5+1 Useful tips to get you started with learning Hungarian!

Hungarian is a beautifully complex language. Many foreigners are staggered by this very complexity at first, but do not fret! Continue reading to find out the best way to begin your Hungarian language learning journey!

• Read More: 10+1 Hungarian sayings you may not know – Part 2

#1: The Hungarian alphabet

There is no getting around it: without a firm knowledge of the alphabet, you will run into difficulties further on. In addition to studying the alphabet, learn to pronounce each letter as well! This learning hack does not apply only to the Hungarian language. All languages require a firm understanding of basic fundamentals The following video from Hungarian Pronunciation might be handy. 

#2 Learn the number in Hungarian

It is important to know the numbers, even if only at a very basic level, no matter which language you study. Do not worry, compared to many other languages’ complex numerical systems, you will get the hang of the Hungarian way of counting in no time! Here is another video from Hungarian Pronunciation that helps you master this facet of the language.

#3 Understanding agglutination

This is where Hungarian linguistics turns confusing. If you are a beginner, you should not try to grasp all the morphology of the language overnight. The main point is to have an idea of what agglutination is. The Glossary of Linguistic Terms defines it as such: “An agglutinative language is a language in which words are made up of a linear sequence of distinct morphemes and each component of meaning is represented by its morpheme.”

At its core, Hungarian expresses the time, location, relation, and various grammatical functions through gluing together affixes.

While in English you might say “I ate it.” in Hungarian you can express the same with a single word: “Megettem.”