- Can you introduce yourself briefly and tell us a little about your background?
My name is Henriett Papp, I’m a Fulbright FLTA from Hungary. I’ve been a Hungarian as a Foreign Language teacher for a little over 5 years. My professional journey has since taken me to different countries and continents: I taught Hungarian language for beginners in Canada at the University of Manitoba for a year and Hungarian culture and conversational skills in China, Chengdu, at CISISU also for a year before returning to Hungary and taking on a full-time position as a Hungarian language teacher at Pázmány Péter Catholic University and a part-time lecturer position at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. I’ve been with these two institutions for almost 4 years now but I’m currently taking a sabbatical so that I can make my dream come true continue to grow professionally as an FLTA here.
To me every verbal utterance we make in our mother tongue carries fragments of our identity and culture, making language the pulsating heart of a nation. Therefore, teaching my native language is not just about spreading cultural awareness but also about cultural preservation. With my work here as an FLTA, besides teaching the language, I plan to share the tangible and intangible treasures of my culture with people and make their language learning journey a fun experience.
- How many sections of Hungarian language are you teaching?
Right now I’m teaching Introductory Hungarian and Intermediate Hungarian, and I also have a Post-Advanced student with whom I have weekly tutoring sessions.
- What classes are you taking here at IU?
I’m taking “Teach Less Commonly Taught Languages”, which is mandatory for every FLTA. It focuses on best practices and approaches in language teaching, so it undoubtedly contributes to our professional development. The other class I’m taking is related to cognitive linguistics and it is called “The Language of Emotion”. I’m generally interested in linguistics, so this seemed like a good fit.
- Is this your first time visiting the United States? If so, what are your thoughts?
I’ve actually visited U.S. before while I was living in Canada. I explored the West coast a bit like L.os Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and I’ve been to Minneapolis as well.
- Is there anything you miss from Hungary that you haven’t been able to find here?
Cheap clothes and my loved ones. :)
- What is your favorite thing to do at IU so far (when you're not teaching or taking class)?
Good question! To be honest, the campus is so huge that even just walking around it and exploring new places is a good program in itself. I love how green the whole area is and that I can just interact with cute animals (squirrels, deer) like a Disney princess every day.
- Do you think learning the Hungarian language is difficult for a native English speaker?
Hungarian is thought to be one of the most difficult languages to learn. Not to discourage anyone, but there is some truth in that. It’s an agglutinating language (suffixes are added after the words) and we also conjugate the verbs (the forms change based on the person), not to mention our alphabet which contains many sounds that don’t exist in English. This can be challenging to many people who don’t have prior experience with such languages. However, with dedication and regular practice, it can absolutely be mastered. There are many students at IU to prove it. :)
- Is there anything you would like our readers to know about Hungary?
We have a tradition called “dance house”, which has been a UNESCO intangible world heritage since 2011. It’s an event organized with the intent of introducing Hungarian folk dances and making people familiar with Hungarian folk culture in an interactive way. We are actually organizing a full-day dance house event at IU October 18th under the leadership of a Hungarian dance pedagogist from Ohio. It’s going to be an open event, so everyone is welcome to join and learn some traditional dance moves from us! For more info, feel free to reach out to me. :)
- Are you involved in the Hungarian Cultural Association? If so, what types of events have you been planning with them? What are you excited about sharing with that club?
Yes. We’ve already had a brainstorming session regarding the potential programs for the Fall semester and I can safely say that there will be a lot of fun events. We’re planning a picnic at the end of September, a “dance house” day in October as mentioned above, a Hungarian movie night in November and a gingerbread making session combined with a Santa Claus party in early December. I’m just excited to work with them and share my ideas and suggestions for our cultural events!
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The IAUNRC takes pride in assisting to host FLTAs at IU during the academic year, and we thank all our FLTAs for their work and invaluable contributions to IU's area studies collectives!