The national digital library: thousands of free Hungarian ebooks, classics through children’s literature. Legally free, Yomitan-friendly in browser formats.
The reading ladder
Reading is where Yomitan turns Hungarian from opaque to merely hard. Read digitally as long as your lookup speed matters — paper comes later.
Rung 1 — Sheltered reading A1
Section titled “Rung 1 — Sheltered reading ”- Graded readers and parallel texts (HU/EN side by side)
- Your Anki sentences are reading — at this level, that counts
Rung 2 — Children’s books A2
Section titled “Rung 2 — Children’s books ”- Picture-book tier: short sentences, present tense, pictures carrying context (Bogyó és Babóca tier)
- Folk tales in text form — pairs beautifully with the animated versions you’ve heard
Rung 3 — News B1
Section titled “Rung 3 — News ”News prose is formulaic — the same structures daily, which is exactly what an intermediate learner wants:
The default modern news site. Clean prose, broad topics; the “in English” section makes DIY parallel reading possible for some stories.
Looser, snarkier register than Telex — closer to how people actually write online.
Heavier economics/politics vocabulary — a deliberate step up.
Rung 4 — Books for pleasure B2
Section titled “Rung 4 — Books for pleasure ”- Translations of books you’ve already read — known plot is scaffolding (the dub trick, in print)
- YA novels before literary fiction: modern language, dialogue-heavy
- First novel rule: pick short, pick fun, and finishing slowly still counts as finishing
Rung 5 — Literature C1
Section titled “Rung 5 — Literature ”Contemporary Hungarian fiction, then the classics. By this rung the ladder has done its job.
Intensive vs. extensive, applied
Section titled “Intensive vs. extensive, applied”At every rung, mix both: one short text worked through completely with Yomitan (intensive), plus volume you read tolerating ambiguity (extensive). The intensive text should be below your frustration threshold — struggle is for sentences, not whole pages.