Learning the Language
Hungarian is a notoriously difficult language to learn–unlike Germanic, Slavic, and Romance languages, the tiny country of Hungary feels like it is in a world of its own when it comes to language. After nearly three weeks here, I understand only three words—hello/goodbye (szia), thank you (köszönöm), and excuse me (bocsánat), and can vaguely recognize others, like my metro stop and the names of streets, though I am not sure I pronounce them properly. Most people, especially young people, speak English to some degree, though sometimes I am mistaken to be Hungarian and someone will speak to me while I look at them blankly until they realize I speak English. At the grocery store, the person checking me out will usually say things to me while scanning my groceries, but I just stand there and smile, hand them my card, sign the receipt, and say köszönöm at the end. That’s the only time when I could possibly pass as Hungarian, and basically maximizes my language skills.
Due to the language barrier, it’s really easy to be marked as a tourist here, and most people I interact with aren’t especially friendly to foreigners, even though there are many in the city. Older people often do not speak English since Hungary was under Soviet rule until 1990 and citizens were taught Russian instead, so this can tough. Although I love to explore new cities and learn new languages, the difficulty of Hungarian can sometimes make it intimidating to go to non-touristy parts of Budapest. I haven’t picked up any words other than the basic ones I talked about before, but now I’m more used to the sound of the language and it has become a bit easier to navigate streets and public transportation. That’s about as good as I can expect to get here unfortunately, especially since my professor also does not speak Hungarian, so I have no one to teach me this difficult language. Even Google Translate is not always very helpful due to the huge number of slang terms in daily conversation, though it is invaluable for reading signs or packages. I wish I could pick up some more Hungarian, but I’m not sure how I would even approach learning it. Hopefully by end of the trip, I can learn a few more words at least!
