Hungarian

Hungarian (Magyar) is an official language of Hungary, spoken by 10.5 million people (98% of the population). Substantial populations of speakers are also found in adjacent countries: Romania (2 million); the Czech and Slovak Republics (600,000); the former Yugoslavia (450,000); Ukraine (170,000); and Israel (150,000). A significant number of speakers live in the US (450,000) and smaller populations--under 20 thousand--live in Slovenia, Canada, and Austria.

Hungarian is a Finno- Uralic language surrounded by Indo-European languages. The original Hungarians moved westward into Europe from their homeland east of the Ural Mountains, reaching their present settlement area in the Danube basin, west of the Carpathian Mountains, in the ninth century. It is estimated that the Hungarian language has been separated from its nearest linguistic relatives, Mansi and Khanty, for about 2,500 or 3,000 years.  Hungarian uses Latin script, and its first literary sources date back to 1200.

Source: UCLA Language Materials Project Language Profiles

 

Course Offerings

  • HUNG 0100 Hungarian I
  • HUNG 0200 Hungarian II
  • HUNG 0300 Hungarian III
  • HUNG 0400 Hungarian IV
  • HUNG 0299 Independent Study in Hungarian

View course descriptions.

Instructors

Adrienn Mizsei

Course Schedule

Title Instructors Location Time Description Cross listings Fulfills Registration notes Syllabus Syllabus URL Term
HUNG 0100-680 Hungarian I Adrienn V. Mizsei WILL 201 MW 7:00 PM-8:59 PM This course is the first in a series of first-year courses, intended for students with no previous background in Hungarian. The course develops competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian. It will also introduce you to Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including songs, videos, and short stories. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Hungarian on topics concerning your daily life, likes and dislikes, school, work and family, Hungarian holidays and holiday traditions. You will also be able to write short personalized messages in Hungarian. 2024C
HUNG 0300-680 Hungarian III Adrienn V. Mizsei WILL 201 TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM This course is the first in a series of second-year courses, continuation of Hungarian II. The course will strengthen students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian and will expand students' active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics. We will continue the exploration of Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including songs, videos, and short stories. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in increasingly complex conversations in Hungarian on many topics in informal and formal contexts concerning your daily life, your interests and life on campus, travel and cultural experiences, Hungarian seasonal traditions and cultural events. You will also be able to write longer messages in a variety of informal and formal contexts. 2024C
HUNG 0300-681 Hungarian III Adrienn V. Mizsei WILL 201 TR 7:15 PM-8:45 PM This course is the first in a series of second-year courses, continuation of Hungarian II. The course will strengthen students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian and will expand students' active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics. We will continue the exploration of Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including songs, videos, and short stories. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in increasingly complex conversations in Hungarian on many topics in informal and formal contexts concerning your daily life, your interests and life on campus, travel and cultural experiences, Hungarian seasonal traditions and cultural events. You will also be able to write longer messages in a variety of informal and formal contexts. 2024C
HUNG 0200-680 Hungarian II Adrienn V. Mizsei WILL 203 TR 7:15 PM-9:14 PM This course is the second in a series of first-year courses, continuation of Hungarian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian. We will continue the exploration of Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including songs, videos, short stories, and internet sites. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Hungarian on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life, including planning a trip to Hungary, staying in a hotel, ordering meals, and buying goods. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Hungarian. 2024A
HUNG 0200-681 Hungarian II Adrienn V. Mizsei WILL 203 TR 5:15 PM-7:14 PM This course is the second in a series of first-year courses, continuation of Hungarian I. The course continues to develop competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian. We will continue the exploration of Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including songs, videos, short stories, and internet sites. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in simple conversations in Hungarian on many topics in informal and some formal contexts concerning your daily life, including planning a trip to Hungary, staying in a hotel, ordering meals, and buying goods. You will also be able to write longer personalized messages in Hungarian. 2024A
HUNG 0400-680 Hungarian IV Adrienn V. Mizsei WILL 215 MW 7:00 PM-8:29 PM This course is the second in a series of second-year courses, continuation of Hungarian III. The course will continue strengthening and expanding students' competence in speaking, reading, writing, and understanding contemporary Hungarian and increasing active and passive vocabulary on a variety of topics. We will continue the exploration of Hungarian culture through exciting authentic materials, including online news resources, songs, and videos. Class work emphasizes development of communicative competence in real-life situations, spontaneous interactions, pair and group work and is conducted almost entirely in Hungarian. By the end of the course, you will be able to engage in increasingly complex conversations in Hungarian on many topics in informal and formal contexts concerning your daily life, significant personal and cultural events, attitudes and perspectives. You will be able to write longer messages in a variety of informal and formal contexts. Satisfies Penn Language Requirement. 2024A