Education paper by Vermeki, Boglárka
“Teacher, Hungarian is not that hard.” – Teaching Hungarian to Migrant Children in Hungary
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
When we talk about teaching Hungarian as a foreign language in Hungary the target learners are young adults, usually university students. Since 2012, when the civil war broke out in Syria, more and more migrant children have gotten into the school system and the demand for teaching Hungarian as a foreign language in primary and secondary schools have been growing.
Hungary as a Member State of the European Union ought to observe the international rules of immigration. Foreign students are to be assured the same opportunities as the Hungarian students have. They have to be given Hungarian as a foreign language lessons to make them able to learn more and integrate. They ought to have the opportunity to use or study about their mother tongue and their culture at the same time they have to learn about the Hungarian culture, history, art history, public life and present. But are we ready for this?
In my presentation, I would like to talk about not only the current state of Hungarian teaching, the necessary developments and changes in the educational system, what challenges teachers ought to face with and opportunities they have to improve their teaching methodology, but also describe what happens to children with no Hungarian knowledge when accepted to a school. From the first day until they claim “teacher, Hungarian is not that hard”.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
After graduation as a teacher of Hungarian language and literature, Hungarian as a foreign language and History in 2009 I continued my studies and became an English teacher in 2013 at the same university, at Károli Gáspár University of the Reform Church. Currently, I am taking my PhD studies in Applied Linguistics at the University of Pécs, and have taught Hungarian, English and History mostly for foreigners at an international school for five years.