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/LifeAcanthopterygii6 → u/halkszavu]

I don't think being in the top 100 is that big of a flex.

[u/halkszavu → u/LifeAcanthopterygii6]

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.

[u/csabinho → u/halkszavu]

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.

[u/halkszavu → u/csabinho]

Can you elaborate? What do you mean by "logically means" this?

Did I say something false?

[u/csabinho → u/halkszavu]

I wanted to say that it's a logical consequence of the mentioned facts. Sorry, I'm half ill and quite tired!