FSI Hungarian Basic Course

Hungarian is a Uralic language belonging to the same family as Finnish and Estonian. It has around 13 million speakers, mostly in Hungary but also in pockets in the surrounding regions – as well as in other countries worldwide, notably the US, Canada and Israel.

Unless you have a specific reason for wanting to study Hungarian, perhaps the main attraction is the fact that it is widely regarded as being the most fiendishly difficult European language to master.

It is a highly inflected language with no fewer than 18 cases (although this is disputed, with some people counting even more), and for speakers of English, the word order can seem quite eccentric at times.

It has a four-level system of politeness – think of the French tu and vous but with two extra options – and it is also an extremely idiomatic language, so even if you know every word in a sentence, you may still be left scratching your head as to the meaning.

This is one for advanced language learners or linguistic masochists, but if you’re up for a challenge, they don’t come much tougher than this.

And if all this leaves you licking your lips in anticipation rather than fleeing in terror, this free online Hungarian course will be an invaluable addition to your study resources.

Course Details

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

Volume 1

Student Text

Unit	Audio
Unit 01	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 02	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 03	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3 · Tape 4
Unit 04	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 05	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3 · Tape 4
Unit 06	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 07	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3 · Tape 4
Unit 08	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 09	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 10	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 11	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 12	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3 · Tape 4

Volume 2

Student Text

Student Text

Unit	Audio
Unit 13	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 14	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 15	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 16	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 17	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 18	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 19	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 20	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3
Unit 21	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3 · Tape 4
Unit 22	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3 · Tape 4 · Tape 5
Unit 23	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3 · Tape 4 · Tape 5
Unit 24	Tape 1 · Tape 2 · Tape 3 · Tape 4 · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape · Tape