Program Overview

Intensive Hungarian Foundation Course

The Intensive Hungarian Foundation Course is designed for anyone interested in the Hungarian language and culture, providing an ideal way to jump-start their future academic or professional life in Hungary. The course is divided into two terms, aiming to provide students with a system of tools allowing them to successfully manage communicational situations arising in the target language environment and enabling them to comprehend factual texts containing the basic structures of the language in both reading and writing.

Program Structure

• The program is organized by the Department of Hungarian as a Foreign Language, which is the national centre for Hungarian teaching of internationals and teacher training in Hungarian as a foreign language.
• The first semester has 18 working weeks (including exams), and the second semester has 19 working weeks (including exams).
• There are 22´45 minute taught classes per week, organized into 11 slots of 90 minute continuous classes.

Career Opportunities

The language knowledge acquired by the end of the course provides Hungarian language knowledge for specific purposes, enabling students to continue studies at university or to use Hungarian as an intermediary language at work.

Admission Requirements

• Entry Requirements: Students are expected to present the documentation of their certificate of matriculation from a secondary school and to submit their application with the necessary attachments.
• The university accepts only certificates equivalent to the Hungarian certificate of matriculation, thus appropriate for continuing one’s studies in university education.
• If the certificate is not in English, an official translation is required.

Documents to Submit with Application

• Online application form
• Record of the final two years in secondary school
• Secondary school certificate (graduation certificate)
• CV in MS Word format with one low-resolution photo
• Motivation letter
• Copy of the main pages of the passport (needs to be valid)
• Copy of application fee payment receipt
• Official English translation of the certificates and the records if the language of the original is not English

Optional Documents for Admissions

• Letter of Reference (also called "Letter of recommendation") from a former instructor and/or employer
• Language certificate (official test result or certificate must be provided; see program-specific proficiency requirements)

Application Procedure

• The application deadline means the deadline of submission of the full and complete application package in the online system.
• September intake 2026: 01/02-28/02/:59 (CET)
• The application procedure may include more subperiods to give applicants the freedom to submit their application when it’s most suitable for them.

Tuition Fee

• EU/EEA students: 2,400 EUR per semester
• Non-EU/EEA students: 2,400 EUR per semester
• Application fee: 200 EUR (non-refundable)

Program Details

• Title: Intensive Hungarian Foundation Course
• Degree: Declaration of completion
• Type: Preparatory program
• Level: Pre-university
• Faculty: Faculty of Humanities
• Institute: Institute of Language Mediation
• Department: Department of Hungarian as a Foreign Language
• Language: English, Hungarian
• Duration: 2 semesters (1 year)
• ECTS credits: 47
• Minimum number of students: 2
• Maximum number of students: 50

Program Leader

• Ildikó SZLAMKA VÁRKONYINÉ, Director of Studies

Start Program

• Start date: 01, Sep, 2026
• Deadline for applications - September intake: 15, Apr, 2026
• Is there a February intake: No

Description

The program provides students with the necessary skills and knowledge that enables them to continue studies in Hungarian at a university level or to use Hungarian as an intermediary language at work. In addition to intensive language classes, the additional Hungarian cultural lectures give an overview of the main events in Hungarian history, Hungarian literature, linguistics, folklore, cultural history, and sociology. These lectures are held in English. The program is designed to develop the various language skills, including independent written compositions and language use for expressing opinions. The reading program gradually leads from comprehending texts with the help of a dictionary to the independent processing of texts. The subjects can be expanded by developing the basic vocabulary according to students’ wishes into various study areas, such as history, literature, sociology.