How can I learn Hungarian in two years?
Posted by ZookeepergameAny528@reddit | askhungary | View on Reddit | 44 comments
Hello guys, I don't speak Hungarian just yet and I'm gonna move there in two years so I was hoping someone could guide me a bit, where should I start? Where can I meet people to practice with? How good does my Hungarian have to be to survive in Budapest? If it's useful, I already speak Spanish, English and a bit of German and chinese
Disastrous-Cress-272@reddit
My boyfriend is going to move there too. As a local i would say the best is a private teacher (online). My partner was lucky bc his teacher speak his language + hun which is really nice combo. He already speak basics (really basics) or a small talk with strangers. He has 1 magyar class + duolingo and the stupid slangs I taught him😄
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I'll try to, a guy already contacted me offering me some help
zizi119@reddit
No chance.
Ill-Letterhead1833@reddit
The only thing I can recommend is using the immersion method. There are a lot of resources you can find online, but the basic principle is that while you study the language in the traditional manner, you also immerse yourself in it. Podcasts, music, videos, movies, watch and listen to all of them on Hungarian, even if you don't yet understand what is said in them. Also, try speaking as soon as you can. If you're shy, you can use ai, but I would recommend joining a discord and just trying to speak. Personally, I belive you can learn to speak coherently in under a year. I was able to do the same with German. It will be a lot of work, and it will take a lot of your time, but this is the only way, in my opinion.
wizliii@reddit
ez egy életreszóló kihÃvás 😃 lifetime challange 😃
Interesting_Pay_3926@reddit
In two years? Wow... Well, good luck, not impossible, but definetly hard.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I know, I'll be happy if I can communicate in basic Hungarian with people, I won't invade your country without even caring to learn your language and culture
Interesting_Pay_3926@reddit
Sok sikert kÃvánok :)
Simple_Definition807@reddit
There is a group "Hungarian as foreign language netwok" on FB. You may find there some good stuff.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I'll make a Facebook to join that then
mig_mit@reddit
If you move there, you might need to interact with some officials, and for that you'd need Hungarian. Although you can hire a lawyer for that and it would be like a breeze.
For everything else you don't really need Hungarian.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I know, it's just manners, I won't move to a country I don't know anything about
mig_mit@reddit
Well, it's just one of the things you asked. I agree that learning the local language is important if you're going to move there.
In fact, I kinda wish that Hungarians didn't know English that well. I bet my Hungarian would be much better now.
CorrioHUN@reddit
work as a seasonal worker in the countryside in agriculture
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
Lol, like mexicana in the us
CorrioHUN@reddit
fast, effective, only looking for hot phrases, strong foundations and money.
This is the way
LaurestineHUN@reddit
My boyfriend did it by moving here and working in construction and warehouse jobs among Hungarians. Also learning it in uni, but a language course will do.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I hope I can speak basic Hungarian by then
Feherlo@reddit
Te tetted-e e tettetett tettet, te tettetett tettek tettese, te!
Soggy_Supermarket100@reddit
I had an American classmate who learned to speak Hungarian by watching TV. She had really good pronunciation as well!
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
Gonna watch lots of Hungarian tv then
Spaceshuttle117@reddit
I would eskort you through the whole process and make a youtube channel out of it. :)
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
Fine :D
midsommer-8472@reddit
If you can learn chinise, hungarian well be OK. The two most diffucult languages are chinise and hungarian.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
Thanks, I'm checking it
Pebble-Sorter-8128@reddit
Hungarian knowledge, not the most useless skill to have, but not the best either.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I know, but if I'm moving to another country, I'm at least learning the kanguage
SilverLakeSimon@reddit
I’d strongly recommend enrolling in an online Hungarian course, such as the ones at Magyar Iskola. I think that Hungarian is best learned with a skilled teacher accompanied by a clear textbook, especially in the initial stages of learning.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I'll try to, thanks for the advice
bmakszim@reddit
You can't.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
Wow, thanks
No_Antelope_4947@reddit
I don’t even know how I managed to learn english, it’s so frustrating. But my general advice to anyone learning a language, concentrate on the vocabulary (unless you aim to take an exam). Hungarian grammar is so stupid, it shouldn’t be your goal to ace it. Learn the basics, tenses, suffixes (they are also quite stupid). When you have a solid vocab, start to watch some series that you know by heart, with Hungarian dubbing and subtitles. Then grammar will come naturally.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the help, I'll try so
Salt-Explanation-711@reddit
If you spend most of your time with the language, that should be doable, 2 years is 730 days, if we multiply it by 8 hours every day, that should be 5840 hours which is more than enough to learn from scratch. I would say half of that is also more than enough, but let's suppose you only practice 2 hours a day, now that would probably get you around an intermediate level that should be more than comfortable.Â
As to the exact methodology, you already know other languages, just apply the same methods that you did for those. If you learnt them in school, then I would suggest playing around and see what you enjoy, it shouldn't be a slog fest. Use a lot of input, look up comprehensible input for language learning, and go from there.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the help, I'll update you guys in 730 days
Leviv8@reddit
Why do you want to do this to yourself? That's a language I'd never learn from scratch if i wouldn't speak it by default.
Also, none of the languages you speak would be useful with hungarian as it makes no sense nor is related to any of those.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I know they're not as useful but they do help by training me to pick up sounds and so, also, I wanna learn Hungarian by myself because it's basically what I always do, learn languages by myself instead of taking actual courses
Proper_Cat8961@reddit
You could, (my son did it before the age of 2 /s) but for sure there are more useful things to do.
Budapest is a completely international city, you'll do fine with English.
You can learn some Hungarian once you are here and make friends with locals.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
That's kinda the plan
AdPrize4089@reddit
I wouldn't say speaking any specific language would help you advance faster with Hungarian; the fact that your brain is accustomed to picking up on different languages should be a positive. In Budapest you can survive with virtually zero Hungarian, but you might not be able to leave the expat bubble. I would recommend getting familiar with the language through podcasts, or even cartoons (collecting vocabulary from a "Bogyó és Babóca" episode each day is still better than playing yourself with Duolingo). Also, join r/hungarian if you haven't yet. Good luck, your motivation to learn makes a big difference.
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
Thanks bro, I'll try to collect as many vocabulary as possible, thanks for the support:D
Csaba333@reddit
In Budapest, you can survive without Hungarian. Hungarian is going to be very difficult to learn, especially as it is a very different language than English and Spanish. But I think it is not a nice thing if a person does not speak the language of the country they are moving too, BUT... considering how difficult Hungarian is, even for us, Hungarians, i appreciate foreigners who really try to learn and get better day by day, and don't care if it takes 10 years, just as long as i see people trying to do their best, and making mistakes is not a problem at all, especially with this language. You are up for a challenge with learning Hungarian, but many foreigners learned it, all it takes is will power. 🙂
ZookeepergameAny528@reddit (OP)
I will try to watch some movies in Hungarian, I already watch Peppa pig in Hungarian tho, someone told me it's actually useful to watch that kind of series in languages you don't know because they're actually intended to teach the kids new words and so, thanks for the help!
Educational-Hope6497@reddit
r/hungarian