What are language advice for moving to Hungary apart from learning the language?

[u/Realistic_Country465]

Learning Hungarian is the best move but as one of the hardest language out there it would take time and even then a lack of finesse.

Short of learning the language, what advice is there? I might be moving to Southwestern Hungary but is there any advice for communication? Certain phrases/words or communication? Certain things worth learning?

[u/tatagami]

Use the words, even if you remember the word or pronunciation in the wrong way people appreciate it and makes them more friendly/helpful toward you, especially if you use some polite stuff before or after, apologizing for the wrong use or pronunciation is usually met with positivity: don't worry about it, you will get better...

When you learn the abc, focus on letters that are not in your language cause they will be harder for you to pronounce. What you use words or sentences daily would be helpful to learn beforehand like: hello-bye, thanks-you're welcome, cash-card for payment, good morning,afternoon/evening/night(there is another for the time period of 2-3 hours before noon).

[u/trashpanda_9999]

r/hungarian

[u/Dumuzzid]

It's hard to give advice. Unless you plan to live here for the rest of your life, learning Hungarian just isn't worth the effort. Although it's not as hard as many make out to be, it certainly isn't as easy as Indo-European languages that are relatively similar to each other.

I had a similar dilemma when I lived in Singapore. English is widely spoken, but most of the population is Chinese, so speaking it would have been useful. However, after looking into the practicalities of what it would take (my flatmate was studying it), I decided that it just wasn't worth the effort. Learning Chinese takes about as much effort as learning 3 or 4 European languages and they're much more useful overall.

It's a similar story with Hungarian, you could easily learn 2 or 3 European languages, especially if they are similar to each other, with the same effort you put into Hungarian. Say, you could just learn Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

So, yeah, learn some basic words, greetings and phrases I guess, but mostly you'll be getting by with English.

[u/eastwest88]

As a hungarian. Just don’t. It is not worth it

[u/Realistic_Country465 → u/eastwest88]

Not worth in learning Hungarian or going there? Language wise yeah not going to dedicate to learning the whole language but have a good enough communication grasp, especially for older folk or far out from the cities were English isn’t well managed

[u/igotitithink]

Learn how to be and say courteous things. This means a lot to your elders and respect is still very much alive in the country. If you do not respect your elders and appreciate children, don’t bother moving there or doing business. Remember, there is over 1000 years of history so at least trying to understand where Hungarians came from and appreciating their trials and tribulations is appreciated. Politics was never really discussed in the past but in the last couple decades, people do talk about it openly. I think you’ll be entering a new era with the New Prime Minister so I think you’ll be good.

Hungarians, in general, are very direct and honest so if you’re going to beat around the bush, what-ever topic you plan to discuss, it is best to be honest.