The learnin' won't take

With my trip now coming up, I figured it was time to start learning a little Hungarian. I downloaded a learn-Hungarian podcast. First up was "good morning." I totally got that! Then came the next word, to which my response was - what? By the time it got around to "cheers" I was convinced that the Hungarian these podcast people were proposing couldn't possibly be real language and they were making up the most ridiculous, impossible things they could think of.

Hungarian is not related to any other European language. Nobody's absolutely certain where the Hungarians came from.

Words do not have to be in a prescribed order in Hungarian sentences. They're arranged by where you want the emphasis to be. I suppose it is not a subtle language.

I wasn't getting past "good morning." Then I reasoned that my problem was that I was only listening to the words. I needed visuals. This did not help, as the sounds the words made bore no relationship to the alphabet as I know it. I have now forgotten "good morning."

Plan C. Learn some Dutch first! Because I should also learn a little Dutch. Dutch has to be easier, right? A slight foray into this matter has revealed that yes, it is easier. Except I might strain my throat from all the hacking-up-phlegm sounds you have to make.

I leave you with these Hungarian words:

Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért

Legeslegmegszentségtelenítethetetlenebbeiteknek

Töredezettségmentesítőtleníttethetetlenségtelenítőtlenkedhetnétek

(It's on wikipedia, it must be true.)

Bonus feature: Wacky Hungarian communist-era sausages!