For a long time I didn't have any relationship to Hungary or Hungarianess, other than knowing that in the town I was growing up in we were thought of as "low class." This was based not on our character or personalities but because we were of Hungarian ancestry.
Since my ancestors came to the United States during the Industrial Revolution and assumed city work, I had no idea that they had been involved in agriculture and trade in the Old Country.
I never heard Hungarian spoken or learned any Hungarian; Latin, French, German, and Spanish were the languages taught in my high school. I also didn't grow up in an ethnic oriented church.
I had no idea that my Hungarian surname MEANT SOMETHING! It was difficult to spell and pronounce and a lot of people seemed to avoid attempting it. To this day the family does not pronounce the name one way or close to the Hungarian pronounciation.
Not until about 10 years ago when I began to research my family history and genealogy, did I learn the meaning of my surname, and Google translater sound options helped me "hear it right." Slowly I am beginning to understand how "Hungarian" I may be and through "nothing more" than a heritage !
