“The only language the Devil respects” Chico Buarque, Budapest

Many Hungarians, particularly young people, have a healthy command of the English language. Many are also adept at other European languages with German being the most commonly spoken. Older Hungarians will often say they have ‘forgotten’ the Russian taught to them at school but most will still have a reasonable understanding. Mastering the Hungarian tongue can be a terrifying ordeal, often resulting in personal degradation as shop assistants laugh at your flustered attempts. That aside, learning a few key phrases can smooth your time in Hungary and may even win you friends and admirers. On the downside, Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn. On the upside, in Hungarian pronunciation the characters always have the same sound value. So once you master the alphabet, you are basically able to read out any Hungarian text. While many letters represent the same sounds as they do in English, below we have listed those particular to Hungarian, followed by some basic words and phrases. Sok szerencsét! (Good luck)!

VOWEL SOUNDS

ô u in churn
oo oo in pool
ue ue in blue
û ee in eel

CONSONANTS & CLUSTERS

á back, pan, baa
cs ch in church
d door
dz ds in dudz
dzs j in jello, but with a hint of a 'd' at the start
gy Mostly like the d in during, but with a touch of the j in jello.
j/ly y in yoghurt
ny ny in nyah
sz s in soup
zs s in hoosier


Yes Igen (ee-gen)
No Nem (Nem)
Hi/Bye (informal) Szia (See-ya)
Hello/Good day (formal) Jó napot! (Yo-napot)
Good evening Jó estét! (Yo esh-tet)
Good-bye Viszlát (Vees-lat)
Good Night Jó éjszakát! (Jo Ey-sha-kat)
Please Kérek (Care-ek)
Thank you Köszönöm (Kur-sur-nurm)
Excuse me/Sorry Bocsánat (Bo-cha-not)
My name is... Bruce vagyok (Bruce vodge-ok)
How are you? Hogy vagy? (Hodge vodge)
What is your name? Mi a neved? (Me ah nev-ed)
Do you speak English? Beszél angolul? (Be-seyl An-go-loul?)
I don’t speak Hungarian. Nem beszélek magyarul. (Nem bes-el-ek modge-or-ul)
I don’t understand. Nem értem. (Nem Eyr-tem)
Two beers, please. két sört, kérem. (keyt short, Key-rem)
Cheers! Egészségedre (Egez-sheg-edrey)
Where are the toilets? Hol van a mosdó? (Hol van a mosh-doa?)
You are pretty Szép vagy (Sairp vodge)
I love you. Szeretlek (Seh-ret-lek)
How much does it cost? Mennyibe kerül? (Menny-bek-urule)
Take me there, please. Vigyen oda, kérem. (Vi-djen O-da, Key-rem)
My Hovercraft is full of eels. A légpárnás hajóm teli van angolnákkal (Ah leg-par-nash yahr-mew-vem telly von un-gone-aval)