Since the integration in the European Union, Hungarians have not flooded Western Europe in the way the Poles and the Romanians have. As I found out during previous day, the delayed interest in foreign languages forms an important barrier. Added to that, Hungarians seem to be very fond of their own country and region. Moving… » read more

Theoretical knowledge is important in Hungary and the education system is organised accordingly. Facts are highly valued, history is more popular than in most other European countries and so is literature. What else is there to know about the time Hungarians spend preparing for professional life? Original post by Bruno

Multilingualism is a major topic on the European agenda. In general, it is an asset that is reserved for smaller countries, with `odd` languages. Large countries like the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and France can afford the arrogance of not caring about foreign languages. Smaller countries cannot. Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Malta, Cyprus and all of… » read more

As I learnt yesterday, enjoying is not something that comes natural to Hungarians. Smiling without an obvious reason risks to be seen as something suspect, while openly displaying happiness is likely to cause confusion. Few events can spark a feeling of community and belonging. Still, I refuse to believe that all Hungarians are depressed all… » read more

I already got to meet some Hungarians in Romania, but since my arrival in Debrecen yesterday ? it`s now Hungary for real. A country of 10 million people that, just like its neighbours, has been overrun by foreign invaders several times during its history. Celts, Romans, Ottomans, Habsburgs, Austrians and most recently, Soviets. Here`s a… » read more

Très chers blogueurs, Nous tenons aujourd’hui à vous faire part d’une avancée notable dans le développement de Blogactiv, à savoir la création de notre Netvibes Universe. Le principal avantage est de cet outil Web 2.0 est d’avoir un synopsis dynamique et interactif à la fois de Blogactiv et d’EurActiv. Ci-dessous un copie d’écran de notre… » read more

A new peer-reviewed study has just been published on the possible link between the onset of Parkinson’s disease and the use of pesticides during one’s lifetime. Not surprisingly, the story has been picked up by the press globally and if you only have time to read the headlines then it’s a foregone conclusion that pesticides… » read more

A new peer-reviewed study has just been published on the possible link between the onset of Parkinson’s disease and the use of pesticides during one’s lifetime. Not surprisingly, the story has been picked up by the press globally and if you only have time to read the headlines then it’s a foregone conclusion that pesticides… » read more

Another month gone by! It`s number 8 and there will be four more to go. I think that`s still quite a lot but if I look at how quickly the previous ones have gone by, it seems like the whole adventure will be over soon. Anyway, many people have been asking me about what kind… » read more

As I learnt during previous days, Romanian boys and girls are expected to behave in a similar way until they reach the age of 11 or 12, with the exception that the girls have earrings. Gender roles are only starting to sink in during the early teenage years. From then on, boys are raised to… » read more

Most reactions to the Us European project are quite positive. Some are not. As it has been made clear to me, the tone I have so far used in describing Romania is degrading, too harsh and too Western. Since today is my last day in Romania, I will try to make up for any emotional… » read more

L’inconcevable est arrivé en ce tout début d’avril. José Manuel Barroso, le Président de la Commission européenne, a remis sa démission hier soir. La raison apparente serait son désaccord avec le futur « pacte européen » de Nicolas Sarkozy concernant l’immigration. Dans son communiqué de presse, il s’en prend au chefs d’Etats sur la question… » read more

It is quite clear to us but not to the “old world” etymologists that the word Albion derives from or is equivalent with the hypothetical *Arbion and that this gave rise to the word European, Alba > Arba > Europa. Old Irish arbe meant “field” so that Europe in our opinion was named for the… » read more

Romanians are very social and talkative people. They like to spend time in company and they are fond of having conversations. Beside their love for philosophy and conspiracy theories, they also have a taste for humour. But beware, make sure you are not the subject of their jokes, because they are usually not very flattering.… » read more

Transylvania was neither invented by Dracula`s spiritual father Bram Stoker, nor was the region`s name born out of his creativity. Transylvania has existed for many centuries before the Dracula myth came into existence. Throughout all those years, Transylvania has almost incessantly changed ownership. Before being added to Romanian territory in the wake of WWI, it… » read more