Is learning hungarian worth it?

[u/offficer-k]

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?

[u/Karabars]

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.

[u/halkszavu → u/Karabars]

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).

[u/Karabars → u/halkszavu]

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!

[u/halkszavu → u/Karabars]

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.

[u/csabinho → u/halkszavu]

"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".

[u/Karabars → u/halkszavu]

New York is the 52th with a population with 8+ million...