How to get the most out of YouTube videos for learning Hungarian
YouTube is a fantastic resource for improving your Hungarian, but are you using it effectively? Instead of just watching passively, try these study tips to make the most of every video!
Did you know? In our Daily Dose of Hungarian program, we don’t just share daily dialogues on weekdays—we also frequently post videos at the weekends! All our members, including free members, have access to our Mini Hungarian Lessons and Study Tips & Motivation videos. Plus, we share vlog-style videos with personal stories to provide interesting, varied input for our paid members.
We’ve even opened up one of these videos for our free members, too! 😊 Join us for free and try the tips below with this funny story about my husband and a Vietnamese waiter.
1. Adjust the Playback Speed
Listening to natural, native Hungarian is essential—it helps you get used to authentic pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. But let’s be honest, it can also feel intimidating at first. 😬
Did you know you can adjust the playback speed on YouTube? If native speech feels too fast, try slowing the video down to 80-90%. This keeps the audio quality clear while making natural, correctly intonated Hungarian easier to follow. Once you’re more comfortable with the content at a slower speed, switch back to normal speed for a more natural listening experience and listen to the video again.
You can find the speed settings by clicking the gear icon on the video.
2. Use Subtitles Wisely
Subtitles are extremely useful when learning a language—they help you catch new words, recognize grammar structures, and follow along more easily. But relying on them too much and too often won’t help you understand native Hungarians in real conversations. Unfortunately, you can’t put subtitles over people’s mouths in real life (yet! 😄).
That’s why we recommend switching subtitles on and off strategically. Watching without subtitles can strengthen your listening skills, while subtitles can help you catch tricky words. Watch the same video multiple times:
✔ Without subtitles—see how much you understand, sharpen your listening skills, and prepare for real-life communication.
✔ With Hungarian subtitles—connect the sounds to the written words, learn new vocabulary, focus on sentence structure, and spot grammar patterns in context.
✔ With English subtitles—for extra support, in case you absolutely don’t understand what’s being said. Use this as a last resort rather than a default.
By using subtitles wisely, you’ll train your ears and brain to understand spoken Hungarian more naturally—without becoming overly dependent on reading.
You can adjust the subtitles in the settings.
3. Try Dual Subtitles
Want to see both Hungarian and English subtitles at the same time? Browser extensions like YouTube Dual Subtitles allow you to do just that! This makes it easier to compare languages and reinforce vocabulary quickly.
Most of these extensions can translate subtitles into virtually any language. But be careful—automated translations aren’t always perfect, so use them with caution! 😅
We, at Hungarize, add both Hungarian and English subtitles to all our videos, so you always have reliable captions in these two languages to support your learning.
4. Access Transcripts for Extra Practice
Reading along while listening is a powerful way to improve your comprehension, pronunciation, and vocabulary retention. That’s why we provide full transcripts, English translations, and a vocabulary list for our vlog-style videos on Patreon—so you can read the stories on the go and reinforce what you hear.
For other videos, YouTube offers a built-in transcript feature—just click "Show transcript" under the video. You can even copy and print the text for offline study.
Want to keep learning with engaging videos? Subscribe to our YouTube channel for free lessons, and follow us on Patreon for access to even more videos.