Magyaróra
"Hungarian Class"

These pages provide original materials for both teachers and learners of the Hungarian language. The visitor can find authentic audio exercises, reading texts (articles, short stories) and worksheets that can be used in the classrooms.

It is a well-structured site divided into sections for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners. The instructions are given in Hungarian and in English.

Hungarian Phrase Guides

The aim of this site is to teach some "survival" Hungarian, but its audio recordings and printable phrase collection can be useful for every learner. You can listen to the sounds, numbers, days and some basic expressions in connection with e.g. shopping and asking directions.

Természet, II

Csudáltalak ezer szemmel,

ezer szemű szerelemmel.

Két szemmel most alig látlak,

Some private pages on learning Hungarian can be found on the internet, here you can find some recommendations. The descriptive language of the sites is English. :

Study Hungarian!

Choose the Study Hungarian! link from the menu. In about 10 short lessons you can learn the basics of the language. After some vocabulary, grammar description and sample sentences you can try to do some practice on your own (key is given).

Moreover, from this site you can get some facts about the history, the cuisine and geography of the country and can find a lovely photo gallery.

Introduction to the Hungarian language

The basics of Hungarian: sounds, letters, words and phrases and some useful links (e.g. slang dictionary) are presented.

Origó Hungarian language exams

The Centre organises bilingual and monolingual Hungarian examinations (accredited state exams), which have four levels at present: Waystage User, Threshold User, Independent User, Competent User. Here you can find sample exercises for the oral and for the written exams with a key.

On this site you can read a detailed description of the Hungarian language exams (parts, points, levels and requirements). Many useful pieces of information are added if you would like to take the exam in Budapest or abroad: in Montreal, Toronto or in New York, you can find more information about these possibilities here.

Magyar Elektronikus Könyvtar (MEK)
"Hungarian Electronic Library"

From this online library e-texts are available (mainly in Hungarian). The visitor can search in the database and choose among books on:

natural sciences and mathematics, technology and economics, social sciences, culture, art and literature, reference and miscellaneous (dictionaries, Encyclopaedias, biographies, maps ).

literature history linguistics social life art architecture science & nature space science IT law medicine education sport news

MEK, Culture, Art, Literature (in English)
Humán területek, Kultúra, Irodalom
(in Hungarian)

This link provides a valuable source for a wide range of reading materials for every generation.
Many classical and modern literary works in Hungarian can be found in this collection. Moreover, you can find some Hungarian classical literature translated into foreign languages (e.g. English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Slovakian, etc.).

Some recommendation from the Hungarian short stories:

Short stories in Hungarian (and some with the English translation) by:
Jókai Mór, Móra Ferenc,
Móricz Zsigmond, Csáth Géza ,
Karinthy Frigyes (in English : Please Sir!), Mikszáth Kálmán, (in English: The good people of Palócz.

Hungarian short stories

Some gems from the 18th and 19th centuries written by the most famous Hungarian storytellers, translated into English.

Some recommendation from the Hungarian Poetry:

Ady Endre, Áprily Lajos, Arany János,
Babits Mihály, Dsida Jenő, József Attila, Kosztolányi Dezső, Petőfi Sándor (in German),
Pilinszky János

Hungarian Folk Tales:

You can be a child or an adult you will surely enjoy these witty tales, which are based on Hungarian folk tradition. In the MEK electronic library you can find a nice collection compiled and told by famous Hungarian writers:

Magyar Népmesék (collected by Arany László), Hét meg hét magyar népmese and
Hetvenhét magyar népmese
(collected by Illyés Gyula)

Literary biographies:

A magyar irodalom arcképcsarnoka
by Hegedüs Géza, 1991

"...Ezek egy irodalmat és benne a mi magyar irodalomtörténetünket nagyon szerető íróember vallomásai 222 személy szerint lelkéhez közeli elődjéről, nemegyszer mesteréről."

Via this web page you can read the story of 222 Hungarian authors from Anonimus through to Márai Sándor till Zelk Zoltán. It does not just teach but entertains as well!

This site is perfect supplementary material for practicing Hungarian through literary history.

History of the beginnings:

Emese Saga
Hungarian prehistory from the beginnings to king St. Stephen (1038)

This collection of scientific essays deals with different layers of the Hungarian history: language, art, religion, social life. The study goes back thousands years to the Ugric times and follows the tribe until the foundation of the Hungarian Kingdom in the 11th century by St. Stephan.

The language of the essays is English.

On the one hand it is a valuable supplementary material for those who are interested or specialised in the prehistory of the Hungarians, on the other the colourful and varied picture gallery of the site demonstrating the different periods and topics with extracts from the essays can be helpful in classrooms as well!

Revolutions in 1849 and 1956

'48

This is the Hungarian Radio's article about the events and the historical background of the age with audio records of the "Nemzeti Dal" presented by different actors. The article is available in Hungarian.

'56

Here you can find the Hungarian Radio's article on the events with archive audio records from the time of the revolution, pictures, personal memoirs. The language of the article is Hungarian.

Historical biographies:

Benedek Elek: Nagy magyarok élete
Biographical short stories of great Hungarians

On this page you can read five biographical short stories by Benedek Elek. The enjoyable biographies tell about emblematic persons from the Hungarian history: Mikes Kelemen, Körösi Csoma Sándor, Kölcsey Ferenc, Wesselényi Miklós, Széchenyi István.

Márai Sándor:
Mennyből az angyal

És minden rendű népek, rendek
Kérdik, hogy ez mivégre kellett.
Mért nem pusztult ki, ahogy kérték?
Mért nem várta csendben a végét?
Miért, hogy meghasadt az égbolt,
Mert egy nép azt mondta: "Elég volt."

História
Historical periodical

A periodical with historical articles, studies, essays about different times and countries. The issues from 1999 until today are available online. The articles are written for young people and the scale of the topics is wide.

Recommended for teaching history in Hungarian for advanced language learners.

Múlt-kor
News portal of history

The web portal is dedicated to historical articles, news about the latest research, discoveries, anniversaries. The site presents stories about different ages in the News menu where you can find many interesting readings about the XX. century, the Middle Ages, Ancient History, the Prehistoric Age, the 2nd World War, 1956, etc collected in the relevant submenus. Moreover, you can participate in online discussions via the Forum menu.

It teaches and entertains bringing the past events close to everybody and provides interesting topics and reading materials for language learners as well.

Lázár István: Hungary
A Brief History

An online essay in English is presented on this web page that embraces the 1100 years of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin through the most remarkable chain of events.

It reads well and touches the reader recalling the atmosphere of the times. It is a valuable material to make the young adult learners familiar with the "story of the nation".

"Horsemen. Their hair braided into pigtails held together on two sides by brass disks, those of the chiefs by gold ones. At their waists, the many studs on their leather belts as well as the embossed, stamped and paunchy U-shaped plates on leather satchels containing their smaller belongings flash in the sunlight. They are hardy, like the wolves on the plains. They are fond of splendor, like the potentates of the East."

Magyar Nyelvőr
Edited by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

This site gives online access to the issues of the Magyar Nyelvőr periodical which publishes articles about the Hungarian language (the study of the language: vernacular language, phrases and saying, etc.). Moreover, it provides lots of online articles, studies collected from different printed newspapers, periodicals

The language of the articles is Hungarian, but you can read some short abstracts in English too.

Édes Anyanyelvünk
"Sweet mother tongue", periodical

This is an online periodical dedicated to the Hungarian language, edited by Grétsy László. It presents reports and essays about different layers of the language. It is recommended for advanced learners and teachers who are interested in linguistics.

Alaprajz Online

Short articles on new-built houses, personal impressions, critiques not just for architects! Short and well-read material about architecture.

Intérieur Online

Online publication of a colourful magazine dealing with interior design. A useful site which provides reading materials for those who would like to practice this specialised field of their vocabulary in Hungarian.

Architectura Hungariae

The topics of this online periodical are: architectural history, contemporary architecture, monument protection. It provides practice of the specialised terminology of architecture and styles for professionals.

Magyar Szemle
"Hungarian Review", periodical

Via this site you have access to the online publications of the periodical. The articles and essays cover a wide range of up-to-date topics: political, social, religious, ethical, financial and economical questions, fields of arts and philosophy in the Hungarian society. The authors of the articles are public persons: politicians, researchers, economics, publicists, etc.

This periodical is recommended for advanced adult language learners. The articles can provide a varied range of oral discussions and reading-comprehension.

Filmkultúra
Online magazine on film culture

In the online issues from 1996 the visitor can read profiles of actors, directors, reviews, critiques and essays, news and visit a gallery on cinema art in Hungary and abroad. The site presents different film-types: from documentaries to the latest film releases, exhibitions and film festivals, etc.

It is a colourful site combining language learning with film art.
The articles are available in Hungarian and in English as well.

KonTextus.hu
"Online culture"

The portal presents the latest book reviews, reports with members of the media, photo galleries, reviews and news on the latest cultural events: exhibitions, concerts, opera and theatre performances, etc.

The short articles from the field of modern culture can be interesting reading for the youth.

The language of the site is Hungarian.

Magyar Tudomány
"Hungarian Science", periodical

In this periodical scientists and experts publish essays, studies and reports from the fields of social and natural sciences. Via this online publication many full texts and extracts in English are available.

Some topics from the journal's index: IT, Medicine, Ecology, Book reviews, Astrology, Music, Psychology, Literary History, Linguistics, etc.

Recommended for adults advanced learners and experts or scientists who are learning specialised Hungarian.

National Geographic Magyarország

This web site publishes the online issues of the well-known international magazine in Hungarian. Articles and pictures all over the world, exciting and colourful readings about nature and culture in everyday language.

Élet és Tudomány
"Life and Science", periodical

Topics: geography, religion, biology, space science, history. It is a colourful online periodical published for young adults. Recommended for practicing specialised language and enriching the vocabulary.

Űrvilág
News portal

If you are interested in space research, visit this news portal: wide range of topics in connection with the space sciences from all over the world: latest news about the space shuttles, fuels, space politics, maps and navigations, catastrophes, and also about our planet and the environment.

The articles are written in everyday language and in short newsletter format. It provides appropriate reading practice for the younger generation.

Pro-Patiente

The first Hungarian medical portal informs about the latest medical news, results and gives advices to the readers about illnesses, accidents. The articles are useful to enrich vocabulary and make you familiar with the medical language.

Számítástechnika

From this site you have access to some online magazines (Bio IT, PC World, Computerworld, etc) publishing news and articles on the world of the information sciences: the latest technology, developments, everything about cyber space.

Interesting supplementary reading material for language learners, moreover it is a useful source to develop a specialised lexis.

Jogi Fórum
"Law Forum"

Via this web portal you can be informed about the latest laws, court events, judicial news. For language practice I recommend the Hírek, Publikáció and the Interjú pages.

It is a useful site for those who are specialised in legal language: you can read news, interviews, publications, etc. Recommended for professionals!

Sulinet portal

The Sulinet Express Program is a governmental initiativa. The Sulinet Digital Knowledge Base development's aim is to create a digital curriculum that covers the national core curriculum in the secondary schools.

On this site the visitor can choose among many pages with colourful up-to-date articles in connection with school life (from the students', teachers' and parents' point of view), health, tradition, nature, art, etc.

You can read a short description about the sections in English as well.

Recommendations:

The Students Subtotal’s main goal is to provide the students with information about colourful free time activities. Moreover, these short, readable news articles can be useful materials in the language classes as well.

The eleven curricular sections of the Education Subportal: biology, physics, geography, literature, informatics, chemistry, mathematics, media, arts, history, languages (English, French, German, Spanish) provide interesting reading.

It is an interesting site for pupils in general. Besides, the language teachers also can use its authentic materials to teach the language for teenagers.

Nemzeti Sport
"National Sport", news portal

This is an online newspaper on sport events from Hungary and from abroad as well. You can find pages dedicated to different sport types (football, volleyball, water polo, handball, basketball, winter sports, swimming, fencing, athletics, box, formula 1, etc.) reporting about the national and international sport events (football leagues, Olympics, championships, etc).

The colourful and critical articles are perfect to teach and learn sport lexis for all generations.

From these Hungarian news portals teachers can choose articles on wide range of topics.
According to the teaching aims the short news about politics (in Hungary / in the world), life style / fashion, crime, sport, culture, science and high tech in everyday language can be used in the classes.

The extracts can provide not just various reading materials but discussion topics as well.

• Nethirlap
• Stop.hu
• Gondola.hu
• Index.hu
• Origo.hu

Kincsestár
"Treasury"

These web pages provide online articles and audio records from the archives of the Hungarian Radio.

The visitor can choose from different topics providing authentic materials for language classes, for children (e.g. folk tales) and for young and adult learners (e.g. reports with famous people) as well.

The language of the site, of the articles and the tapes is Hungarian. The audio records require Real Player.

Choose a folder from the menu (right side of the web page).

Recommended topics:

Hangos Pantheon
Articles with additional audio records in Hungarian

Articles and audio reports with actors, sportsmen and women, writers, explorers, musicians. The range of the reports is wide over a time period: from the beginning of the 20th century to like present day.

Magyarország krónikája
"Kronicle of Hungary"
Audio records in Hungarian

The 3-5 minutes long audio records about different periods from the Hungarian history are useful materials to improve young adult learners' listening skill and knowledge in history.

Download the sound files (.mp3) for free and listen the lively stories!

Szépen szóló mesék
Tales in written and in audio format, in Hungarian

Through this link you can reach Hungarian and Asian folk tales. You can both listen to and read the tales. The presentation of the tales addresses the younger generation.

Sulihistóriák
"School-stories"
Audio records with short written introductions

These pages guide us through centuries and tell about the school and student life in different ages: what did they learn, play, how did they spend their free time, what did they dream about? Recommended listening material in Hungarian for young learners!

Gyerekpáholy
Opera stories with sound records, in Hungarian

To improve reading and listening skills plus the classical music knowledge of young learners visit this site, where you can find some opera and ballet stories in written format and in sound files accompanied with excerpts from the music.

Egyszervolt.hu
"Once upon a time"

Audio and written texts of children tales, poems, songs, movie reviews in Hungarian with lovely animations. There is English and Hungarian navigation and some English translation of the tales as well.

The web site was created for young Hungarian children but it is also a useful website to teach Hungarian.

These links provide online access to the radio stations. The audio files of different programmes from different stations are a useful source to improve the listening comprehension of the language learners:

Danubius Radio

Here you can find the web portal of the radio station with the possibility of online listening. It is a commercial radio station with news, talk shows and contemporary music.

Magyar Radió

From this web page you have access to cultural radio stations' actual broadcasts: Kossúth, Bartók, Petőfi Rádio: choose from the menu on the side.
From the Hangos Toplista menu you can download the most popular records of some recent radio programmes.

Here you can find useful links for finding magazines, newspapers, weeklies. The links display the homepage and/or the online publications of the journals:

MEK, Folyóirat-olvasóterem
This site provides a list of E-journals.
Recommended: list of newspapers, weeklies

Szegedi Tudományegyetem
Egyetemi Könyvtár
This link displays the University Library's collection of Hungarian journals in alphabetic order.

Duna TV
Homepage of the television channel

The Duna television is a public service satellite channel that serves Hungarians all over the world. Since 2003, Duna Television's Hungarian broadcasts have been directly available in North America, Australia and New Zealand. Broadcasting is direct from Budapest.

The programme line-up includes daily news, reports, feature films, documentaries, children's and cultural programs, etc.

HirTV
Homepage of the news broadcasting channel

The channel broadcasts non-stop news and provides debates and reports on public life issues, culture, politics participating with experts and professionals.

The approximately 40 minute-long reports cover a wide scale of the present Hungarian public life, perfect to take some Hungarian listening and comprehension practice for advance learners.

On the homepage you can read news, reports, and download some video films (interviews or reports of public events) attached to the articles.

TV2.hu
Homepage of the channel

From the homepage of this Hungarian commercial TV channel a collection of video clips are available (from the news and entertainment programmes) produced by the station.

Choose the TV2 videó link from the side menubar on the opening page.

lap.hu

Varied and well structured collection of web sites in thematic groups, e.g.: health, nature, social life, education, sport, travelling, business, etc.

It is a very useful and practical source for searching authentic materials on a certain topic.

English - Hungarian
German - Hungarian
French - Hungarian
Italian - Hungarian
Dutch - Hungarian
Finnish - Hungarian
Swedish - Hungarian

You may find some more through the Kurzor search engine and the SZTAKI portal.

A magyar mint idegen nyelv fogalma, 1991
The notion of Hungarian as a foreign language

On this site you can read essays by language teachers about the challenges and aims of teaching Hungarian as a foreign language and its methodological aspects.

They are especially recommended for teachers, experts and students who deal with Hungarian as a foreign language. The texts are written in Hungarian.

Digital Library of Hungarian Studies

Via this homepage you have access to about 3,800, mostly large volumes in electronic format. The project is coordinated by the National Széchényi Library.

Textbooks for learning Hungarian as a Foreign Language

Educational Materials

These links provide a list of the latest Hungarian language course books (some specialized for doctors, economists) and cultural course books on Hungarian literature, history, art, etc. as well. If you are looking for language manuals for your students visit this site and become familiar with the book-market.

A magazine for learners of Hungarian:

Magyarul tanulók
"Hungarian Learners - I am learning Hungarian"

Via this link you can get information about this magazine specialized and edited for learners of Hungarian.

Some sample pages are also displayed on the homepage.

Debrecen Summer School

The summer school uses its own language teaching material, the Hungarolingua series. It covers all levels of language learning from beginner to advanced.

HLS
"Hungarian Language School"

The HLS provides Hungarian language courses and also an educational program for teachers of Hungarian as a foreign language.
The learners can enroll for classes at all levels and a 2-semester Hungarian Academy program is also provided, which is a specialized course in economics or in history, etc.

From this site you can get all the information about the courses, fees, cultural programmes in the school, in Hungarian and in English as well.

Language Schools Guide

A list of Hungarian language agencies is available on this page. These institutions provide language courses, preparatory courses for the language exams in Hungary (Budapest, Szeged, Debrecen).

Balassi Bálint Institution

The Balassi Bálint Institute, founded on the 1 January 2002 by the Ministry of Education, was launched to perform all the duties related to the preservation, development, presentation, spreading and research of the Hungarian language and culture within and beyond the borders.

The homepage of the institution provides information in connection with the above-mentioned objectives and programmes. The site is available in English as well.

Oktatasi Miniszterium
The homepage of the Hungarian Ministry of Education

List of the Universities in Hungary
Orszagos Felsőoktatási Felvételi Iroda

The homepage of the Office of Higher Education Institutions provides description of the faculties with links to the web sites of the universities.

Here you can find a page for the students from abroad about the foreign language programs of Hungarian higher education institutions.

WWW Resources on the Education of Hungary

This web page displays many useful links related to the Hungarian secondary and higher education.