Studying Basque grammar with Quizlet (English)
- 8 mars
- 4 min de lecture
Dernière mise à jour : 23 mars
Sharing my resources for studying Basque grammar. Skip straight to the materials here.
Accédez aux ressources en français ici.
Basque grammar is scary
Basque is a very grammar-heavy language; with conjugations, suffixes, and constantly changing auxiliary verbs, you have to do a lot of mental gymnastics to form even the most basic sentences, which is extremely overwhelming as a beginner learner.
If we want to form sentences quickly, we have to practice these grammatical elements until they become automatic reflexes. But how do we practice them? For most people, it’s through written exercises, but I’ve personally found Quizlet to be more effective.
What is Quizlet?
Quizlet is a website I started using thanks to my high school Spanish teacher. It’s a platform that allows you to create online flashcards and then study them through a variety of games and activities.
It has been an essential tool for me both as a language learner and as a teacher. So naturally, when I started studying Basque two years ago, I began creating flashcard sets on Quizlet each week based on what we studied in class and reviewing them throughout the week, and I think that for Basque, perhaps more than any other language, this has been extremely useful.
What’s so great about Quizlet?
Spaced repetition
It uses spaced repetition—the idea that reviewing information at increasing intervals helps you retain it more effectively over time.
Gamified learning
The games are more engaging (for me, at least) than traditional written exercises, which means I’m far more likely to actually use them. It may not be as addictive as Duolingo, but in my opinion, it’s much more intentional and effective.
Convenient
Having the app on your phone means you can study anytime, anywhere. This is especially important since studies show that short, frequent study sessions are the most effective way to retain new information.
Free (ish)
You can use Quizlet for free, although you’ll be limited to a certain number of games per day. This lets you try it out and see if you like it. If you end up using it a lot, you might consider upgrading to a paid plan (around €45/year) for unlimited access.
The different games I like on Quizlet
Flashcards
Simple but effective: I like to say the words out loud while using the flashcards to add an element of speaking practice.
Learn
This is probably the best balance between effectiveness and fun, and it’s the game I use the most.
Blast
When I have zero brain power, I put on some music and play Blast. This way, I can at least practice for five minutes with very little effort—and usually, once I get past the initial inertia of starting, I end up practicing a bit more.
About these resources - verbs & conjugations
The following resources are specifically on the subject of verbs & conjugations. They are intended to help you reinforce the auxiliary verbs Izan & Ukan, as well as the most common verbs in Basque and their conjugations in the past, present and future tenses.
I have organised them in a logical order below, click on the link to go to the corresponding Quizlet page. From there you will be able to study the flashcards with the game of your choice. My favourite games are 'flashcards, 'learn', and 'blast'.
Click on the links to study the subject
Common verbs - infinitives
Auxiliary verb - Izan
Auxiliary verb - Ukan
Important verbs with ukan - want, need, cost
Past tense conjugations
Past tense sentences
Present tense
Future
Important info: settings configuration
These flashcards were designed to elicit a response in Basque. Make sure to adjust the settings accordingly each time you study.
Disclaimer: I'm not a native speaker of Basque or a Basque teacher!!
I am just a beginner student learning Basque, hoping to share resources that could help other beginner students learning Basque. If any Basque speakers spot any problems in my study plan, or have any suggestions on how to improve it, please do let me know.
Why share these materials?
It felt like a waste to keep these materials to myself, so I am sharing them here in hope that they will be of help to other Basque learners.
Basque is a "small" language, which unfortunately means there are far fewer learning resources available compared to more widely spoken languages such as English or Spanish. Given this context, they seemed important to share!
New materials coming soon!
I plan to create similar resources for studying Basque vocabulary and Basque suffixes, so if you're interested in that subscribe to my newsletter to be informed when they come out!
Hope you enjoy studying with these lists! If you're a Basque speaker and you find any mistakes, please let me know.
See you soon, Ikus arte!
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