Learn Hungarian

Start at the alphabet

The Hungarian on-ramp is written by hand, not generated, and it is 490 cards long. Every card is spoken in a recorded Hungarian voice, and what you get right is scheduled for review rather than shown again at random.

• 44letters
• 10digits
• 16pronunciation rules
• 300core words
• 60everyday phrases
• 60sentences

Three of the pronunciation cards, exactly as the on-ramp teaches them:

• köszönöm — stress falls on the FIRST syllable of every Hungarian word, always, with no exceptions to learn. However long the word gets and however many endings you glue on, the beat never moves. Hit the first syllable and let the rest run out flatMagyarország — Hungary
• kalapács — and here is the trap that comes with it: an accent mark is LENGTH, not stress. In kalapács the stress is on KA and the long vowel is the á at the far end — they are on different syllables and both are right. Never push the accented vowel loudervirág — a flower
• a á o ó u ú, ö ő ü ű e é i í — every Hungarian vowel belongs to a team: BACK (a á o ó u ú) or FRONT (ö ő ü ű e é i í). A word normally sticks to one team throughout. This is vowel harmony, and it decides the shape of every ending you will ever add — you choose the ending by the vowels already in the word, never by the meaning. i, í and é are the neutral ones and can sit quietly inside a back wordhíd — a bridge — a neutral vowel in a back word, so it takes back endings: hídban

Your first Hungarian phrases

The first phrase and sentence cards of the on-ramp, each spoken in a recorded voice:

• Hogy vagy? HOHDY VODY — how are you? (informal)
• Hogy van? HOHDY VON — how are you? (polite)
• Jól vagyok, köszönöm. YOHHL VO-dyohk, KUR-sur-nurm — I’m fine, thank you
• Anna vagyok. ON-no VO-dyohk — My name is Anna. (literally “I am Anna.”)
• Diák vagyok. DI-aak VO-dyohk — I am a student.

What Hungarian actually costs a beginner

Stress is always on the first syllable and never moves, however many endings are glued on — and an accent mark is length, not stress, so in kalapács the beat is on KA while the long vowel sits at the far end. Then vowel harmony: every vowel belongs to a back team or a front team, a word normally keeps to one, and the team chooses the shape of every ending. Since Hungarian does its grammar with endings, harmony is the gate to all of it. Every rule here is a card with a recorded voice, and the cases are met in sentences rather than in tables.