Take Off

Listen to an article by Sasha Frere-Jones published in The New Yorker on January 12.

First-year student Tomázy Dávid talks about a story he will start writing soon.

The last pages from Proulx's highly acclaimed novella.

Seven students from my Oral Presentation Skills course share opinions and plans: Balázs, Anita, Kitti, Kinga, Anna, Judit, and Krisztián.

First, some thoughts about meeting would-be freshmen last Saturday, and then a song by Cargo Cult. Photo: Zsélyi Eszter after our talk, with part of Kungl Zsófi's blog showing in the background.

A nameday, an exhibition, a trip and a song: four students share their experiences on their blogs. Music credit: Michael Halaas, http://www.ilike.com

Three blogs, three stories, three students: Szvath Dóra, Balázs Éva and Gazdóf Lilla. Music credit: a song by Ellen Says No, a free MP3 download from http://www.ilike.com/artist/Ellen+Says+No

Kartali László, third-year student of Pécs, jazz musician, vocabulary master, and composer of the Take Off theme music, calls Amsterdam home this semester that he spends in Holland on an Erasmus scholarship. In this episode, we share a part of our Skype chat last weekend. Photo credit: Lacek's photo of the view form his apartment in downtown Amsterdam.

The site is up and running again! Enjoy these podcasts! Listen to the first posts of Andrea, Dóra, Zsófi, Kornél, and Krisztián. I am planning more episodes featuring students' blogs this semester. If you would like to read these and other blog posts, go to http://take-o-f-f.blogspot.com and look for the list.

The last summer episode this year!

In just a little more than a day, I'll be there with the crowd watching and listening to REM at the Sziget, Budapest, Hungary. I hope to be back from that concert with a special REM Live edition of the podcast. We'll see. What's sure is that the most recent episode features "Find the River." #rembudapest

That's right: this week, the lyrics comes from that 60s musical, Hair. Enjoy!

How about shifting into sixth gear with this fantastic track from REM's latest album? Plus listen to my rendition of the lyrics. Enjoy! Also, check out Take Off after the REM concert on the Sziget on August 16. I will be there and share with you some of the highlights of the show! #rembudapest

The first summer episode! Enjoy your vacation and this story, the lyrics of Coldplay's Viva La Vida.

Konkoly Kriszta, Horváth Bálint, and Szilas Péter, three English majors at the University of Pécs, talk about an exam and their summer plans.

Lovorka Zergollern - Miletic, a colleague from the University of Zagreb, and I gave a talk on coherence and originality in student writing at a Pécs conference last week. After the presentation, we went to have a glass of wine downtown -- together with a team of participants. It was there that I made this recording. The song is by The Agape Rose. Find more great music by them and other bands at www.ilike.com.

Kosóczki Kata, Buda Réka and Fodor Balázs, three students from my Oral Presentation Skills II course, are talking about Forster's novel, A Passage to India, and another passage. The song is "Sol naciente" by Cargo Cult. Go to http://www.ilike.com to listen to songs by them or other GarageBand musicians.

In the past three years, I have met Steve four times: at the annual Budapest Folk Dance Festivals. This past weekend I asked him to tell Take Off a little bit about his interest in things Hungarian and Transylvanian. Here's the cover photo of his album Ten Years in Transylvania: If you would like to see Steve's other photos, too, visit his site at http://www.spinderartphoto.com/

A scene from the movie starring Sean Connery and Kevin Costner, plus a conversation with Rácz Krisztián. The song is by the Mitchell Blues Band -- a free MP3 file from www.iLike.com

In this episode I read a passage about the prehistoric statues on Easter Island. Read the rest of the chapter and other sections in Routledge's book on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=36yi7JgoBY8C&rview=1