The Hungarian Language

As I look at my past posts, I realise that there is one glaring omission: the Hungarian language! And so, I'd like to correct this now with some basic Hungarian words and phrases.

While I did buy the usual 'Learn Hungarian' phrasebooks before I arrived in Hungary, the Hungarian language is (apart from very few words) completely unrelated to other European languages (ok, yes, there are some links to Finnish if that helps). But just because it's not related to other languages, don't get discouraged - with a little practice, you can soon be ordering things in shops and asking where the toilet is :-)

Btw, Hungarians are quite proud of how difficult their language is, but they LOVE it when people make the effort to speak Hungarian (ok, ok, I can't guarantee that everyone will love it, but most people will :-)

Anyway, here are some essential words and phrases. I've attempted to add the everyday phonetic version in square brackets [], but it's best to hear it, so I've included a few links to some good YouTube videos below too.

Essential Words

Yes = Igen [ihh-gen]
No = Nem [nem]
Thank you = Köszönöm (or köszi for short) [cus-uh-num, cussy] (like the cus in abacus)
Sorry = Boscánat (or bocsi for short) [botch-aa-not, botchy]
Excuse me = Elneszest [el-neh-zesht]
Cheers = Egesegedre [egg-eh-shay-ged-reh]

Essential Phrases

Good day = Jó napot [yo nah-pot]
Good evening = Jó éstét [yo esh-tayt]
Hello = Szia [see-ya]
Thank you very much = Köszönöm szépen [cus-uh-num say-pen]
I'm sorry = Sajnálom [shy-nal-om]
I don't speak Hungarian = Nem beszélek magyarul [nem be-say-lek ma-jar-rule]
I only speak a little Hungarian = Beszélek csak egy kicsit magyarul [be-say-lek edge kitch-it ma-jar-rule]
Do you speak English? = Beszélsz angolul? [be-sayl-z an-gol-ool?]
I would like ... = Kerek ... [kay-rek]
Where is the toilet? = Hol van a WC? [hol von ah VC?]
I'm ... = ... vagyok [vadg-ok]

Numbers

1 = egy [see the video below for the pronunciation :-)]
2 = kettö (or két for short)
3 = három
4 = négy
5 = öt
6 = hat
7 = hét
8 = nyolc
9 = kilenc
10 = tíz

There are of course hundreds of words and phrases you could learn, and if you're staying for more than a few weeks, then I would recommend studying them a bit.

If you're staying for a long time, then I should add that I took a month long intensive course in Hungarian at Ulysses Language School (http://www.ulysses.co.hu/en/), and I can absolutely recommend that. It cost about €250-300 but it was everyday and by the end of the course I found that I really could understand so much more.

Anyway, people, have fun with speaking Hungarian, and don't worry if you get it wrong - just trying will score lots of points with the locals :-)

Those Hungarian Language YouTube Videos

Greetings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-NIOJ62hzg

Numbers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9zS4Zf4X84

Opening a Bank Account

If you're staying here for a more than just a couple of months, then you may want to open a bank account. I realised after a few weeks, when I checked my netbank in Denmark, that it costs a lot to use the ATMs - I was paying about 4 euros everytimee I withdrew cash!!! So I decided that I had to open a bank account, then I would be able to transfer the money once a month, and avoid all those extra fees.

There are lots of banks to choose from, but the biggest bank (with the most ATMs) is OTP (www.otpbank.hu) so, for convenience, I thought I'd go to them. I set out on a sunny Friday afternoon and wandered into my local OTP bank and was struck my the first obstacle: a ticket-queueing system with about 10 options entirely in Hungarian. Hmmm, this wasn't going to be my day. The thought of waiting for 10 minutes, then finding out that I'd taken the wrong ticket and having to wait again didn't really appeal to me, so I thought that this was something I could leave for another day.

Getting a Hungarian SIM Card

One of the first things I did when I got here was to get a pay-as-you-go SIM card, since it still costs a lot to use international mobiles across Europe (although it's much cheaper than it once was). Anyway, it's the kind of thing you're going to want to do if you're staying here for longer than a few weeks, and because I was looking for an apartment and needed to speak to agents, I knew it would be cheaper.

Of course, there's no reason you can't get a contract mobile if you're going to be here for a while, but I'm a guy and so phone conversations usually consist of "Hi", "yeah good thanks, how about you?", "okay, 8 o'clock - at Szimpla?", "yep, okay, see you then" - and that takes all of 45 seconds, so a contract phone with "free" minutes, and all the other nonsense that some people find useful, wasn't worth it for me. So I just looked up some of the big mobile companies websites to find out what they were offering. After a chat with my Hungarian friend, I settled on T-Mobile and their Domino scheme.

http://www.t-mobile.hu/english/all_plans/domino_sim/domino_sim_card

There are quite a few mobile phone shops across the city, but I to the T-Mobile shop on Petőfi Sándor utca 12, in the 5th District, just because it was nearby. They have an electronic ticket system for queuing, and thankfully you could choose English, so I was able to get a ticket for Mobile Sales, rather than some other department. When it was eventually my turn (it took at least 15 minutes, which is a long time to sit in a phone showroom with nothing but smart phones to look at, btw I'm not in the slightest bit interested in smart phones - my phone makes calls and sends SMSs, so it's smart enough). The girl I spoke to fortunately spoke good English, but I noticed that some of the others didn't - there was a late 50s German guy who was clearly having some trouble explaining something. All I needed was my passport, an address, and some cash to pay for it - and the girl installed the card straight away - the domino contract I got seems quite cheap and the card cost about 5000 forint (about 17 euros) and included some credit, so I really can't complain.

The only thing I've found slightly annoying is that I've no idea how to check my balance, and see how much credit I have left - if I work that one out I'll post it here.

Update (28/03/14):
To check balance on T-Mobile Domino dial *102# and press call.
You see a message displayed.
"Egyenleg" Means balance.
(Thanks John!)