153 The dream and the reality of early programmes in Hungary Marianne Nikolov University of Pécs, Hungary Introduction This chapter discusses how variety in early modern foreign language (FL) programmes contributes to processes and outcomes in a specific educational context. The case study of Hungary documents that a lack of curricular guidelines for lower primary years has resulted in a wide range of practices combined with a strong streaming tradition where most young learners are taught by retrained teachers of Russian. The chapter draws on empirical studies, large-scale quantitative and smaller-scale qualitative research, to show controversial trends. The main point is that English cannot be discussed in isolation, but in relation to other target languages. The context Foreign languages (FLs) in the lower primary years have been part of official curricula for decades in Hungary. Until 1989 Russian used to be mandatory for all learners from grade 4 (age 9) and languages of ethnic minorities, most importantly German, were also available. An early start was hoped to ensure success in learning Russian; however, the history of over 40 years of disaster has proved that an early start by itself will not guarantee proficiency. Since then, two FLs have competed with one another: German, the traditionally most valuable FL in the region, and English with the latter becoming more widely taught and gaining a higher prestige in a decade (Nikolov, 2000). No FL has been mandatory since 1989; students and their parents decide what language(s) they want to learn in the light of what schools offer. Another important feature of the educational system is a strong tradition of streaming learners into classes and groups according to their abilities: more able students are taught in specialized classes where they are given more intensive as well as better quality education. Competition is also a characteristic of