Rita Fischer Hungary Map Rita Fischer didn't encounter big language barriers when she moved from Hungary to the United States. Though she spoke no English when she arrived in 1994, two years later she was attending college. She carried around a notebook and asked people what items were called and took note of how to pronounce them. She moved to Columbus in 1996.
People are just nice and very helpful.
She comes from the small village of Siofok, Hungary, an agricultural area where she grew up under communism. Schools there more strict and teachers were sometimes abusive. Freedoms and the quality of life improved after the fall of communism, she said. Hungarians now have more opportunities and can start their own businesses or determine occupations more easily. Rita speaks to her son in Hungarian, and reads him books in both English and Hungarian.