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I was trying to buy condoms in a pharmacy in one of the first nights I was in Budapest a couple of summers ago. Seriously the awkwardness overload of trying to explain what I wanted in English, in my very poor German, Swedish, and hand gestures is beyond this world. They ended up bringing out out the old manager who knew German almost as badly as I did...
I was there for a couple of weeks, for several reasons, but after that I google-translated anything I thought I might need to say before-hand on my laptop and wrote it on notes that I brought with me.
I was not prepared for just how day-and-night English is in the non-tourist areas, as I had been told that young people would understand English... I would call that a lie with modification.
They are either extremely bad, or surprisingly good. There is no real middle ground, and when you find yourself out of luck like I did at the pharmacy, naturally there is not a single person in sight who knows a word in English.
LMFAO!! My god...must have been utterly baffled and confusing to be in your shoes. Did you find that there's a certain age range for fluent English speakers from your personal experience?
Was there a particular region you wanted to know about?
Well, I guess I am only interested in Budapest at the moment because I know very little about Hungary and can only communicate with the locals and expats in English. I still haven't been to Europe at all but I am somewhat hoping Budapest to be my first European destination within the coming years. I heard many good things about the city – at least much(?) safer than cities in western Europe like Paris, and refugee crisis & ISIS/terrrorist threats or attacks being non-existent. Do you think hungary has become a semi-first world country recently? Or is she still trying hard to brush off the elements of a second world(or near-third world) country? I'd love to know more details. I also have so many questions.
What other things made you feel/think you prefer Hungary to Czech Republic? In general, did you find many things(like customer service, etc.) in Prague to be subpar compared to(i.e. on a league lower than) those in Budapest for example?
Are house parties the norm in Hungary just like it's in North America? I find that a bit strange since I thought they were only prevalent in English-speaking countries. How different is the party culture in Hungary?
And how did you manage to live there without speaking Hungarian? Perhaps an expat community? Or did you have to start from scratch to learn the language?
Did you go there as an exchange student during college / right after graduation? Did you have a job lined up where English was the only language requirement?
Last edited by OZpharmer; 02-14-2017 at 12:26 AM..
I would take everything that DontH8Me writes re: Hungary v. Czech Republic with a grain of salt, she seems to have a bit of an agenda here. Anyway, Hungary is perfectly a First World country, if you don't count their Gypsy villages. Budapest is a very nice city that feels completely safe, though the architecture is rather kitschy and too pompous in a few places imo.
Hey
I'm from Poland so I know a bit of culture in Hungary and Czech Republic as they are very similar to Polish.
Generally, people are kind and friendly but if you are talking about kind of life is more pessimistic. People here have an opinion of hardworking but not for little pleasures in life.
On my recent trip to Central Europe, I enjoyed every single city I visited - Wroclaw, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, and Warsaw. All these places seemed to have its own unique character.
If I were to choose where to live, it would be one from Vienna, Prague, Dresden, and Warsaw.
LMFAO!! My god...must have been utterly baffled and confusing to be in your shoes. Did you find that there's a certain age range for fluent English speakers from your personal experience?
No, I really think the main denominator for good English skills is people working with customers face to face as close to the citys core as possible.
I was trying to buy condoms in a pharmacy in one of the first nights I was in Budapest a couple of summers ago. Seriously the awkwardness overload of trying to explain what I wanted in English, in my very poor German, Swedish, and hand gestures is beyond this world.
They ended up bringing out out the old manager who knew German almost as badly as I did...
I was there for a couple of weeks, for several reasons, but after that I google-translated anything I thought I might need to say before-hand on my laptop and wrote it on notes that I brought with me.
I was not prepared for just how day-and-night English is in the non-tourist areas, as I had been told that young people would understand English... I would call that a lie with modification.
They are either extremely bad, or surprisingly good. There is no real middle ground, and when you find yourself out of luck like I did at the pharmacy, naturally there is not a single person in sight who knows a word in English.
Thankfully there is google translate these days but unfortunately for Hungarian it is not accurate for needing to say anything but basic, easy, sentences. According to translate condom is ovszer.
I have my maternal 1st cousin (he's 52; mother's brothers son) and my dads brother (age 80); neither speaks English although my cousin's kids do. Google translate just doesn't work when needing to talk to them about family or my dads death.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OZpharmer
Well, I guess I am only interested in Budapest at the moment because I know very little about Hungary and can only communicate with the locals and expats in English. I still haven't been to Europe at all but I am somewhat hoping Budapest to be my first European destination within the coming years. I heard many good things about the city – at least much(?) safer than cities in western Europe like Paris, and refugee crisis & ISIS/terrrorist threats or attacks being non-existent. Do you think hungary has become a semi-first world country recently? Or is she still trying hard to brush off the elements of a second world(or near-third world) country? I'd love to know more details. I also have so many questions.
What other things made you feel/think you prefer Hungary to Czech Republic? In general, did you find many things(like customer service, etc.) in Prague to be subpar compared to(i.e. on a league lower than) those in Budapest for example?
Are house parties the norm in Hungary just like it's in North America? I find that a bit strange since I thought they were only prevalent in English-speaking countries. How different is the party culture in Hungary?
And how did you manage to live there without speaking Hungarian? Perhaps an expat community? Or did you have to start from scratch to learn the language?
Did you go there as an exchange student during college / right after graduation? Did you have a job lined up where English was the only language requirement?
Did you ever move? If so where did you pick?
Do you plan to work in Hungary or where ever you plan to go and do you have a job lined up? I've been reading threads here, most people do not realize what's involved to move to another country. If you do not have skills they need then you can forget about it.
Do you have any Hungarian relatives in your family tree? That could allow you to move there; such as my parents were the 1st to come over to the US in the late 50's; I'm reading that I'd be allowed to move to Hungary or have dual citizenship due to it if I needed it to care for my elderly uncle if something happens to his girl friend.
I see DontH8Me didn't get back here to answer you. As I said above I have Hungarian relatives that google translate is not accurate to use to speak to them. Had it not been for DontH8Me I wouldn't have been able to communicate with my dads brother after my dad passed in 2006. She translated many long emails back and forth. I can't thank her enough and get teary eyed thinking of what she did for me. Back then I was a stranger.
She knows a lot about Hungary; recently explained to me why my uncle who's in Budapest seems to do ok there, yet my cousin who's 1 1/2 hours from him struggles to buy necessities due to how expensive things are. She told me he lives by a border where they're able to set their own prices for things that are way cheaper in Budapest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kubikula
I would take everything that DontH8Me writes re: Hungary v. Czech Republic with a grain of salt, she seems to have a bit of an agenda here. Anyway, Hungary is perfectly a First World country, if you don't count their Gypsy villages. Budapest is a very nice city that feels completely safe, though the architecture is rather kitschy and too pompous in a few places imo.
She is one of the sweetest people I know and I'm not only talking about just people I know here; I'm talking people I know period. She is giving her opinion of Hungary. She has no reason reason to have an "agenda" especially with the Czech Republic as we're both Hungarian who's DNA shows ethnicity in the Czech Republic. 53% of mine is Eastern Europe with 19% Western Europe.
Thankfully there is google translate these days but unfortunately for Hungarian it is not accurate for needing to say anything but basic, easy, sentences. According to translate condom is ovszer.
I have my maternal 1st cousin (he's 52; mother's brothers son) and my dads brother (age 80); neither speaks English although my cousin's kids do. Google translate just doesn't work when needing to talk to them about family or my dads death.
I see DontH8Me didn't get back here to answer you. As I said above I have Hungarian relatives that google translate is not accurate to use to speak to them. Had it not been for DontH8Me I wouldn't have been able to communicate with my dads brother after my dad passed in 2006. She translated many long emails back and forth. I can't thank her enough and get teary eyed thinking of what she did for me. Back then I was a stranger.
She knows a lot about Hungary; recently explained to me why my uncle who's in Budapest seems to do ok there, yet my cousin who's 1 1/2 hours from him struggles to buy necessities due to how expensive things are. She told me he lives by a border where they're able to set their own prices for things that are way cheaper in Budapest.
I'm going to start taking Hungarian lessons during the fall, I also have Hungarian relatives and I just can't speak to almost any of them that grew up in the communist system as they learned Russian rather than English as their second language. Last time I was there my phone was not a smartphone, so that was an issue. But like you said even with google translate, those translations get rough as Hungarian is a rather unique language.
I have inherited a small place there and plan on spending some weekends there renovating and selling it, or making it fit for another family member to retire in, haven't decided which yet. (Plane is about 90 minutes, and there are relatively cheap flights around every now and then)
Also with Sweden deteriorating the way it is, Hungary is starting to become a nice plan B for when Sweden has an islamocalypse.
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