The English Race — Meet the Contestants
Interview · 3 of 4
Meet Ádám Tóth
Who is he?
Ádám “Adam” Tóth
Szentendre, Hungary · Age 23 · Tourism and hospitality student
Adam is one of four contestants competing in The English Race, a language competition that takes teams across Britain and Europe. He grew up in Szentendre, a town on the Danube Bend north of Budapest, where he spent years helping tourists find their way — and in doing so, found that English came as naturally to him as breathing. But something is pulling him in two directions. His grandfather’s farm is waiting. And Adam hasn’t decided what to do about that.
1
Pre-Reading: New Vocabulary
Study these words before you listen to the interview.
| Word / Phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| fluent | able to speak a language easily, naturally, and without stopping to think about each word | After three years living in Japan, she was fluent enough to tell jokes in Japanese. |
| instinct | a natural feeling that makes you respond to a situation without thinking about it first | His instinct was to help — he crossed the street before he had decided to. |
| expectation | a belief or hope about what will happen, or what someone should do — often from other people | She felt the weight of her family’s expectations every time she opened her exam results. |
| navigate | to find your way through a difficult situation, or through a physical place | Starting a new job in a foreign country means learning to navigate a completely different culture. |
| conflicted | feeling two strong and opposite emotions at the same time, so it is hard to decide what to do or think | She felt conflicted about leaving — excited about the opportunity, but sad to go. |
| authentic | real and genuine, not a copy or a performance — true to what something originally was | The restaurant felt authentic — the food and atmosphere were exactly like being in Vietnam. |
Connect each sentence to the vocabulary word it best describes.
Tap a sentence on the left to select it, then tap the correct word on the right.
Sentence
Word
“She answered in French without hesitating — every sentence, every idiom, completely natural.”
navigate
“He reached for his phone to call her — he hadn’t decided to do it. His hand just moved.”
authentic
“He was happy to go — and guilty that he was happy. Both at exactly the same time.”
fluent
“It took her months to figure out the unwritten rules of her new workplace.”
conflicted
“His parents wanted him to study medicine. He wanted to paint. He had never said it out loud.”
instinct
“Everything about the market felt real — not made for tourists, just genuinely itself.”
expectation
Listen to Adam’s Interview (then scroll down to complete the activities)
2
Read and Listen: The Interview
Fill in the gaps as you listen. Use the word bank to help you.
Gap-fill: Six words from the vocabulary list appear as gaps in the interview. Choose the correct word for each gap.
fluent
instinct
expectation
navigate
conflicted
authentic
Interviewer
Adam, welcome. Can you start by telling us where you come from?
Adam
Of course. I grew up in Szentendre — it is a town on the Danube Bend, about twenty-five kilometres north of Budapest. Very beautiful. A lot of tourists. (a small laugh) Probably too many tourists, if you want the honest answer. But I grew up there, so I am used to it. I helped my family with the tourist work from when I was quite young — maps, directions, questions about opening times. That is how I became
in English. Not from school, really — from people.
Interviewer
That is quite an unusual way to learn a language.
Adam
Yes — and I think it shows sometimes. My grammar is not always perfect when I write. But speaking? Speaking is
for me. I can feel when something sounds right and when it does not — even if I cannot always explain why. The tourists taught me that. You learn very quickly which phrases work and which ones make people look confused.
Interviewer
Tell me about your family. What do they think of you being here?
Adam
(a pause — the warmth becomes quieter here) My grandfather has a farm on the Danube Bend. He is in his seventies. He expects — there is a certain
in the family that I will come back. That I will take over what he has built. My parents support this. It is a reasonable thing to expect. He worked his whole life on that land.
Interviewer
And what do you want?
Adam
(a beat — then honestly) I am
. I love that farm. I love my grandfather. But I have spent two years starting sentences that I never finish. I applied for the race without telling anyone first — just to see what I was capable of somewhere else. And then I was accepted, and I had to tell them. (a slight smile) My father’s exact words were: “The harvest won’t wait for your English race.”
📖 Language Note: Starting sentences you never finish
Adam says he has spent two years “starting sentences that I never finish.” This is a metaphor — he is not talking about grammar, but about conversations he begins and then stops. In English, we often use the idea of language to describe difficulty expressing something emotional. Compare: “I don’t know how to say this”, “I never found the words”, “I keep starting and stopping.” Notice how Adam uses this metaphor again later when he talks about what he wants from the future.
Interviewer
Szentendre is known as an artists’ town. Do you think of it as an authentic Hungarian place?
Adam
(a short laugh — this is a question he has thought about) That is complicated. Szentendre is beautiful. The Serbian Orthodox churches, the artists, the galleries — it is real history. But it has also learned to perform itself for visitors. Some of it feels genuinely
— and some of it feels like a postcard of itself. Growing up there, you learn to see the difference. It is like learning to read two languages at once.
Interviewer
How do you find Britain? Difficult to adjust to?
Adam
I find I can
it reasonably well — the language, the culture, the way people interact. What I find harder is the question underneath everything. Before I came to Britain, I thought I already knew who I was. I am not sure that is still true. And I think — I think that is probably a good thing. Even if it does not feel like it at the moment.
Interviewer
Thank you, Adam.
Adam
Thank you.
3
Comprehension Check
Tap the best answer for each question. Feedback appears immediately.
How did Adam become fluent in English?
What does Adam’s grandfather expect him to do?
What does Adam mean by “starting sentences that I never finish”?
What does Adam think about Szentendre’s authenticity?
What does Adam mean when he says he is not sure he still knows who he is?
4
Think and Discuss
There are no right or wrong answers. Talk with a partner, or write in your journal.
- Adam’s English came from talking to tourists rather than from studying. Do you think this kind of “natural” learning is better or worse than classroom learning? Have you ever learned something important outside of a classroom?
- Adam talks about a place that is “real” but has also “learned to perform itself” for visitors. Can you think of a place you know that is like this — somewhere that has changed because of tourism? Do you think this is always a bad thing?
- Adam says he has spent two years “starting sentences he never finishes” — conversations he begins in his head but never says out loud. Is there something you have been meaning to say to someone but haven’t? What makes it difficult?
Next in the series : Sofía Guerrero