It's All Hungarian to Me

Learning Spanish came easy to me.  Growing up in Colombia, my earliest days were filled with the Spanish language.  I guess that probably calls in to question the C+ in Spanish I at Greenwood High.  As my mother would put it, "I just didn't apply myself". Sorry Mrs Brown.  

I like Spanish. Spanish is easy to learn.  I already speak Spanish. So why on earth did God call me to Hungary??  Lord, Costa Rica was already taken?  

I'm kidding of course, but with a new country comes new challenges, and right at the top comes language study.  Hungarian is an intensely complicated language, with nuances and such, and more exceptions than actual rules.  Learning hungarian is like smacking yourself in the face with a sock full of quarters, it's hurts really bad, so it feels good when you stop.  Every day Corinne and I leave language school with a head full of tapioca that used to suffice for brains.

But God is faithful and we've been told by several Hungarians that they are surprised with how well we're doing.  I don't see that, but they seem to.  Ok Lord, I'm over the Spanish thing, how about some divine language knowledge??  Please??

One great thing about learning the language is that it already feels like it's opening up the world to us.  Corinne came home recently all pumped up because she was able to read a sign hanging in a car window.  I've been trying to read the advertisements on the subway walls.   During a recent picnic I was actually able to carry on a simple conversation with several non-english speaking Hungarians who were more than gracious with me.  It's amazing how much being able to talk with someone, albeit in a foreign language makes you feel at home.  

How we took for granted something so simple as walking up to someone and being able to speak to them.  Now I get excited if I recognize the TV show name on the TV guide paige. 

We've also been able to get out some and try out our hungarian with good friends. The above picture at a picnic in Vac (pronounced Vautz) was a tremendous experience.  Rupi and Eva, are host couple, are precious Christians and we truly enjoyed our time there.

Of course our ultimate goal is to be able to share the good news of Salvation  with precious Hungarians in their heart language, Magyarul.  But as we learn the language, we are finding out that though challenging, it can be a lot of fun, and an experience we won't forget.