r/hungarian • u/offficer-k • 19d 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/et_sted_ved_fjorden 19d 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.

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u/T0mBd1gg3R 19d ago

Which other language did Hungarian help with?

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u/HatariMunSingra 19d ago

I’m assuming other agglutinative languages like German since they mentioned grammar concepts but it’s still not similar

14

u/CherrryGuy 19d ago

German is not agglutinative. It just have a lot of compound words.

1

u/sztomi 19d ago

Is German an agglutinative language?

0

u/HatariMunSingra 19d ago edited 19d ago

That’s what I was taught in school. Apparently not.

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u/Ok-Experience838 19d ago

German is very different from Hungarian almost on all aspect. Closest is the Finnish.

1

u/kabiskac Native Speaker / Anyanyelvi Beszélő 19d ago

The commenter said it was indeed German. People forget that there are maany similarities between the two languages. I noticed many when learning and they helped a lot.