Hungarian language learning

[Tom C]

Hello to you all

I have an ambition to move to Hungary to live and work in the coming years and obviously I will need to be on the road, at least, to being able to speak Hungarian.

I work full time as a shift worker so the practicalities of going on a dedicated college course are not there so if I want to achieve my dream then it is incumbent on me to take the bull by the horns and start to learn myself. I am well aware that Hungarian is far from the easiest language to learn, especially for a beginner, but if you want something enough then you have to start somewhere and take it one step at a time.

The will is there but the strategy and the plan.....well that is where I hope you fine people will be able to help me with!

What I am looking for is a routine that you guys have worked with that sets you up on your way. The time you spend each day on each element, the time you set apart for interaction and how you find the people to do it, the best resources for the job etc.

I know that certain ways are going to suit certain people but at least if I have a template to start with then I can delve in and tweak it as I go on.

Also, does anyone have any practical experience of learning Hungarian from scratch and can offer any practical advice to a complete newbie to Hungarian AND learning languages

Thanks for listening and thanks in advance for your help!

Tom

[rad]

I'm native English, learning Hungarian--not for travel, but I think I'm just crazy. I began studying alone with an old text, which is typically grammar and reading oriented. After finishing half of it I was pretty frustrated. That was three years ago. I connected with really good language partners who help with the tangle of grammar. I can translate easy-medium Hungarian articles now, but speaking and listening still elude me.

At the beginning, at most I spent an hour a day. Now it's 2+ plus hours on most days.
I think maybe what you are asking is what I would do differently.

I wish I had started listening earlier. It's a problem finding easy material online so you are pretty much limited to text materials. FSI, Goethe language, Hungarian pod 101, and a very few others. Paid programs there is Assimil, Glossika, and Hallo Itt Magyarorszag; I found the latter best for conversational dialogues.

I also wish I had started writing earlier, using simple 3-4 Hungarian sentences as a model.

If you'd like more specifics, I'd be glad to help.

[eido]

I believe @Chung has learned it.

[David1917]

I was sort of under the impression that I'd be moving to Hungary next year, so I started learning last Summer. Those plans changed, however I did get a good bit of basic understanding under my belt, and in Budapest I was able to do some basic shopping/dining after a couple months.

I used primarily Assimil's Hungarian With Ease course. It has a pretty steep learning curve, so you have to put some time in. I first shadowed the audio to become familiar with the sounds of the language in general, and the dialogues of the course in particular. On my bike rides every day, I chipped away at the audio until I had gone through the whole thing. This took about a week. Then, I started each day with a new lesson and went as far as I could, and these corresponded to where I was with the reading/writing portion of the book. So on day 1, I started with lesson 1 and went forward, shadowing again while riding. Day 2, lesson 2 and forward, etc. I use a different method when I am seated with the book - which is to shadow/read along, then write out the dialogue, working in waves through the material.

I experimented with a couple other books, but once my plans fell apart, I put it on the backburner to get back to Persian and advancing Chinese. These included the original version of Colloquial Hungarian by H. Whitney, which I find to be an excellent book to work through. You can find them used on Amazon for a few bucks. Hallo Itt Magyarorszag looked good, too, but I never got around to it.

Finally, for free, you can use the FSI Basic Course, available on the Yojik website. I have heard/read that this is a very good and detailed approach to Hungarian.

If you haven't lurked around here before and don't know what any of the above courses/terms mean, I or someone else can explain further.

Hungarian is a very exciting and fun language, and challenging in that it is not in any way related to our own. However, that is not to say that it is in any way obtuse, illogical, or impenetrable, so don't let anyone belabor the "hardest language" thing. Your study will be highly rewarding, both intellectually and culturally when you move to this fascinating country!

[Speakeasy]

In addition to all of the excellent recommendations above, I suggest that the OP read through the threads below, a couple of which I have included as encouragement for those wishing to study this language.

Hungarian Language Profile
This is the best place to start. Unless I am mistaken, Chung was the principal contributor.
http://www.language-learners.org/language-descriptions/hungarian-language-profile/

Best Hungarian learning materials? - LLORG - December 2017
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7368

Hungarian Idea. - LLORG - April 2016
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2655

National Foreign Language Center (NFLC)
In his October, 2017 post “National Foreign Language Center”, IronMike introduced us to the website of the National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) which contains a large warehouse of graded “reading” and “listening” files covering a broad selection of languages, including a significant number for Hungarian. While the files are accessible by paid subscribers only, as they are both recent and often range from novice through intermediate, if not even higher, they represent a unique resource, especially for the less-frequently-studied languages and are sure to be worth the small cost of a subscription ($ 5.00 per month for individuals).
http://portal.nflc.umd.edu/lessons

[Chung]

Hello to you all

I have an ambition to move to Hungary to live and work in the coming years and obviously I will need to be on the road, at least, to being able to speak Hungarian.

I work full time as a shift worker so the practicalities of going on a dedicated college course are not there so if I want to achieve my dream then it is incumbent on me to take the bull by the horns and start to learn myself. I am well aware that Hungarian is far from the easiest language to learn, especially for a beginner, but if you want something enough then you have to start somewhere and take it one step at a time.

The will is there but the strategy and the plan.....well that is where I hope you fine people will be able to help me with!

What I am looking for is a routine that you guys have worked with that sets you up on your way. The time you spend each day on each element, the time you set apart for interaction and how you find the people to do it, the best resources for the job etc.

I know that certain ways are going to suit certain people but at least if I have a template to start with then I can delve in and tweak it as I go on.

Also, does anyone have any practical experience of learning Hungarian from scratch and can offer any practical advice to a complete newbie to Hungarian AND learning languages

Thanks for listening and thanks in advance for your help!

Tom

See here for some ideas.