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Does it make sense to learn Hungarian while studying in Hungary? bic_2021_admn 2022.10.11.

Does it make sense to learn Hungarian while studying in Hungary?

According to many lists found online, Hungarian is one of the hardest languages to learn for English speakers. Also, only about 12 million people speak this language in the World and it is also not very similar to any other languages. However, we still think it’s a good idea to learn Hungarian while studying in Hungary. Let’s see why:
1. Career prospects
The most important reason is employability. Even though there are many English-speaking jobs in Hungary, they are limited and even companies who hire for these prositions prefer applicants who can speak (at least a little bit of) Hungarian just as a courtesy to other, possibly non-English-speaker colleagues. Speaking just conversational level Hungarian will multiply your chances of getting a job after graduation or while studying.
2. You have years to learn it in a native environment
Even though Hungarian is said to be hard to learn, it’s much easier while in Hungary. You can hear and read the language on the streets, on public transport, at uni and so on. This way you learn even by just being attentive and you will be able to understand basic things pretty fast. And guess what? Learning Hungarian to reach a fluent level is not even that long according to professors. According the Foreign Service Institute, learning Hungarian takes approximately 44 weeks if you practice 1 hour each day. You may not practice this much- but you’ll have much more than 44 weeks in Hungary! According to our experience at BIC, some students never learn even a word while studying in Hungary, other can learn it even in a couple of months completely fluently- it’s up to you, really.
3. It’ll help you live among Hungarians
Most Hungarians (especially young Budapesters) speak English, but Hungarian can help you with the older generation or while arranging important official issues, flat rentals or even just reading the ingredients on certain foods. Being able to understand what’s going on around you is generally fantastic.
4. You can show off with it
Learning a language that is generally considered to be hard is a huge feat. You can show off to your friends with it or even mention it in your CV- maybe this is going to be that unique something that will make you look even better than other candidates (even in Hungarian is not really needed for a job).
 
Hungarian language is part of the curriculum of all of our BIC foundations. The reason is that we want to give you a glimpse of how it is, and help you boost your study abroad experience in Hungary.