15.

exam topic

Hungary
and an English speaking country (the United Kingdom)
1. Földrajzi elhelyezkedés / híres tájegységek pl. nálunk a Kékes, Balaton…
2. Államforma / népcsoportok, nyelvhasználat, hivatalos pénznem, időjárás.
3. Főváros / turisztikai látványosságok, nevezetességek.
4. Hírességek / költők, írok, festők, zenészek.
5. Hagyományok / egyedi ünnepek, népviselet...
6. Gasztronómia.

15. A.
What would you show to your foreign friend in Budapest or in Hungary?
Why?
Mit mutatna meg külföldi ismerősének Budapesten / Magyarországon? Miért?
What are Hungary and the Hungarian famous for?
Miről híres Magyarország és a magyarok a világban?

1. Földrajzi elhelyezkedés / híres tájegységek pl. nálunk a Kékes, Balaton…

Geographical location / famous landscapes e.g. Kékes, Lake Balaton

Hungary is located in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe.

The area of Hungary is 93.000 square kilometres.
It has a population of about 10 million people.

Hungary is bordered by seven countries: Austria, Slovenia, Croatica, Serbia, Romania,

Ukraine and Slovakia.

The capital city of Hungary is Budapest.

The largest cities are Budapest, Debrecen, Miskolc, Szeged, Pécs and Győr.

The highest point of Hungary is Kékes in the Mátra Mountains. It is about 1.000 metres
above sea level.

The two longest rivers are the Tisza and the Danube.
Hungary has two big lakes, Lake Balaton and Lake Tisza.

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Lake Balaton is a very famous tourist destination.
Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe.
The second biggest lake in the country is Lake Tisza, an artificial lake.
artificial (etifisöl) = mesterséges

Most of the country is flat.

There are six major geographical regions in Hungary:
- the Great Hungarian Plain
- the Little Hungarian Plain
- the Transdanubian Hills
- the Transdanubian Medium Mountains
- the Northern Medium Mountains
- Alpokalja

2. Államforma / népcsoportok, nyelvhasználat, hivatalos pénznem, időjárás.

Form of government / ethnic groups, official language, official currency, climate.

The currency of Hungary is the Hungarian forint.

The official language is Hungarian.

Hungary has been a parliamentary republic since October 23, 1989.

Form of government is parliamentary republic. = parlamentáris köztársaság

In the Hungarian parliament there are two major political parties.

The Alliance of Young Democrats and the Hungarian Socialist Party.

The Hungarian flag has three equal horizontal bands of red, white and green.

Hungary joined to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1999, so our safety and
future increased because this organization is a military union.
(Magyarország 1999-ben csatlakozott a NATO-hoz (Észak-atlanti Szerződés Szervezete), így biztonságunk
és jövőnk is nőtt, mert ez a szervezet katonai unió.)
We joined to EU (European Union) too in 2004.
(2004-ben is csatlakoztunk az EU-hoz (Európai Unió).)

Climate:
Hungary has a temperate continental climate that is influenced by the Mediterranean Sea and
the Atlantic Ocean.
The climate of Hungary is temperate, with different seasons.

temperate continental climate = meleg mérsékelt kontinentális éghajlat

Mediterranean Sea (meditöréjnien) = Földközi-tenger
Atlantic Ocean = Atlanti-óceán

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Weather

Budapest, protected by mountains, offers fine weather even when other parts of Europe are
less pleasant. The temperature here is warmer, precipitation milder.
(A hegyek által védett Budapest jó időjárást is kínál, még akkor is, ha Európa más részei kevésbé
kellemesek. A hőmérséklet melegebb, csapadék enyhébb.)
Though Budapest can be hot in the summer, in the spring seasons it is pleasant and
enjoyable — especially if you’re visiting from some place that is typically colder!
(Bár Budapest nyáron forró lehet, a tavaszi szezonban kellemes és élvezetes - különösen, ha valahol olyan
helyről látogat, amely tipikusan hidegebb!)

3. Főváros / turisztikai látványosságok, nevezetességek.

Capital / tourist attractions, sights.

• major tourist attractions

• main places of interest
• tourism
• Hungary as a destination

The capital of Hungary is Budapest with a population of about 2 million people: it is the
political, economic, commercial and cultural centre of the country.

Hungary is divided into the capital, 19 counties, 22 towns of county rank and 23 districts in
Budapest.
(Magyarország a fővárosba, 19 megyébe, 22 megyei rangú városba és 23 kerületbe oszlik Budapesten.)

The Sights of Budapest

To introduce BUDAPEST:
Today Budapest is a busy metropolis.
The city is extremely rich in historical and cultural monuments, works of art and
natural beauties.
There are several attractions in Budapest:
If you have a foreign guest you have to show him/her:
 the Matthias Church,
 the Fisherman’s Bastion
 and Szécsenyi National Library.
 House of Parliament.
Parliament: the seat of the Hungarian government.
 Heroes’ Square

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  Váci Street
If you want to see elegant clothes and all kinds of people from different
nationalities you have to go to Váci Street, the pedestrian zone.
 St. Stephen’s Basilica
 Basilica of Esztergom
 Margaret Island is a perfect place for recreation.
 Gellért Spa Bath, Szécsenyi Bath and Rudas Bath.
 the Chain Bridge
 the Elizabeth Bridge
 the Liberty Bridge

Gellért Hill
- Citadel
- Statue of St. Gellért
- Zoo
- Fun Fair
Museums
- Museum of War History
- Museum of Fine Arts
- Hungarian National Gallery
- Hungarian National Museum

Festivals (fesztiválok)
Budapest hosts an array of festivals throughout the year, from festivals celebrating
traditional food and drink, to music festivals, cultural festivals, film festivals, and
more.
(Budapest egész évben rengeteg fesztivált tartogat, a hagyományos ételeket és italokat ünneplő
fesztiváloktól, a zenei fesztiválokig, a kulturális fesztiválokig, a filmfesztiválokig stb. )
The Summer Festival acts as a significant attraction during the hottest months of the
year, while a Christmas market sees visits from Santa Claus and holiday decorations,
food, and gifts.
(A nyári fesztivál jelentős vonzerőt jelent az év legmelegebb hónapjaiban, míg a karácsonyi vásár a
Mikulás és az ünnepi díszek, az ételek és az ajándékok látogatását látja.)

Tourism
Hungary also has various tourist attractions. Visitors can enjoy the wonderful sights
of Budapest, relax on one of the numerous beaches of Lake Balaton.

The can go for outings to the romantic ‘Puszta’, the Great Hungarian Plain, where
they can see the famous Hungarian stud farms.

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 stud farms = tenyésztők

 Hungary has a lively cultural life. The most popular cultural events
attended by a lot of tourists seem to be the open-air summer festivals held in
different towns, such as the Szeged Open-air Festival, the Sopron Festival Weeks,
the Szentendre Summer or the Veszprém Castle Concerts while in spring the greatest
event is the Budapest Spring Festival.

 Apart from festivals, the Opera House, concert halls, open-air theatres
and museums are also visited by a lot of tourists who are genuinely interested in the
cultural life of the country.

The following castles are worth seeing: the castles of Tata, Csesznek, Sárvár,
Veszprém, Siklós, Eger and Diósgyőr. Palace of Keszthely.

Every year the Flower Festival is organized in Debrecen. It is always gorgeous but
the festival itself is danger because it costs a lot of money.

Some cultural events in our country:

Győr is also famous for its International Cultural Summer Festival and Spring
Festival. In summer opera singers, actors and directors want to perform their plays in
the Szeged Open Air Theatre.

Pepsi Island are wonderful and they not only have fun but they learn a lot of new
things.

Hungarian people celebrate wine e.g. during the week of Wine Week of Badacsony,
with the Vintage Parade and Vintage and Folk Art Fair in Badacsony, Wine Weeks in
Balatonfüred, in Szépasszonyvölgy the Festival of Eger and Sopron Festival Weeks.

There are university towns and cities in Hungary like Pécs, Szeged, Debrecen, Győr and of
course Budapest.

One of the internationally well-known sport events is Formula 1. in the Hungaroring, in

Mogyoród.

4. Hírességek / költők, írok, festők, zenészek.

Hungarian scientists with Nobel prize:

 Szent-Györgyi Albert he was a biochemist.

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 He discovered vitamin C.

 Imre Kertész was a famous writer. He wrote the book of Fatelessness.

Fatelessness = Sorstalanság

 Rubic cube was invented by Ernő Rubic.

 Pen was invented by László Bíró. English call the pen as Biro.
 Computer was invented by János Neumann.
 Hologram was invented by Gábor Dénes.

The Hungarian physicist Gábor Dénes was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for

his invention and development of the holographic method".

physicist (fizisziszt) = fizikus

Pál Erdős was a renowned (well-known) Hungarian mathematician.

mathematician (mafmötísön) = matematikus
renowned = híres
well-known = jól ismert

Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer.

He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.

Béla Bartók was a Hungarian composer, pianist.

Through his collection and analytical study of folk music.
(A népzene gyűjteményével és analitikus tanulmányával.)

Mihály Munkácsy was a Hungarian painter. He earned international reputation with his
genre pictures and large-scale biblical paintings.
(Nemzetközi hírnevét szerzett műfaji képeivel és nagyszabású bibliai festményeivel.)

5. Hagyományok / egyedi ünnepek, népviselet…

Traditions / individual holidays, traditional costumes ...

Public and traditional holidays in Hungary

Public holidays = nemzeti ünnepek
traditional holidays = hagyományos ünnepek

15th March (the fifteenth of March)

We commemorate the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of eighteen-
forty-eight and fourty-nine.

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 We wear ‘kokárda’ (national sign, emblem)” on this day on the left side of our suit or
coat where our heart is.

1st May (the first of May – Labour Day)

It is a spring holiday when maypoles are put up in gardens. The beer and the Vienna
sausage occur to me about this public holiday mostly.
Lots of interesting programmes are usually held and a board is stood upright, too.

20th August (the twentieth of August)

It is the day of Stephan the first. On this day we commemorate the founding of our
state almost a thousand years ago. This is the day of new bread.

23rd October (the twenty-third of October)

We celebrate the declaration of the Hungarian Republic and commemorate the revolution
of nineteen-fifty-six.
23rd October is the holiday of Declaration of the Hungarian Republic in 1989.
The revolution against communism and the Soviet rule started on 23rd October in 1956.

Hungarian folk art is world famous.

It is true for craftwork, our folksongs, gipsy music and clothing. The Embroidery of
Kalocsa, Mezőkövesd and Matyo embroidery are popular and a lot of foreigners buy
embroidered things for presents.

If we talk about folk arts we shouldn’t forget horses. Our forefathers conquered the territory
on horseback.
(Ha népművészetről beszélünk, nem szabad elfelejtenünk a lovakat.
Az őseink a lóháton elfoglalták a területet.)
If you go to Hortobágy or Bugac you will see famous stud farms there.

embroidery (embrójderi) = hímzés

embroidered (embrójdered) = hímzett
craftwork = iparművészet
folk arts = népművészet
folksongs = népzene
gipsy music = cigány zene

Hungarian Folk Costumes = magyar népviselet

Hungarian folk costumes = magyar népviselet

Hungarian traditional costumes = magyar népviselet

embroidery (embrójderi) = hímzés

embroidered (embrójdered) = hímzett

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The traditional female costume
Women (Nők)
headdress = fejdísz

Women’s traditional costume consisted of wide pleated skirts, embroidered blouses, aprons,
shoes or boots, and headdresses.
(A női népviselet széles vékony szoknyákból, hímzett blúzokból, kötényekből, cipőkből vagy csizmákból és
fejdíszből állt.)
The wide, bright skirt was red, blue, or green.
(A széles, fényes szoknya piros, kék vagy zöld volt.)

The skirt was always covered with an apron.

(A szoknyát mindig kötény borította.)

The women’s blouses were decorated, first with black or dark-blue embroidery, and later
with red, blue, and yellow patterns.
(A női blúzokat díszítették, először fekete vagy sötétkék hímzéssel, majd vörös, kék és sárga mintákkal.)

Hungarian women from the Great Plain region usually wore black or dark vests and
waistcoats as outerwear.
(Az alföldi régióban élő magyar nők általában fekete vagy sötét mellényt és mellényt viseltek
felsőruházatként.)

In summer, they also used broad cloaks or mantles adorned.

(Nyáron széles köpenyeket vagy köpenyeket használtak.)
In winter, females preferred short sheepskin cloaks called kis bunda, long cloaks, and suba
or szűr similar to men’s cloaks.
(Télen a nők a kis bunda, a hosszú köpenyek és a férfiak köpenyéhez hasonlított kis bunda, hosszú köpenyek
és alsóknak kedveltek.)

Their outerwear was decorated with embroidery, ribbons.

(A felsőruházatot hímzéssel, szalagokkal díszítették.)

Women wore shoes in summer and boots in winter.

(A nők nyáron cipőt viseltek és télen csizmák.)

The traditional male costume

Men (Férfiak)

The traditional male costume is naturally shepherd’s clothing consisting of a shirt, trousers ,
a vest, outerwear such as fur coat hat and boots.

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(A hagyományos férfi jelmez természetesen pásztor ruházat, amely egy pólót, nadrágot, mellényt,
felsőruházatot, például szőrme sapkát és csizmát tartalmaz.)

White linen shirts and gatyas were often embroidered.

(A fehér vászon ingek és gatyák gyakran hímeztek.)

The festive shirts of Hungarian men were richly decorated with colorful embroidery.
(A magyar férfiak ünnepi ingét gazdagon díszítették színes hímzéssel.)

Hungarian men also wore hat, shepherd’s hat or a fur cap.

(A magyar férfiak szintén kalapot, pásztorkesztyűt vagy szőrme sapkát viseltek.)

The shoes of Hungarian men were leather high-heeled boots.

(A magyar férfiak cipője magas sarkú cipő volt.)

high-heeled (háj híld) = magas sarkú festive shirt (fesztiv) = ünnepi ing

6. Gasztronómia
Gastronomy
Hungarian cuisine (kuzín) = magyar konyha
Typical Hungarian dishes:
broth (bfráf) = húsleves
House meatsoup as házi húsleves.
goulash soup = gulyásleves
Goulash (gulyásleves) in a traditional cauldron (bogrács).
hot and spicy fish soup with hot paprika = halászlé
Jókai bean soup
Chicken paprikash (csirkepaprikás) with home made pasta called nokedli.
A chicken stew with lots of sweet paprika. = Csirkepaprikás
stew with nokedli = pörkölt nokedlivel
Stuffed cabbage (töltött káposzta) served with sour cream.
Palóc soup , Hortobágy pancakes = Hortobágyi palacsinta
pálinka: Hungarian Fruit Brandy , Hungarian lecsó

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Gundel pancakes filled with nuts and chocolate sauce. = Gundel Palacsinta
The Hungarian street food: lángos , Csaba sausage (Csabai kolbász)

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