Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Hungarian when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Hungarian you can mostly understand. Learners on Reddit say there are fewer graded readers and beginner stories for Hungarian than for bigger languages. On the other hand, almost every foreign film and TV show released in Hungary is dubbed into Hungarian, so many shows you already know can be watched in Hungarian.
These apps and sites help you find Hungarian at your level, or make the Hungarian you choose easier to follow. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Hungarian app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Hungarian with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Hungarian about music, food, family, or daily life.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for you. If a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain a word or what an ending adds to it.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help you read Hungarian you found yourself. For a show, a book, or an article you already picked, the apps in Read and Watch Hungarian You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy for help as you read.
- AI voices read each lesson, not recordings of Hungarian speakers.
- You cannot bring in your own books, shows, or articles.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Read and Listen to Stories for Learners
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Hungarian from its library or bring in your own. It highlights the words you have not met yet and the words you are still learning, so you can see what is new.
- Start with Mini Stories, short lessons that repeat basic Hungarian patterns.
- Read the A1 reader from the MagyarOK textbooks, Hungarian children's books, and radio plays.
- Import your own videos, books, and articles, and review words with flashcards.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Duostories
Duostories is a volunteer project that brings Duolingo's short stories to more languages, with Duolingo's permission. Its Hungarian stories are about everyday moments, from a date to a trip to the station. Learners on r/hungarian share it as extra reading beside Duolingo's Hungarian course.
- 24 free Hungarian stories with audio.
- Answer short questions as you read each story.
- A listening mode plays a story and skips the questions.
MobileWeb
Read and Watch Hungarian You Choose
These tools help you learn from Hungarian shows, videos, books, and web pages you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know what they want to read or watch.
Language Reactor
Language Reactor adds learning tools to the Hungarian shows and videos you already watch. Learners on r/hungarian use it to see subtitles in two languages at once, and to find Hungarian videos and podcasts at many levels. It is free to install, with paid extras.
- See Hungarian subtitles beside a translation on Netflix and YouTube.
- Look up words in a pop-up dictionary.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
Browser extension
Readlang
Readlang helps you read Hungarian on the web and in texts you upload. It suits learners who can already read some Hungarian and want quick help with new words.
- Tap a word or short phrase on a web page to see what it means.
- Read texts from its Hungarian library, or upload your own.
- Review words with flashcards.
- Flashcards
WebBrowser extension
More Hungarian to Watch, Hear, and Read
Podcasts made for learners are where many people start. Plain Hungarian has short stories by a Hungarian teacher, mostly at A1 and A2, and one learner calls it the most beginner-friendly. Hungarian With Dori talks about everyday topics in simple B1 Hungarian, with easier A1 and A2 episodes too. In Hungarian with Patrik, a teacher speaks slowly and naturally about daily life twice a week. Plain Hungarian and Hungarian with Patrik offer transcripts and word lists to paying members. Hungarian with Sziszi, a favorite in learner threads, has more than 140 episodes marked by level, and new episodes now go to her Patreon. When you know more, Magyarul tanulóknak is a weekly show in Hungarian about history, books, sport, and the news.
On YouTube, Easy Hungarian posts short videos and weekly easy readers, and its magazine on Patreon rewrites stories, news, and fun facts at A2 and B1. We found no website that rewrites the daily news in easy Hungarian, so this magazine comes closest. Fluentbox has free story videos for beginners from a Hungarian teacher, and a slow podcast with simpler versions of its stories. Hungarian by Heart has comprehensible input videos with Hungarian and English subtitles. Everyday Hungarian asks people on the streets of Budapest about daily life, with subtitles in both languages and free transcripts.
Cartoons for children are another easy start. The KEDD channel posts Hungarian cartoons such as Boribon and Bogyó és Babóca, which Hungarians on Reddit recommend for their simple language. It also has all 100 episodes of Magyar népmesék, the classic folk tale cartoons, though they use some old words from the countryside. For reading, Hungarians often suggest the children's books of Éva Janikovszky, which use simple language and are funny enough for adults to enjoy.
Learn Hungarian in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store) and Readlang (its help forum). The podcasts and YouTube channels are in Hungarian, some with English. Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| Duostories | 1 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
| Readlang | 1 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (10)
- HungarianPod101Short audio and video lessons built around real Hungarian conversations, with slowed-down audio and line-by-line breakdowns. You can join for free.
- Fluent Fiction: HungarianShort audio stories set in places such as Budapest and Lake Balaton, with bilingual audio and a word list for each one.
- The LanguagesA free Hungarian course with 22 graded stories, vocabulary games, and flashcards with audio.
- HungarizeDaily dialogues and stories for Hungarian learners, shared on Patreon.
- Magyar HangtárA collection of Hungarian audio and video recordings from Humboldt University in Berlin, each with a text to read along.
- FilmioA streaming service for Hungarian films and series, from classics to new releases. Learners in Hungary say many titles have English subtitles.
- ReelangShort videos that Hungarians post, sorted by your level and by how fast people speak, from beginner to C1. Tap a word in the captions to see what it means. It is new and growing.
- ErlaShort stories, from fairy tales to fun facts, with a translation for any sentence you tap, plus chats with an AI tutor. It is new and growing.
- DongóClassic, folk, and modern Hungarian tales for families to read and listen to, with word explanations. It is new and growing.
- AnkiA free flashcard app that many Hungarian learners use to review words from what they read and hear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to learn the cases first?
No. Hungarian adds endings to words where English uses words like "in" and "from," so ház (house) also shows up as házban (in the house) and házból (out of the house). Most endings have two or three forms that match the vowels of the word, like kertben (in the garden). You will meet the common endings again and again in easy stories and podcasts. When one puzzles you, look it up, or ask Poppy in Bubblegum to explain it.
Can I read along while I listen?
Yes. Hungarian is written almost the way it sounds, so once you know its 44 letters, you can follow a text while you hear it. Pairs like sz and gy count as letters of their own, and each one stands for one sound.
How much of a text should I understand?
Pick something where you already know almost every word. In one study, readers needed to know about 98 out of 100 words in a story to follow it well. If you stop on almost every line, try something easier.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Hu and Nation (2000), Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension
- Wikipedia: Dubbing (Hungary)
- Wikipedia: Hungarian language
- Wikipedia: Hungarian alphabet
- r/hungarian: Comprehensible input at the A2 level
- r/hungarian: Comprehensible Input Hungarian Resources
- r/hungarian: Are there any podcasts in Hungarian for beginners?
- r/hungarian: hungarian kids shows
- r/hungarian: Pleasure reading in Hungarian?
- Plain Hungarian podcast
- Hungarian With Dori: Apple Podcasts
- Hungarian with Patrik: Apple Podcasts
- Easy Hungarian on Patreon
- Bubblegum
- LingQ
- Duostories
- Language Reactor
- Readlang
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
