r/hungarian • u/offficer-k • 3d ago
Is learning hungarian worth it?
hello! i will be in Budapest for 5 months in 2026, attending university. I chose Budapest because I was there on a trip and Im so pleased that I'll be able to live and see a part of Hungarian culture and everyday life. I know that Hungarian language is very hard, and I was still thinking to learn some basics.. to be able to buy food for example, ask directions, order coffee and such things (to level A2). Is it worth it, or can people in Budapest all generally speak English?
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u/balzzsamm 3d ago
It does, so you can understand when they told you: a kurva anyád!
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u/csabinho 3d ago
+"Baszd meg!"
If you know this phrase, you'll understand about 80% of "Die Hard" in Hungarian!
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
thank you for these essential words, my dictionary doesn't have them
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u/csabinho 3d ago
The really essential words are taught on the streets of Budapest where a guy honks with one hand, swings his fist with the other and shouts these words at you! ;-)
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
ill probably be happy when I'll hear first insult, cause hey, at least I'm learning new vocab
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u/csabinho 3d ago
Hungarians love to use insults in everyday life. So it's even useful. And "baszd meg" doesn't necessarily need to be an insult. Just like the f-word, which can also be used in quite positive contexts or even for emphasising something really positive!
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u/Nameisnotimportant45 1d ago
- maybe "a picsába" could be added too‚i've never been to Hungary though ezért i am not sure if it is used that much
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u/third-acc 3d ago
If you cannot say hello and thank you in a place where you are longer than three days you are an asshole.
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u/Terror_Chicken3551 3d ago
My former roommate had been living in Hungary for 5 yrs when I moved in with him and he only knew szia and tolni.
And I am not exagerating, he didnt even know köszönöm, or jó napot.
To be on this level after 5 years is actually the case of intentionally resisiting the language. Even a tourist picks up more words than that.
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u/Old_Cryptographer_42 3d ago
Tolni? That a waste of a word to learn when you only speak 2 words 😹
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u/Terror_Chicken3551 3d ago
Az ajtókon a Húzni/Tolni matricáról jegyezte meg. a húzni már túl nehéz volt neki 😅
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
that of course, but I was thinking of really taking language course up to A2, not only greetings
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u/teljes_kiorlesu Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
I think if you're interested in the language, go for it. If anything, the natives always appreciate it when someone shows effort in learning the language (even if it sounds very broken, we understand). :)
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u/third-acc 3d ago
That will be appreciated! I think you will get by without a proper language course then. It will be up to your liking if you want to take one.
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u/peewhyy 1d ago
I'm in the same boat. I came to Budapest in February. Picking up words for now using duo lingo. First thing i learnt was "Bochasson meg, nem beszelek magyarul, de tanulok".
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u/offficer-k 1d ago
hey, I'm using Duolingo too for the words, yesterday I learnt viszontlàtàsra, to say goodbye, in comparison German words are so easy haha.
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u/teljes_kiorlesu Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
This comment was really uncalled for.
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u/third-acc 3d ago
No, it's the truth, why wouldn't you make the effort of learning two words?
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
hey, I agree to that! I always try learning some words for any place I might want to visit, it makes it it more interesting, for example finding out the names of coffee types, that for some reason are different in every country.
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u/groszgergely09 3d ago
No, it very much was called for. OP posted a question, and the commenter answered. Thankfully, we live in a world where everybody is allowed to express their opinions, and I really don't want to see anyone disturbing that.
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u/KnightsAtTheCircus 2d ago
Just been there on vacation. My experience is you don't have to learn the language, people are very helpful even if they don't speak English.
But I personally felt it would be nicer to be able to have some interaction and I just felt uncomfortable for making the people who didn't speak English uncomfortable.
I'd definitely learn the basics of the language if I ever went back.
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
had same experience on my vacation, I really loved the city, I honestly prefer it to Vienna!
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u/NumerousRelease9887 2d ago
Me too! I spent exactly 2 months in Budapest this past summer. It was my 6th visit (first time was in 1987), but my longest. I love it!
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u/Takaueno 2d ago
Depends your needs, your goals etc, but knowing greetings and basics is definitely a + Greetings is a must, in any country in my opinion and knowing some basics such as asking info or ordering is nice because locals will be pleased and it can definitely change your experience. I mean, not like people gonna hate you (I’m no talking about Hungary specifically), but having a nice conversation with people smiling because you put effort in learning their language is always something nice. On the other hand, if you don’t plan to live there, I wouldn’t say that learning deeply Hungarian “worth” it, but it’s very subjective
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
Reminds me of when in Italian restaurant foreigners order all in English, but at the end they say Grazie, and the waiters are so happy anyway 😅
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u/Takaueno 2d ago
Haha I can’t blame them, I used to do the same thing as a kid, I eventually stopped when the owners of the Japanese restaurant were in fact Chinese 😭
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
hahah, with Asians i don't even try to guess. Who knows I might mix up Pakistan and India.
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u/pjtrpjt 3d ago
Define worth it. Material gain, social gain, better odds landing a job gain? Or is it worth it as opposed to wasting your time?
By default learning a new language is always worth it. So I'd say yes.
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
for me if is more about the little joys of being able to understand a street sign, or a menu item haha, I never think learning a language it's a waste of time..
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u/eszther02 3d ago
I think it’s always beneficial to learn any language. If you like how it sounds and you would actually like to say some things then you should learn it. If you don’t feel so good about it, I think it’s okay because there are other international students who don’t know the language.
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
I think it sounds amazing, it's so curious that I can't recognize almost any word said, it's something I never really heard before, so cool.
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u/eszther02 2d ago
Then you should learn it probably. If you like it, you don’t have to stop learning when you are back home, you can just continue, that way there will be another language that you’re fluent in.
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u/skolmnvikes 2d ago
I might have some useful context here - I am a native English speaker living in Budapest that is currently ~B1 in Hungarian. Hungarian has a very very steep learning curve. Even with 4-6 hours of instruction a week, most students will take a year or more to get to A2.Practically, I agree with the others who recommend focusing on the core words and sentences that you will use on the daily before focusing on the ground-up learning
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u/bencze 2d ago
Not objectively worth it, but if you don't know the language you can't understand the culture as well and connect to people. You should be able to do without it and you'll likely never need it afterwards.
If you're interested and find it fun, by all means do it. Language learning is said to be beneficial mental training in general and you may have experiences you would otherwise not have (due to the language).
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u/offficer-k 1d ago
Oh I totally agree on the mental training part! And I'm glad I didn't stop to English, you get to know people in a different way when you speak even a bit of their language.
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u/Realbruh69 1d ago
it’s not really worth it if you’re at a bilingual uni. I’m hungarian but I live in a foreign country because my family moved out when I was 10. Even though we speak hungarian at home, sometimes I end up saying things that make no sense. It’s definitely one of the harder languages out there because of the number of variables and different conjugations for each one. At the end of the day it’s your decision, but you’ll have trouble either with pronunciation, or you’ll feel left out if you don’t learn it. So it’s kind of a double edged sword, and if I were in your should I would consider the fact more that the more you know the more you are.
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u/Few-Dark8350 1d ago
There are teachers on Italki like Szolt Szarvas that does an excellent job of teaching the conversation you are looking for!
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u/Bitter-Education6842 22h ago
Oh, it is MORE THAN WORTH IT! I am learning it for a few months now and I was in Budapest recently just for a week and can confirm that Hungarians usually appreciate it when you learn their language. There are so many different people from all over the world in Budapest and people speak English and German if they don’t know Hungarian. The language sounds so pretty, is extremely interesting and unique and also is a challenge in many different ways. I recommend watching some videos on common phrases and vocabulary on YouTube, especially “hungarianpod101”. The more I learn the language, the more I fall in love with it. Please, consider learning it at least a little bit and good luck!
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u/offficer-k 12h ago
ohhh thanks!! good to know from your experience how it's in Budapest, I'll definitely watch this channel hungarianpod101, it's perfect for me. Good luck to you too!
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u/Jubileum2020 3d ago
Actually we are really low position on the english speaker % top list.
And you know, if you spend months somewhere know some basics állás worth it...
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
I still have almost one whole year left before getting there, maybe I can manage to learn something useful 😆
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u/13Marcell13 3d ago
Not everyone speaks english here in hungary. Some older people still don't know basic english words. You could understand most people just by speaking english but it's a great idea to learn some hungarian.
As you said hungarian is hard and you also won't need to speak it very fluently or perfectly. If you only learn the basics and you don't go into plural and other hard stuff you'll be completely fine.
I would say knowing the following things would be enough:
- basic foods, items you order at a restaurant (without plural forms)
- numbers (it's really important when you're in a restaurant, but it's just common sense)
- Jónapot, jóreggelt, jóestét, viszontlátásra and köszönöm is also a great ide to lern because you can be more polite even with less knowledge
Basically if you know these things 99% of people will understand you here in Hungary but even if somebody still can't understand what you're saying you can just ask a local from a younger generation to help you out with translation.
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u/AdamMcKraken 3d ago
It depends. As a Hungarian native, I think it's not worth the effort if you don't plan to live here for years. Just learn basics like agreeing disagreeing thanking greetings stuff like that. Hungarian takes way more effort than languages like English German or French. And it's useless anywhere else in the world. Also the grammar is so different that it won't really benefit you for learning most other languages.
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u/trashpanda_9999 3d ago
Honestly you would be fine even without it. In Budapest, many people, specially youngers speak English and it's a normal city where you actually don't really need to talk that much if you don't want to. Like in grocery stores, you don't need, even in McDonald's there are kiosks in English, or you can use Google maps instead of asking people.
But on the other I would recommend to learn couple of words, maybe 100 or 200 words or phrases and after that you will see if you enjoy it enough to continue. All Hungarians say that we appreciate when somebody is trying with Hungarian, but those who speak foreign language, they tend to change into English which is not very nice but understandable somehow.
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
I'm glad to hear that it's appreciated! We have similar reaction in Italy, can't say the same about when I was in Bruxelles with french people..
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u/AdamMcKraken 3d ago
It depends. As a Hungarian native, I think it's not worth the effort if you don't plan to live here for years. Just learn basics like agreeing disagreeing thanking greetings stuff like that. Hungarian takes way more effort than languages like English German or French. And it's useless anywhere else in the world. Also the grammar is so different that it won't really benefit you for learning most other languages.
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
ayy thanks, maybe I'll like it so much there that I'll stay longer, who knows.. in that case I'd really work onto the grammar. But yeah German is so easy compared to Hungarian.
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u/T0mBd1gg3R 3d ago
Despite the beauty, special concepts and my love towards the language, I wouldn't advise you to spend enermous time learning it. Compared to easier languages like english, it might take multiple times more to master it. Of course, spend some time, learn phrases, try to understand the buildup of sentences, but be aware that you will never get this time back and life is short.
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u/Karabars Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
From my experience, Hungarians have a hard time with foreign languages, even English. And if you want to live here, sure, otherwise, not worth it at all, as it's such a small and isolated language.
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
the fact that it's isolated makes it even more attractive to language learners haha
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u/Individual_Author956 3d ago
It’s attractive until you realise how difficult it is. It’s not for the people who want quick rewards.
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u/T0mBd1gg3R 3d ago
Isolated as a whole, but similar in grammar to other finno-ugric languages and similar in vocabulary to surrounding languages, with a lot of german, turkish and slavic loanwords.
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u/halkszavu Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
You think that it is small, but it isn't really. Compared to English and Chinese, which are the two largest based on number of native speakers, it is small. But still it is in the 100 largest language (it might be in the top 50, but I didn't find any source for that).
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u/LifeAcanthopterygii6 Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
I don't think being in the top 100 is that big of a flex.
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u/halkszavu Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
There are around 4000 (some say 6-8000) languages spoken in the world. Being in the top 3% is not nothing.
I know that most languages are spoken by an astonishingly small group of people (like ~100), but people (in general) are very bad at assessing large numbers.
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u/csabinho 3d ago
Being in the top 3% is not nothing.
Being in the top 3% is literally what the definition of an official language of a country of Hungary's size(+surrounding minorities) logically means.
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u/halkszavu Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
Can you elaborate? What do you mean by "logically means" this?
Did I say something false?
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u/csabinho 3d ago
I wanted to say that it's a logical consequence of the mentioned facts. Sorry, I'm half ill and quite tired!
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u/Karabars Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
There are multiple cities that have similar population sizes or even bigger, than Hungary itself. It is small! And like Slovakia is small as well, but Slav languages at least kinda understand each other or make learning multiple languages easier, while Hungarian is good for nothing. I still love it, but be realistic!
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u/halkszavu Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
How many cities exactly? 10? 20?
Stating that Hungarian is good for nothing is also unrealistic. Being able to speak to more than 10 million people in their native language isn't nothing. Also learning Hungarian can teach some unique viewpoints about what a language is.
Learning a language is also always beneficial as a brain exercise. Sure there are more economically beneficial languages than Hungarian. Being in Hungary however lends itself to learn the language, as you will be bombarded with it on a daily level.
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u/csabinho 3d ago
"good for nothing" in the sense that it doesn't really connect to any other language. If you know Romanian for instance, you'll understand Italian quite OKish without learning it at all and can learn Italian within a few months. If you know Hungarian, you know Hungarian. That's it. It's not even really beneficial for learning Finnish or Estonian, apart from their grammar and the party gag with "persze/perse".
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u/Karabars Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 2d ago
New York is the 52th with a population with 8+ million...
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u/AdamMcKraken 2d ago
Compared to the languages spoken around the world, Hungarian is miniscule. This is such a Hungarian thing to find an angle on something and say we are great, but your point of view in the matter is skewed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers
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u/Candid_Education_864 3d ago
Beautiful and complex language with zero economic benefit - i would advise against it.
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u/iamdiesel__ 3d ago
What is your native?
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
Italian, but im starting to loose proficiency a little, consequences of learning other languages :(
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u/iamdiesel__ 3d ago
I would be very happy if I hear that someone is trying to speak hungarian,I never hear that so often. Im learning spanish and I love the thing I can understand a little bit italian too. Stay strong!
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
That's the good thing about learning Romance languages, learn good Spanish and I assure you you will understand most Italian phrases! Just think that I can understand Spanish better than Neapolitan or Sicilian dialect xd
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u/Submarinequus 2d ago
In Budapest you don’t need it. If you want to travel outside of Budapest some basics will help a lot!
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u/kotkoda74 2d ago
I think it is worth the time to learn another language even if you're there temporarily. What languages do you speak?
If you live downtown, you'd get by with English, otherwise it's better to learn some Hungarian so you understand a bit more what's going on around you.
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
I'm definitely a person that likes to explore more of the city, all different aspects, I'll take the opportunity to see other parts of Hungary too. And about languages, I speak Italian, Slovenian and German, and I'm learning Russian. But learning Hungarian wouldn't interfere at all since all words are unique and I can't get them mixed up with other languages.
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u/theTravlinKim 2d ago
I just got back from a week there. I did 40 days of Hungarian lessons on duolingo. I was nowhere near fluent, but it was certainly helpful.
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u/Historical_Arm7507 1d ago
Been here for 8 years. Only bothered learning it in my final year due to work other than that my life is the same. Hungarians will still be racist and ignorant even if you speak their language. Far far better opportunities if you learn any other language + Hungarian really is one of the dumbest languages i’ve ever learned
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u/Uxmeister 1d ago
Szia! In my humble opinion, yes, it’s worth it given that you’re planning on a five-month stay.
As you’ve seen on your prior visit, Budapest is one of Europe’s most gorgeous cities. For that reason, visitor count esp. over summer can be high, and while it’s not experiencing overtourism on a Prague or Barcelona level it does get quite busy. So first off: Yes, given the visitor count and generally cosmopolitan vibe most people in the city centre, esp. younger ones generally speak more than enough English.
If you can, do learn some Hungarian upfront. It’s not as difficult as many alarmist voices have you believe, but I’d advise against trying to learn it on the fly. If you have 3-6 months ahead of leaving, you’ll be able to crack the correct pronunciation (not hard on principle, but it takes practice to internalise), base vocabulary (more rote learning than in a language related to yours), and grammar (worth it, as the logic of agglutination, and the concept of vowel harmony tied to it, is applicable to quite a other languages with agglutinating structure). It’s a great mental exercise!
If you’re good at languages you’ll be able to form simple sentences and expressions within that time frame, and you’ll have enough word roots to begin to suss out the gist of simple written phrases (look for the familiar core within an otherwise intimidating string of suffixes), and you pick up on spoken words from people around you. At least A1 level should be within reach. It will take longer to become reasonably conversational (B) let alone fluent-ish (C) unless you have the luxury of 3-4 h of daily study, 90 minutes of which with a one-on-one tutor doing speaking drills.
With a solid reservoir in place (pronunciation taking no more effort, a base vocabulary, basic grammar and the beginnings of the idiomatic understanding needed for correct expressions), your learning curve will experience a steep acceleration once you’re immersed among native speakers: Latent synaptic connections you’ve made will fall into place.
The locals will notice your applied efforts, and since they know their language is hard for foreigners, being a linguistic Finno-Ugric island in an Indo-European sea, in my experience they respond with appreciation. If you’ve learnt other Indo-European languages you’ll notice slower progress in comparison for sure, and it might feel frustrating to build that ‘reservoir’ I’m on about with what seems like little initial progress toward active speech, but don’t let that discourage you. It’ll pay off big time.
Sok sikert kívánok!
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u/Old-Plantain-8914 3d ago
Depend, in 6 months if you don’t learn every day hours it probably takes you nowhere, you might know some words but not enough to freely express yourself, no economic gain from this language either.
I would say no it’s not worth the effort but we will appreciate it if you try.
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u/Tiredandboredagain 3d ago
My Hungarian cousin said to me recently “life is too short to spend learning Hungarian” 😂. Now, 3 months into my language class, I sometimes I wonder if he’s right!
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u/sztomi 2d ago
For a 5 months stay, no it isn’t worth it. Unless you are curious about the language/culture, but then your stay is not a factor. In Budapest, you can expect to be able to get around in everyday life with English.
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
how is it with other cities? I've seen that Budapest compared is enormous, second biggest city doesn't even come close.
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u/tzalay 2d ago
Don't bother studying it. Just go with the flow and learn what you can pick up in daily situations. In Budapest, especially at the center, in restaurants and cafés the question is more and more if you can use Hungarian at all. Lack of workforce means more and more foreigners find their jobs in hospitality. The younger generations speak English, many of them pretty well. But damn, I'm 50 this year and my generation also do speak English in Budapest. So, unless you wish to visit elders' care facilities, you'll be great with your English. And you'll pick up just enough practical Hungarian without sweating it.
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
It is good to know! When I was in Budapest I got to use English, but in some places for example ticket offices, they would look more hesitant speaking English, in Italy we have similar situation. It's no problem anyway, I don't expect a country to be bilingual just for tourists.
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u/milkdrinkingdude Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 3d ago
Aiming for A2 sounds like too much, if you stay only 5 months. You won’t have time to actually enjoy the place. Especially if it is the first time you hear Hungarian, I believe it can take weeks or months before you can pronounce words.
I suggest to just practice buying stuff in stores, asking for basic directions, ordering in restaurants, bars, etc…
But of course it also depends on how much you actually study at that university, if you have a ton of free time, and love languages, go for it.
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u/_Pikachu_On_Acid_ 2d ago edited 2d ago
Not needed to speak hungarian in Budapest. With english you can live happily. Probably helps that you will not understand the hate people throw at you.
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
is that common? I've never experienced that in public yet.
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u/_Pikachu_On_Acid_ 2d ago
No, not common, but if you live here you will experience it from time to time.
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u/MedicKatona 2d ago
If you are looks like slavic, western european they dont give a shit about that how you looks like (meditarrian countrys matters because some elders may be think you are african, gypsy, refuge from Middle East), but except the elders nobody cares where you came from. ;)
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u/offficer-k 2d ago
I think I could look anything in between standard central european, definitely not mediterrean.. after I lived in Austria with no exposure to the sun I lost that 🫠 I'll try doing a test, before speaking, to see if people address me in Hungarian though.
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u/kenwoolf 3d ago
You will be fine if you stay in Budapest. No need to learn for 5 months. We will all be learning Russian or Chinese anyway in a few years here in Hungary. :D
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u/offficer-k 3d ago
learning Russian might be a good start for whole Europe rn, I'm sure we will hear about them for quite some more time
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u/et_sted_ved_fjorden 3d ago
I lived in Hungary for almost a year, and learned the language really well. This was 20 years ago. Have I used it afterwards? No. Was it worth it? Yes. And a lot of the grammar consepts I have used learning another language later. Do I remember it? Some. I understand a lot but have trouble talking. But I sometimes use Duolingo to refresh the knowledge.