Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)

Zsuzsanna Mészáros-Lampl: Magyars and Slovaks in Southern Slovakia - Exercising Language Rights

Zuzana Mészárosová-Lamplová

Graph 2

Dominant family communication language of ethnic Hungarians in the past

Although one in eleven Slovaks grew up in a family environment dominated by Hungarian language, 99% of them enrolled in primary schools with Slovak as the language of instruction after they reached the stipulated age; only one percent of Slovaks attended a primary school where the language of instruction was Hungarian. So, regardless of the dominant language of family communication, parents of Slovak children clearly preferred primary schools with Slovak as the language of instruction. At the higher stage of education system (i.e. secondary schools), Slovak children exclusively attended schools where Slovak was the language of instruction.

Fam i ty Communícatíoin TodAy

One in four married Slovaks (25%) currently lives in a mixed Slovak- Hungarian marriage. A vast majority of these couples’ children (97%) attended or attend primary schools with Slovak as the language of instruction while only 3% attended or attend primary schools where the language of instruction is Hungarian. Also, family communication of Slovak respon-170