11 Tips for Learning to Speak Hungarian Language
1) Visit a Hungarian cultural center. Almost all towns, even the smaller ones, have a group that meets to speak the magyar language.
2) Find a tutor or offer English lessons in exchange for Hungarian. The Hungarians like to say that, no matter, where you go in this world, you will find a Hungarian. Whether they be students or 1956 refugees, you can find a person of Hungarian origin virtually anywhere. And Hungarians love it when people make an attempt to learn their language and are more than happy to help.
3) Read, read, read: It's amazing how much vocabulary we can pick up, even if we may not understand everything completely: https://shop.
4) Watch a Hungarian film. Hungary has a rich cinematic history and you will find Hungarian movies film festivals and art film theaters around the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
5) Eat, drink and be merry: Hungarians have fondness for good (rich) food. Sometimes vocabulary can stick around better after a nice bowl of goulash than in the classroom.
6) You already know some Hungarian words already. Paprika and hussar, example. Did you also know that the word "coach" comes from Hungarian? It is derived from a town called Kocs.
7) Actually you know even more Hungarian words than that: Can you figure out what optimista, aktiv and grapefruit mean? There are hundreds more words that are the same or similar in Hungarian and English.
8) Listen to music and read the lyrics. As with film, for a small country, Hungary has given the world most than its fair share of gifts to the music world.
9) Find a pen pal (real or virtual): If you live in an isolated area or keep irregular hours, you can still find someone to communicate with at all times of the day.
10) Don't be afraid to make mistakes, have confidence. No language is ever learned without making mistakes, hundreds of them. Go out there an socialize.
11) Watch cartoons in Hungarian, a fun way to learn some Hungarian.
