Week 1 : Three months to simple sentence in Basque

A Three month study program to learn how to build simple sentences in Basque. Lire cet article en français ici.

Skip straight to the study plan here .

I'm Kristina, I'm an English teacher from Scotland and I live in the Basque Country.

I spent my first three years in the Basque Country "wanting to learn Basque".

Full of good intentions, and desperate to be a respectful inhabitant of this country, I wanted to make an effort to learn the language, and yet my efforts never made it past the occasional "osasuna" or "lasai".

I was not only motivated out of colonizer's guilt but also out of linguistic curiosity; I love languages and language learning and here I was in the Basque country, home of Europe's oldest currently spoken language! I was extremely excited by the prospect of learning the Basque language and totally convinced that I was going to do it; very soon, next month, maybe in September..maybe next year..?

Then three years went by, three years of saying "euskara ikasten dut" without it being true. Three years of good intentions and no action! Three years of growing increasingly dissatisfied with myself.

Starting classes - Angeluko Ikasleak

Finally, in September I started Basque classes with the association Angeluko Ikasleak in Anglet, big shout out to my teacher Joëlle, who despite insiting on the fact that she is not a Basque teacher, but rather a retired nurse, is one of the best teachers I've had the good fortune of being taught by!

If you're looking for an affordable way to learn Basque I'd definitely recommend you check them out, you get two hours a week for a whole school year for around 180€, and they organize a lot of free activities to help you improve both your Basque and to deepen your cultural knowledge: hikes, cultural visits to Basque villages and museums, weekly language exchanges, conferences. Check them out here !

It's been 6 months now, I still can't really speak Basque but I am proud to say that I've made a start.

How I study between classes

After each class I create flashcards using Quizlet to help me review what we learned. Quizlet is an application and website that allows you to create digital flashcard sets and then study them using a variety of games. I've been using it since I was in highschool and it's helped me a lot in learning languages!

Each week I try to study for 15 minutes or so per day, or every second day. I find studying for short amounts of time frequently to be more effective than studying large amounts of time less frequently.

Why have I made this study guide?

Because I want to share these resources that I've created and help other people learn Basque. It's also another way for me to revise what I've learned up until now!

As way of reflecting on this Basque language learning journey I've decided to create a plan for other people learning Basque; 3 months to make basic sentences in Basque. Three months to make basic sentences might seem to the untrained ear a bit ridiculous. However, if you know nothing about the Basque language, you should know it's a bit crazy; grammar on steroids.

So if you want to make some basic sentences in Basque, order a beer at the next Fêtes de Bayonne euskaraz (in Euskara) check it this 3 month study plan!

The Study Plan - 3 months to make basic sentences in Basque

I've created a study plan to help you create basic sentences in Basque in 3 months.

Disclaimer: you will not learn conversational phrases like "hello, good evening, etc". There are already a bunch of conversational guide books that can help you with that.

What you'll know by the end of the program

The objective of this 3 month study plan is really to understand some key grammar concepts, namely:

• articles in singular and plural

• The auxilary verbs ikan & ukan

• 30 most common verbs

• 30 most common nouns

• 30 most common adjectives

• 3 common declinations (-an /ako)

In learning these key concepts, at the end of this 3 month program you'll be able to create basic sentences such as:

Garagardoa nahi dut - I want a beer

Liburuak irakurri ditugu - we read the books

Autoan ettori gara - we came in the car

How does it work?

Click on the icons to access the Quizlet page for the corresponding vocabulary list. From there you can use the different games to study, my favorite is "learn".

Click on the icon to the below to join the class "Euskara".

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Week 1, Astea 1

To start I've decided to focus on vocabulary rather than grammar, I feel like Basque grammar is too scary right now. My goal this week is to try and learn around 15 basic nouns, verbs and adjectives. I created the following Quizlet sets:

Basque verbs 1

buy - erosi

take - hartu

go - joan

come - etorri

listen - entzun

understand - ulertu

give - eman

speak - mintzatu

say - esan

ask - galdetu

do - egin

open - ireki

close - itxi

know - jakin

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Basque adjectives1

big - handi

small - txikia

young - gaztea

old - zaharra

green - berdea

orange - laranja

red - gorria

white - txuria

black - beltza

grey - grisa

blue - urdina

yellow - horia

pink - watered

ready - prest

new - berria

good - ongi

bad - txarra

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Basque nouns 1

man - Gizona

woman - emaztea

house - etxea

dog - txakurra

journey - Bidaia

street - karrika

outside - kanpoan

inside - barruan

hat - txapela

sheep - ardia

lamb - axuria

song - kantua

adult - heldua

team - taldea

shepherd - artzaina

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How do I use these lists?

I try to study the lists for 5-10 minutes per day. I find that studying small quantities frequently (10 minutes, every day) is far more effective than studying a lot infrequently (one hour, once a week).

I hope you enjoy studying with these lists! If you're a Basque speaker and you find any mistakes please let me know, Check or Ikus arte!