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magyarOK: tankönyv és munkafüzet A1 - A2
MagyarOK is a new series of languages books for Hungarian with additional materials,ll freely dowloadable from their website.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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July 3, 2017
This is a review of the Hungarian exercise and grammar book sets known as MagyarOK A1+ and MagyarOK A2+, which were written by teachers at Pécs University.
Who are these books for?
To be honest, I would say these Hungarian books are really for someone with a Hungarian partner and/or Hungarian friends and for someone who has learnt a little Hungarian already (ideally at least 500 basic words and 200 basic sentences).
If you have not learnt any Hungarian words yet, you will find yourself using a dictionary and/or Google Translate all the time; especially if you do not have a Hungarian partner or Hungarian friends to help you. This in turn will not make learning fun purely because of the vast amount of exercises to be achieved.
Many exercises in these books require you to listen to audio recordings (words and conversations), fill in missing words, listen out for specific words, write about what you have learnt and write sentences among other exercises. Although you are told what to do in an exercise (via downloadable PDF files written in both Hungarian and English), to some degree you will still need prior knowledge of basic grammar.
To learn from scratch and self teach yourself will be a challenge - Even with 1,000 previously learnt words (mainly nouns), you are still going to need to lookup certain adjectives, verbs and grammar notes in order to progress through each chapter of these books. And some exercises are really made for classroom teaching and group participation.
How much do the books cost?
I recently paid 13,490 HUF (£40) for both the MagyarOK A1+ and MagyarOK A2+ book sets whereby each book set consists of a 200+ page text book (which is a general exercise book) and a 100+ page exercise book (which is a follow-on grammar exercise book). So four books in total.
The same book sets currently cost £32.99 and £39.99 respectively in Foyles of London (UK), with the MagyarOK B1+ book set costing £46.99; making the purchase in Hungary much cheaper of course.
How do you order the books?
You can order them via their website or e-mail them directly like I did:
I first e-mailed them to enquire about total book prices including p&p prices on a Wednesday at 8:53am and received a reply by 9:41am. Happy with the prices, at 10:04am I then e-mailed back to place an order. The confirmation e-mail, sent in Hungarian and English by the courier company, said the delivery would be tomorrow (Thursday) between 9:30am and 12:30pm. They delivered by 10am on Thursday. Now that's what I call excellent customer service and an excellent delivery service.
How do you work through the books?
You work through the Magyar A1+ text book one section (chapter) at a time whereby you then work through the corresponding section (chapter) in the Magyar A1+ exercise book, sometimes cross-referencing between the two books. You do the same with the Magyar A2+ and Magyar B1+ books.
As you go through each page of a section you will have to perform reading, writing and/or listening exercises; some with a school partner (if learning as part of a course) or with the help of your Hungarian partner/friends (if self-teaching). If you are self-teaching with no Hungarian partner/friends, you may have to skip some exercises; or role play with yourself!
Are the exercises difficult?
This depends on your learning ability, what you have previously learnt with other books and language apps for example, whether or not you have Hungarians to help you, your willingness to learn and your dedicated time. As an example:
I learn for at least one hour in the afternoon with these books - looking up new words, listening to (constantly rewinding!) the audio material and purposely translating some of the instructions and dialogues for better understanding of them - and at least one hour in the evening or night with language apps such 6,000 Words and Duolingo.
What are the CONs of using these books?
#1 - Not really a con, but you do need to have learnt the basics of Hungarian before using these books. Ideally at least 500 words and 200 sentences. Learning basic adjectives, verbs and adverbs will be an advantage.
#2 - Again, not really a con but the Hungarian audio recordings could of been slowed down a little for the absolute beginner. In my opinion an absolute beginner needs to slowly hear what is being spoken so that they can hear syllables clearly and correctly. "They say" it is because you need to hear speech at native speed, but I disagree.
When I listen to various people speaking in Hungary, many of those people (young and old) speak slightly slower than in these recordings. This could be because they are speaking words I already know, but I do not think so because I also hear new words spoken clearly too.
I am constantly rewinding and playing back certain sentences in these recordings simply because it is difficult to catch the spoken suffixes for example (i.e. RA, BE and BEN). At one point I played back a piece to two native Hungarians when I was unclear about whether or not Asztala was being spoken. I asked them for clarification whereby one Hungarian thought Asztalon was being spoken while the other thought Asztala was being spoken. The correct answer was Asztala. Normally recording quality is to blame, but in this case the whole course of recordings seem to have been produced in a recording studio?
What are the PROs of using these books?
#1 - You will definitely learn something new each time you study a section of these books, and it is not just grammar. There is a good section devoted to Time for example that teaches you different ways to express time, including Tól/Től (From) and Ig (Until) in relation to directions and days. Food is another well put together section, that builds up your vocabulary of nouns (i.e. food items), adjectives and verbs with some good dialogues for practise.
#2 - The recordings, bar the comments above, seem to have been recorded in a studio and actually help to build up your listen skills; when the speeches/conversations are "not too fast".
#3 - The books are well worth the costs, very well thought out, and have plenty of various, fun, challenging exercises to complete. You will definitely improve your reading, writing and listen skills; if you dedicate the time to learning Hungarian.
Who are these books for?
To be honest, I would say these Hungarian books are really for someone with a Hungarian partner and/or Hungarian friends and for someone who has learnt a little Hungarian already (ideally at least 500 basic words and 200 basic sentences).
If you have not learnt any Hungarian words yet, you will find yourself using a dictionary and/or Google Translate all the time; especially if you do not have a Hungarian partner or Hungarian friends to help you. This in turn will not make learning fun purely because of the vast amount of exercises to be achieved.
Many exercises in these books require you to listen to audio recordings (words and conversations), fill in missing words, listen out for specific words, write about what you have learnt and write sentences among other exercises. Although you are told what to do in an exercise (via downloadable PDF files written in both Hungarian and English), to some degree you will still need prior knowledge of basic grammar.
To learn from scratch and self teach yourself will be a challenge - Even with 1,000 previously learnt words (mainly nouns), you are still going to need to lookup certain adjectives, verbs and grammar notes in order to progress through each chapter of these books. And some exercises are really made for classroom teaching and group participation.
How much do the books cost?
I recently paid 13,490 HUF (£40) for both the MagyarOK A1+ and MagyarOK A2+ book sets whereby each book set consists of a 200+ page text book (which is a general exercise book) and a 100+ page exercise book (which is a follow-on grammar exercise book). So four books in total.
The same book sets currently cost £32.99 and £39.99 respectively in Foyles of London (UK), with the MagyarOK B1+ book set costing £46.99; making the purchase in Hungary much cheaper of course.
How do you order the books?
You can order them via their website or e-mail them directly like I did:
I first e-mailed them to enquire about total book prices including p&p prices on a Wednesday at 8:53am and received a reply by 9:41am. Happy with the prices, at 10:04am I then e-mailed back to place an order. The confirmation e-mail, sent in Hungarian and English by the courier company, said the delivery would be tomorrow (Thursday) between 9:30am and 12:30pm. They delivered by 10am on Thursday. Now that's what I call excellent customer service and an excellent delivery service.
How do you work through the books?
You work through the Magyar A1+ text book one section (chapter) at a time whereby you then work through the corresponding section (chapter) in the Magyar A1+ exercise book, sometimes cross-referencing between the two books. You do the same with the Magyar A2+ and Magyar B1+ books.
As you go through each page of a section you will have to perform reading, writing and/or listening exercises; some with a school partner (if learning as part of a course) or with the help of your Hungarian partner/friends (if self-teaching). If you are self-teaching with no Hungarian partner/friends, you may have to skip some exercises; or role play with yourself!
Are the exercises difficult?
This depends on your learning ability, what you have previously learnt with other books and language apps for example, whether or not you have Hungarians to help you, your willingness to learn and your dedicated time. As an example:
I learn for at least one hour in the afternoon with these books - looking up new words, listening to (constantly rewinding!) the audio material and purposely translating some of the instructions and dialogues for better understanding of them - and at least one hour in the evening or night with language apps such 6,000 Words and Duolingo.
What are the CONs of using these books?
#1 - Not really a con, but you do need to have learnt the basics of Hungarian before using these books. Ideally at least 500 words and 200 sentences. Learning basic adjectives, verbs and adverbs will be an advantage.
#2 - Again, not really a con but the Hungarian audio recordings could of been slowed down a little for the absolute beginner. In my opinion an absolute beginner needs to slowly hear what is being spoken so that they can hear syllables clearly and correctly. "They say" it is because you need to hear speech at native speed, but I disagree.
When I listen to various people speaking in Hungary, many of those people (young and old) speak slightly slower than in these recordings. This could be because they are speaking words I already know, but I do not think so because I also hear new words spoken clearly too.
I am constantly rewinding and playing back certain sentences in these recordings simply because it is difficult to catch the spoken suffixes for example (i.e. RA, BE and BEN). At one point I played back a piece to two native Hungarians when I was unclear about whether or not Asztala was being spoken. I asked them for clarification whereby one Hungarian thought Asztalon was being spoken while the other thought Asztala was being spoken. The correct answer was Asztala. Normally recording quality is to blame, but in this case the whole course of recordings seem to have been produced in a recording studio?
What are the PROs of using these books?
#1 - You will definitely learn something new each time you study a section of these books, and it is not just grammar. There is a good section devoted to Time for example that teaches you different ways to express time, including Tól/Től (From) and Ig (Until) in relation to directions and days. Food is another well put together section, that builds up your vocabulary of nouns (i.e. food items), adjectives and verbs with some good dialogues for practise.
#2 - The recordings, bar the comments above, seem to have been recorded in a studio and actually help to build up your listen skills; when the speeches/conversations are "not too fast".
#3 - The books are well worth the costs, very well thought out, and have plenty of various, fun, challenging exercises to complete. You will definitely improve your reading, writing and listen skills; if you dedicate the time to learning Hungarian.
February 24, 2020
I was going to give this set of texts a 4 of out 5 because I prefer size A5 so I can easily throw books into my bag. However, due to the fantastic website (http://magyar-ok.hu) full of resources, I give it all a 5.
Also, I especially like that these texts are completely in Hungarian so your mind can stay in the target language. Even a beginner can use them in conjunction with the website, which includes English and German.
Also, I especially like that these texts are completely in Hungarian so your mind can stay in the target language. Even a beginner can use them in conjunction with the website, which includes English and German.
December 31, 2020
On to the next!!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews