Online School for Hungarian Children Living Abroad
Our Mission
Helping families with Hungarian roots living abroad to preserve and nurture the Hungarian language and culture, and to pass it on to generations with the help of modern online education.
About Us
Since 2009, the Online Hungarian School (OMI) has been helping Hungarian families living abroad to pass on the Hungarian language and culture and to make children enjoy learning about these. We originally started our online school for the children in the states of North and South Carolina, USA, as we were not able to establish a traditional Hungarian Sunday school because of the long distances. Some enthusiastic mothers who were teachers as well wanted to provide Hungarian learning opportunities for their own children and those of the local Hungarian community. Over the years, more and more people from other states and countries have joined us, indicating the need for our services. We have had students from five continents, from nearly 50 countries. OMI is a grassroot initiative that has been driven by the enthusiastic support of parents and the commitment of teachers ever since.
In the form of modern online learning, we provide flexible opportunities, both in time and space, for our students to learn (Hungarian) whether at home, in front of a desk, during a vacation or while traveling in a car. We now offer online, live, interactive classes via Skype and Zoom seven days a week with more than 40 groups. Our students (1-18 years old kids + adults) work together in groups based on their age and level of Hungarian language fluency.
The unique feature of OMI is that in our school Hungarian children living in different parts of the world study together, getting to know each other and how other people in other Hungarian diaspora live. Thus, the teachers, students and parents of our school form a large, Hungarian, global, virtual community in which great acquaintances and friendships develop.
Our faculty consists of highly qualified, professional teachers who have graduated in Hungary in Education, but also have extensive experience in the education of Hungarian children living abroad. Many of our teachers are also specialists in fields such as ECL language exam preparation, speech therapy and drama pedagogy.
We often invite guest lecturers, famous Hungarian athletes, scientists, successful professionals, museum educators, musicians, writers and poets to color the lessons.
Our priorities include expanding and modernizing the professional development of our teaching faculty, keeping in touch with partner organizations and colleagues, and building new relationships and collaborations. The quality of education is ensured by the years of successful operation of the school, the theoretical and practical experience accumulated during this time, as well as the result of the continuous professional training.
Our Groups
Our schedule provides classes for all language proficiency levels and time zones, from China to Peru.
Preschool music classes: a half-hour session for children of preschool age. The aim of the groups is to familiarize children with Hungarian nursery rhymes and children’s songs with the active participation of parents, connecting play and learning.
Vocabulary building, speech development: playful sessions with nursery rhymes, stories, songs and interactive games.
Reading and writing: we help students learn the letters of the Hungarian ABC, writing and cursive writing. We teach reading using the traditional syllabic method. Within the framework of the lessons, we start introducing them to the history, geography and folk culture of Hungary.
General knowledge subjects: we hold Hungarian literature and grammar, history, geography and ethnography classes on a weekly basis, also in an interactive, playful way.
Hungarian as a foreign language: For those who are just starting to get acquainted with the Hungarian language, we also have classes for all age groups. In the 2020/21 school year, Hungarian as a foreign language courses for adults appeared in our curriculum as a new element, which are available at both beginner and advanced levels.
Math Talent Development Program: led by excellent Hungarian mathematics professors for students between the age of 5-16. The aim of the program is to ensure the development of talented students through complex talent development tasks, which improves students’ thinking and creative problem-solving skills.
Over the years, we have developed our own curriculum, which is flexibly adapted to the interests of children and the needs of families. In our self-developed online education system you can see the descriptions of the lessons, the homework and extra credit projects for home practice, and you can also upload the solutions there. In addition, we have also developed a reward system based on a smiley collecting competition, where you can get smiling faces for class attendance and completing homework and extra work. At the end of each semester, we give an e-book as a reward to our students who have collected the 3 most smileys per age group.
It is important to us that – in addition to the latest digital applications, programs and interfaces – we also use traditional pedagogical methods and tools. For example, we teach writing with the help of a blackboard, our students have exercise books, the older ones take notes, the younger ones draw. To the delight of the children, Play-doh, colored paper, puppets, paint and LEGO often appear in the classes as tools, but we also use objects from our every-day life, toys, plants and animals as an illustration. Ideas are only limited by imagination.
In each group we put emphasis on getting to know the Hungarian traditions. We always commemorate the national holidays, and we try to celebrate them with the children actively involved. For example, at carnival season (Farsang) we make Busó masks and wear costumes, we decorate a Maypole in May, and on the 15th of March we put a cockade on at Skype/Zoom classes.
Tuition
60-minute Hungarian class: 12 USD / class
30-minute music class: 7 USD / class
Adult Hungarian language class: 15 USD / class
Tuition fees for Hungarian lessons are paid in one amount for the semester (at the beginning) via Paypal. The first (trial) lesson is free of charge to all students, tuition notices will only be sent out after the first few weeks.
We offer a discount for families enrolling more than one child: after the first full-cost child, each additional child receives a 10% discount on tuition.
Our mission is to ensure that Hungarian children living in the diaspora can learn Hungarian all over the world. With this in mind, we provide tuition waiver or discount for children in need through various scholarships.
Nondiscriminatory Policy
The main mission of the Online Hungarian School is to create a chance and provide access to all children and adults – wherever they live in the world – to get to know, learn and develop Hungarian language and culture.
We enforce equal treatment in the operation of our school: determining the conditions for joining, evaluating admission applications, providing and using education-related services, and awarding scholarships.
The Online Hungarian School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and school administered programs.
Support Us
Our school is a non-profit organization. If you would like to support us so that we can help as many Hungarian children living abroad as possible, please click on the “Donate” button at the bottom of the page. We will send you a confirmation of your donation, which you can use to file your personal income tax return.
Thanks, the OMI team.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or requests, you can contact us at the following email addresses:
General information: info@onlinemagyariskola.com
Tuition, finances: payments@onlinemagyariskola.com
Technical problem: support@onlinemagyariskola.com
Admission
As a first step, we assess the level of Hungarian language skills of all new applicants free of charge, in a form of a short, playful, introductory test class. After that we also provide an opportunity to try out the first group class.
