Budapest is a cosmopolitan city with a good entertainment scene where you can
easily go about your business (with some creativity) speaking little or no
Hungarian; many Budapest residents (especially those working in service
industries) speak English and/or German, often along with several other
languages as well.
However, if you want to learn Hungarian, from survival level to advanced, CEU supports classes run by the CAW in the pre-session and during the semester.
http://www.ceu.hu/academics/support/caw
There are also many private language schools and tutors most of who advertise in the following publications for English speakers in Budapest; here you will also find a lot of other helpful information:
http://www.budapestsun.com
http://www.xpatloop.com/index.html
Finding a place to live
There are place available for students at the CEU Residence center, CEU also has a Residential office that keeps a data base of apartments available in the city.
http://www.ceu.hu/studentlife/services/settling