What is the FSI Hungarian Basic Course?

This FSI Hungarian course was created in 1962 and consists of two volumes of 12 units. Each unit starts by presenting the new vocabulary and grammar in the form of a dialog for memorization, after which a series of drills and exercises allow you to work on your fluency.

Each unit is accompanied by audio files, which help improve your pronunciation, and working through this course will allow you to pick up the basics of Hungarian before moving on to some of the more complicated aspects of this challenging language.

The focus of the course is on spoken colloquial Hungarian, and completing it will give you a good grounding in the language, allowing you to use your Hungarian in a wide range of everyday situations.

In addition to the main course, you will also find a Hungarian graded reader along with audio recordings, which can be used to work on both reading and listening skills in Hungarian.

How was FSI Hungarian Basic originally used?

FSI Hungarian Basic was originally developed for US diplomatic staff who needed to acquire a solid working knowledge of the language before being sent to postings in Hungary. They attended six hours of class every day, during which they spoke only Hungarian, and this was supplemented by a further two hours of individual study.

Even when not in class, they were supposed to speak Hungarian among themselves, and in this environment, they were able to reach a relatively high level of Hungarian in only six months.

How can you use FSI Hungarian Basic?

Although you probably won’t have anything like the perfect study environment US diplomats enjoyed, you can still benefit greatly from these materials if you know how to adapt them to your needs.

If you have another Hungarian coursebook, you can use the dialogs, drills and exercises contained in this free Hungarian course to supplement your study. Alternatively, if you are looking for a primary coursebook, you can work through these materials as your main source of language input, supplementing them with any other resources you have available.

Taking it further

If you are learning Hungarian, you will want to use it to start conversing with native Hungarian speakers, and for the best results, we urge you to do this as early as possible. Try to find Hungarian speakers to practice with, and as far as possible, incorporate speaking Hungarian into your daily life. If you do this, despite the language’s fearsome reputation, you will see how quickly you begin to make progress.

Hungarian Graded Reader

The Hungarian Graded Reader is designed to develop reading ability in Hungarian by using audio material with the text with minimum recourse to translation. The 56 reading selections are arranged to follow students' progression from the beginning through the intermediate stages of reading proficiency. This text will supplement a beginning course in Hungarian or serve as part of an intermediate course.