Erasmus life in Budapest – Hungary through the eyes of French students

How would you imagine Erasmus life in a different country? Would you decide at all to study abroad and leave behind your own country for the sake of a new one which’s language you do not speak? That is what Erasmus life is mostly about: immersing yourself in a different culture, obtaining lifelong experiences and learning more about yourself. This article reveals how two French students see Hungary and what their impressions are about Budapest that might be eye-opening to us and motivate further progress in the country.

The Erasmus program is becoming more and more popular in recent years by providing opportunity for youngsters to broaden their horizon and obtain diverse experiences while studying in a different country. And what city would be more ideal for it than Budapest that nurtures culture with a number of theatres, cinemas and galleries, and also provides opportunity for professional development with several prestigious universitites.

Motivations and 1st impressions about Hungary

What motivates French students to come to Hungary while the palette of countries is variable? It is always interesting to see how foreigners perceive other countries, especially when it comes to tertiary education. Both students report that before coming to Hungary, they did not know much about the country. It was their English teacher who said that there are less-known places like Hungary, Romania or Bulgaria where they could also go on Erasmus besides the more well-known destinations.

They chose the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest to study, and even if Hungarians always feel that there are constant problems in the education system, it is reassuring when foreigners say that they came to Hungary because they heard about the good level of education in the country.

As far as 1st impressions are concerned, Hungarians have a lot to improve based on their experience. The French students report that people were quite cold and hostile to them when they arrived, and the district in which they lived for 6 months was nothing like what they expected. As we often hear, Hungarians are reluctant to speak any other languages that did not facilitate their stay in Budapest either. However, as soon as they started to pick up some Hungarian words and made an effort to communicate in Hungarian, people’s attitude also changed towards them.

The Hungarian language

They report that cliché as it may sound, the Hungarian language is really difficult to learn.

At the beginning, they could not communicate well in Hungarian, so they used English, a little Hungarian and a lot of gestures 🙂

Answering for the question of what words they picked up during their stay, they reported very interesting ones. You would never guess that more than half a year after the end of the Erasmus programme, they still remember such words. Besides recalling how to introduce themselves (“Marie vagyok, huszonegy éves vagyok és diák vagyok” – I am Marie, a 21 year-old student), they also mentioned words like utca (street), romkocsma (ruin pub), Franciaország (France), marhahús (beef) and further food vocabulary. 🙂