Question 1

Is Hungarian easy to learn?

Accepted Answer

Not exactly. Hungarian is rated as a Level III language by the Foreign Service Institute, meaning it is one of the more difficult languages for an English speaker to learn. It is not an Indo-European language, like most Central and Western European languages, so there are fewer cognates. Grammatical rules are different, as well, which can be challenging.

Despite this, there are elements of Hungarian that are fairly easy. There are no silent letters, and letters are pronounced consistently. There is no grammatical gender, and plurals are relatively simple.

Another way to make learning Hungarian easier is with the guidance of one of our certified Hungarian teachers. Our individualized lessons mean that you will have the support you need to master even the more difficult grammatical challenges.

Question 2

Why is Hungarian so different?

Accepted Answer

Hungarian originated in the Ural mountains of Russia and is a member of the Finno-Ugric language family. It is most closely related to Finnish and Estonian. Most European languages are in the Indo-European family, along with many dialects from the Indian subcontinent. This is to say that English has more in common with Hindi than it does with Hungarian!

Because Hungarian comes from a completely different family of languages, there are fewer cognates (those cognates that do exist largely borrow words from European neighbors), and grammatical rules can be quite different from English. These features add to the unique beauty of the Hungarian language.

Question 3

How long would it take to learn Hungarian?

Accepted Answer

Hungarian is a Level III language, rated by the Foreign Service Institute, so you can expect to gain competency in about 44 weeks (or 11,000 hours). Of course, there are many mitigating factors, such as quality of instruction, immersion, and natural proclivity. The more you use and hear a language, the better your skills will become.

Our certified Hungarian teachers can help you master the language by providing you the opportunity to speak, read, and listen to the language. By offering personal, immediate feedback, they can help develop your Hungarian skills faster and more accurately.