Young Hungarians Research Articles

A nyelvtudás változása a Kárpát-medencei magyar fiatalok körében az ezredfordulótól napjainkig

Changes in the language knowledge of the Hungarian youth in the Carpathian Basin from the turn of the millennium to the present The study analyzes three large-sample youth survey databases on the language skills of young Hungarians (aged 15–29) in the Carpathian Basin, and especially on their changes. Based on the answers of about 28 000 respondents, I am looking for answers to three main research questions: what is the proportion of Hungarian young people who speak only their mother tongue, what is their level of proficiency in the official language of the country in which they live, and at what level, which foreign languages have they acquired? In terms of the results, one in five young people in Hungary will still not speak a language other than their mother tongue in 2020, while in Transcarpathia the proportion is 12% and in the other regions of the former Yugoslavia it is below 5%. Over the years, there has been a significant positive change in favor of multilingualism. It has also been found that the majority of young people from abroad speak the national language of the country where they live better than the basic level. Transylvania and Slovakia are the countries where they speak the language the best, followed by Vojvodina, and then Transcarpathia. The majority of young people in Hungary know one or two foreign languages, while among young people from abroad, knowledge of three foreign languages is average, but knowledge of four or more is not uncommon. Most young people speak English, a language that has seen an expansion in the past twenty years. Keywords: Hungarian youth, youth research, zero language knowledge, multilingualism, foreign language knowledge, state language knowledge

Some reasons behind the change of languages and dialects in a South Transdanubian area of Hungary, with special regard to Völgység

Various national minorities have lived in the South Transdanubian region of Hungary over the centuries. Within this area, the Völgység is a small part of Hungary, belonging partly to Tolna and partly to Baranya counties, a loessy hilly area bordered by rivers. The paper deals with the language and dialect of the ethnic groups still living here after 1945. After WW II, the Germans and Serbs who remained here were joined by Szeklers from Bukovina, Hungarians from Upper Hungary and from other Hungarian areas. To- day, most of the Germans and Serbs have merged with the majority Hungarians, and the (minority) language learnt by young Hungarians is mostly the standard version of the given language. The dialect of the resettled Szeklers from Bukovina, Hungarians from Upper Hungary and other Hungarian-speaking groups can be characterised as converg- ing with the Hungarian vernacular. All these communities are characterised by mixed marriages, which also influence language usage and, in the case of Germans and Serbs, may lead to language shift . The dialect of the above-mentioned Hungarian-speaking groups (as with other Hungarian dialects) is withdrawn from the public language area. The Hungarian dialects (and the German and Serbian dialects in Hungary) have a lower prestige than the vernacular, their use is limited to a more restricted environment, and they are nowadays the language of family use and the language of the more restricted community. The paper reviews the historical background and current status of these languages and language varieties and presents data on their speakers.

From University Student to Entrepreneur : Factors Influencing the Entrepreneurial Intentions of Business Development MSc Students

This study examines the entrepreneurial inclinations of young Hungarians, focusing on university students whose education and ambitions point towards entrepreneurial life. The research questions aimed to explore the career aspirations of students, their motivations for starting a business, the factors that hinder them, and how the university creates an encouraging environment. To answer these questions, a questionnaire-based survey ensuring comparability was conducted among MSc students of business development, and the data were evaluated with descriptive statistical tools and statistical tests as well as cluster analysis. It was found that the young people whose entrepreneurial inclination is higher than the Hungarian and international average mainly differ from their peers in their drive for autonomy, courage and risk perception, along with the fact that, in relation to the scarcity of capital, which was found to be a major obstacle, they would also welcome assistance from universities in financing.

Ethnolinguistic Identity, Coping Strategies and Language Use among Young Hungarians in Slovakia

Abstract The purpose of the present paper was to investigate the propositions of ethnolinguistic identity theory among young Hungarian speakers in Slovakia. Specifically, we aimed to explore the role of ethnolinguistic identification, vitality and boundary permeability in coping with negative ethnolinguistic identities, and also how these effects impact language use. Self-report questionnaire data were collected among Hungarian-speaking secondary school students in (N = 311). The data were analyzed using a Bayesian moderated mediation analysis with informative priors for coefficients based on an earlier study. The results provided mixed support for the hypotheses. Ethnolinguistic mobility appeared to be an outcome of a complex process, where identification, vitality and permeability operate interactively; at the same time, ethnolinguistic competition was independent of the perception of vitality and permeability, but a sole consequence of strong Hungarian identification. In addition, the results indicated that identification, vitality and competency in the outgroup language were factors predicting language use, whereas there was no support for the anticipated mediating effect of coping strategies. Findings are discussed in relation to ethnolinguistic identity theory and to the particular qualities of the local context.

How Income from Parental Contribution Helps Young Hungarians Become Consumers

How Income from Parental Contribution Helps Young Hungarians Become Consumers

Hungarians Fighting for France in Indochina

After the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of young Hungarians became prisoners of war (POW). Most of them were transported to the east, to the Soviet Union, but still large numbers were captured by French, British or American troops after the collapse of the Third Reich. Hungarians and Germans joined the French Foreign Legion (FFL) in large numbers due to the terrible living conditions of the prison camps. Thousands of former Honvéd soldiers and members of the Hungarian Royal Levente Movement joined the Légion Étrangère to escape those camps, just to die for France in Indochina, from the mountains of Cao Bang to the fields of Dien Bien Phu. This period of the FFL is less researched than the well-known “périod hongrois” (Hungarian Period), the wave of refugees after the ill-fated 1956 Revolution. This article is about those young men, who went from a war to another just to fight on an even more lethal battlefield.

Development of Korean History Research and Education in Hungary

The study describes the development of Korean history research in Hungary. The first Hungarian travellers arrived in Korea on board Austro-Hungarian steamers in the last years of the 19th century. Most of those travellers found similarities between the historical situation in Korea and Hungary. Both countries were situated among big powers, which had been the cause of historical traumas ever since. In the case of Hungary, the proximity of the Habsburg Empire, the Ottoman Empire and, after that, Tsarist Russia were essential factors, while in the case of Korea the closeness of China and Japan meant a constant source of danger.BR The study, written by the chairperson of the Korean Department of the ELTE University, Budapest, describes the first real interaction between Hungary and Korea, which belongs to the age of the Korean War. During the early 1950s, many articles and books about Korea and Korean history were published. However, it was difficult to establish a Korean Department at that time at the leading university in Budapest. It was finally established, after several years of preparation, in 2008. The study mentions the scholars and researchers whoBRplayed an important role in Korean history education in Hungary.BR The establishment of the Korean Department at the ELTE University corresponded with the start of the “hallyu” (the Korean wave) in Hungary. The first Korean historical dramas (The Jewel of the Palace, Queen Seongdeok, etc.) were broadcasted in Hungary, introducing Korean history and culture to tens of thousands of Hungarians. This aroused a new interest in Korean culture, inspiring dozens of young Hungarians to choose to major in Korean at the university. Finally, the study describes some of the difficulties in the field of Korean history education in Central Europe.

Young Hungarian’s constructions of active citizenship: Theoretical models and real-world voices

Abstract We explore how young Hungarians construct active citizenship in a context of political discontent and social and economic uncertainty. From research conducted in the autumn of 2012, we link up young Hungarians voices to the much debated theoretical models of citizenship. We find that while these young people’s abstract and normative constructions of active citizenship tend to resonate with a duty-based ‘communitarian’ model of citizenship, their opinions on social and political issues echo a more ‘critical’ model of citizenship, which lays emphasis on equality and social justice. Additional themes to emerge, and of which may be a hindrance to political participation, include: the view that demonstrating is ‘bad’; and, that young people construct themselves and their peers as ‘non-citizens’. We argue that in order to help overcome this passive and non-agentic perception of democratic citizenship, citizenship education in schools should be combined with purposely reflective youth debates on what it means to be a young person in Hungary now.

Voice onset time and speakers’ age: Data from Hungarian

The aim of this paper was to investigate the VOT of voiceless plosives (/p, t, k/) in the speech of Hungarian-speaking elderly. Read speech of 25 old (70 to 90 years) and 25 young (21 to 32 years) was analyzed. In each recording, the VOT of phonologically short [p, t, k] was measured. Our data show that VOT values of all three types of voiceless plosives would exhibit significant differences both in old and in young Hungarians’ speech. Bilabial and alveolar plosives had significantly longer VOT in old subjects’ speech than in that of young subjects, while old subjects produced significantly shorter VOTs in pronouncing [k] than their younger peers. We argue that these results are attributable to (1) significantly slower rate of articulation (yielding longer speech sounds in general), and (2) the articulatory and aerodynamic background of the production of plosives.

A cross-national comparative study of blood pressure levels and hypertension prevalence in Canada and Hungary

Hungary has one of the highest cardiovascular (CV) mortality and stroke rates compared to other countries in Europe and North America. Data from two recent blood pressure (BP) screening projects in Hungary and Canada provided us with the opportunity to compare potential differences in the prevalence of hypertension between these countries. From the Ontario Blood Pressure Survey, 880 white Canadians between 20 and 62 years old with white-collar occupation were selected and compared with a total of 1000 Hungarian bank employees in the same age range. Identical methods were employed for CV risk factor screening and BP measurements using the BpTRU instrument. Hypertension was defined by elevated BP measurement (SBP ≥140 mmHg and/or DBP ≥90 mmHg) or current intake of antihypertensive medication. Canadian participants were on average 10 years older with a higher rate of obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol. Smoking was more prevalent among Hungarians (29.4 vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). Despite being younger, Hungarians exhibited significantly higher SBP (121.3 ± 4.3 vs. 111.6 ± 14.1, P < 0.001) and DBP (78.5 ± 10.5 vs. 70.8 ± 9.5, P < 0.001), which remained significant after adjustment for age and use of antihypertensive medication as well as sex and CV risk factors. Age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher and poorly controlled among Hungarians (P < 0.001). The increased prevalence of hypertension among young and middle-aged Hungarians compared with Canadians could represent an essential contributor to the high CV mortality and stroke rates in Hungary. BP awareness, treatment and control require improved medical attention and should be addressed early among young Hungarians.

“Touched a nation's heart”: Sir E. Denison Ross and Alexander Csoma de Kőrös

The papers of Sir Edward Denison Ross (1871–1940) at the Archives of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) include a series of letters from Hungary, which thank him for his contribution in bringing the world's attention to Alexander Csoma de Kőrös (1784–1842). Some of these letters were produced collectively by learned societies and signed by dozens of male and female members, but many were also written by ordinary people expressing their admiration for Csoma, the scholar who had walked most of the way from Transylvania to India in search of the roots of the Hungarian language and people. This lively response was a result of a lecture that Ross delivered on 5 January 1910 at the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta which became a sensation in Hungary in a matter of weeks. This article therefore looks at the phenomenon of how Ross's purely academic research, to use Albert von Le Coq's words, “touched a nation's heart” and earned him a celebrity status in Csoma's homeland. It is particularly interesting to uncover the motives behind this great publicity and show how it was orchestrated by two young Hungarians in Calcutta for not entirely unselfish purposes.

Die „Berliner Renaissance“ in Budapest

From the 1850s to the 1880s several young Hungarians went to Berlin to study at the Baukadamie. The Technical University in Budapest was not yet in the position to offer the kind of education available in western Europe, besides travelling to the Prussian capital provided a welcome alternative to Vienna, whose cultural and political dominance in Hungary was for many too overwhelming. At the Berlin Bauakademie the teachers of the post-Schinkelian period, such as August Stüler, Johann Strack and Richard Lucae, inculcated in their students a form of Neorenaissance which would be later termed as “Berlin Renaissance” by contemporaries in Hungary. This variant was characterized by restrained forms and a somewhat dry approach, a trend which for some time remained distinctive and distinguishable within the spectrum of revived styles in Hungarian architecture. The Hungarian representatives of the “Berlin Renaissance”, e.g. Antal Szkalnitzky, Emil Unger, Ferenc Kolbenheyer and Alajos Hauszmann gained important positions in their profession, thus brought the trend to prominence. Yet architects trained elsewhere, chiefly in Vienna and at other cultural centres of the German-speaking world, brought similar impulses and soon a general language of Neorenaissance architecture, typical of most Central European countries, evolved.

Drug-use patterns and risk factors among young offenders in Hungary: an epidemiological study

This article explores the extent of drug use by young offenders in Hungary, and identifies possible risk factors associated with drug use, including home/family and wider social influences. It draws on a survey of all male young offenders aged 14–18, held in prison in Hungary, whether sentenced or awaiting trial. Key questions on drug use matched those of the European School Project on Alcohol and Drugs (ESPAD) survey, enabling comparisons to be made with young Hungarians in general. Levels of drug use were substantially higher for the young offenders than for young Hungarians attending school. In analysing the young offenders’ drug use, three groups are distinguished: regular drug users, occasional drug users (together comprising the ‘cases’) and non-users (‘controls’). The most consistent finding from multivariate analysis, based on comparison of drug users and non-users, is that having a drug user in the family is a highly significant predictor of drug use both for regular users and occasional users. None of the other family/home context factors that were investigated could be claimed as independent risk factors. Nevertheless, factors potentially reflecting poor family cohesion, and indirect signs of the failure of parental supervision, as manifested by peer influence, such as frequent going out, drinking and smoking, proved to be independently associated with becoming a user. These findings suggest that, in Hungary, there is a need to develop secondary and tertiary prevention mechanisms for young offenders held in prison, to meet the respective needs of both occasional and regular users.

Connections of Kin-minorities to the Kin-state in the Extended Schengen Zone

Abstract'Reduction in the strength of Hungarian minorities must be stopped, travel by youth to the homeland must increase, opportunities for recognition of Hungarian language and culture have to be upgraded, and problems relating to visa requirements due to EU accession must be resolved' (8th Congress of Young Hungarians, Kosice - Slovakia). On the same page of the biggest daily newspaper in Hungary the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs and a key person in the previous cabinet, Mr. Németh, rejects the criticism of the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Mr.Verheugen, who urges amendments to the Act on benefits for ethnic Hungarian minorities living in the neighbouring states. The MP of the strongest opposition party cannot accept the Commissioner's intepretation of the Act and the Hungarian certificate, which establishes a specific political connection between Hungary and its kin-minorities. 'Why would we provide cultural and educational benefits exclusively for ethnic Hungarians across the borders? Mr.Verhaugen's statement is in conflict with the expert opinion of the Venice Commission'. These two quotes express briefly the ongoing debates on enlargement, including the application of the Schengen zone, and their impact on domestic, regional as well as wider political and legal attitudes. This article aims to describe certain aspects of the Schengen regime and its ramifications in respect of Diaspora policy.

The Citadel and the Caravan: Anglo-American Relations in the Twentieth Century

MOST Englishmen at the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies find themselves, usually to their surprise, interpreting Americans to Europeans. In some respects Scandinavia may be nearer the United States; but the Janus-faced British, in their Atlantic islands, are the key to American relations with western Europe, and to an Atlantic community. By Atlantic community, I take it we mean a shared culture as opposed to the mutual interest of an Atlantic alliance against external threat. NATO has failed to generate an effective sense of common cultural inheritance. Some very brave young Hungarians, on the fringes of the western world, have reminded us that nationalism and religious tradition are still the most powerful challenge to alien tyranny. And the revival by the British of the forceful methods of nineteenth-century diplomacy once again defines the limits of extra-national collaboration. We should pay solemn tribute to these facts; and relearn the lesson that national societies are the ultimate entities of culture. Otherwise we, as well as the Russians, build on sand. As far as Anglo-American relations are concerned, politeness, sentimentality and complacence have led to an almost total breakdown in communication. The cliches of a common language, the common law, and representative institutions, excite no more than a perfunctory response. The common language, if by language we mean true communication, hardly exists. The story of civil liberties, from Sacco and Vanzetti to McCarthy, has convinced many English people that the spirit of the English common law has evaporated in this country. Although a Member of Parliament