rock music.