Professor Pintér Károly Interview
How do you perceive the significance of the Institute's 30th anniversary milestone in the context of your teaching experience within the English department?
Our history is more like ups and downs, full of challenges.
In 1995 we moved out of Budapest, into a small village called Piliscaba. From 1995 until 2015, Anglo-Americanstudies were operated there. It was the idea that the time was to create something like an American stuff. Out of the city, green area, and spacious building.
The idea was nice but there were 4 problems:
Facing all these problems, we decided to move to Tárogató in 2015. We started creeping back into the city by renting temporary buildings and starting more and more programs in Budapest. It was in the northwestern part of the city. It was mixed with a primary and music school. It didn’t feel like a university. Since we still did not have a permanent building, we moved from one rented place to another rented place. By saying all those things, you can see that the English and American Studies Program has faced various challenges over 30 years. One of them was to ‘’where?’, where to teach, and how to keep our students close to us.
Do you think you lost your students because of those constant changes?
I think Piliscsaba had its own advantages as well as disadvantages.
Students really formed a community there. Once you came out there you were among yourselves. Everybody who studied there had strong memories of Piliscsaba.The old students had a lot of stories about how they were hitchhiking back to Budapest. It was a routine there at the time. Even I picked up students even though I did not say that I was a teacher there. They were telling me about the university, and I didn’t want to ruin the moment and embarrass them by telling them I was the teacher (laughs). We also felt like we belonged here, it was not fun but at the same time, it felt like a community. We suffered through this together. Here in Budapest, you don’t feel the same feeling. Students do not have a strong attachment to here. It is harder to make students join interactive programs.
I think in Piliscsaba, they had more enthusiasm for things we did beyond the classes. This building is an improvement for us. The location is central it is easy to get here. Tárogató was far out as I said little children were running around the corridors. It didn’t feel like a university, and you wanted to feel like you were in your own company. So, I think yes, we lost some of our students, but despite the various challenges, we are trying our best to make it a good experience for students.
What is your best memory from Piliscsaba?
That building complex was designed by one of the most famous architects in Hungary. However, he was also a controversial one. He got some weird ideas about what constitutes a good building. A friend of mine who knows him very well told me that he was actually a sculptor, not an architect because his real ambition was to create a work of art even though it is not practical. If you go there, you will be impressed by the building visually, on the practical side, nevertheless , you have to live there to understand. The windows were 3,5meters tall, very bad heating system, lots of stairs everywhere which were not useful for handicapped people. So, what I am trying to say is that one of the most memorable thingsabout Piliscsaba is that it is much more impressive to look at it. However, I come from a small village, and for me, Piliscsaba felt always very familiar. I really enjoyed the place. I truly like Piliscsaba on the whole, but I must admit I don’t complain that I don’t have to travel 3 hours each day.
Can you tell us any fun story with your international students?
“Oh yes, I have one! Back in the Piliscsaba days, there were 2 English students sent by special organizations for their gap year. The funny thing was all but one was vegetarian. However, Hungarian cuisine does not really meet their preferences very well. We had a very good cafeteria, but everything was meaty there. They had limited options. They were stuck in cheese and potato(laughs).”