Four fun facts about learning Basque

Whether you’re visiting the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao or enjoying the surfing hotspots of Zarautz and Mundaka, the Basque country has something for everyone. Learning the local language is a practical way to communicate with people and can help you make new friends while you are there.

Here are some interesting facts about learning Basque:

1. Learning Basque won’t just help you speak to people in Spain. There are mother-tongue speakers of Basque in France, too. There are even second-language Basque speakers in the Americas.

2. Once you have mastered standard Basque, there are six individual Basque dialects you can specialise in. They are: Biscayan, Guipuscoan, Upper Navarrese, Lower Navarrese, Lapurdian, and Souletin.

3. Learning Basque will give you an insight on a unique culture. Basque culture is distinctive and quite different from the cultures of the areas surrounding the region

Likewise, although modern Basque contains some borrowed words from other languages, it’s not related to the indo-european languages that surround it geographically.

There are theories as to where the language came from but none of them is backed by any substantial body of evidence.

4. When you are learning Basque, you will be writing using the Roman script. This is how Basque has always been written. However, Basque-speaking millers of the past had their own symbols they used to indicate different numbers.

Why not start learning Basque right now? Even if you’ve not learnt a language before, it’s easy to start with learn2lingo. Click here to start learning Basque with a live teacher from the comfort of your own home. All you need is a computer and a webcam to get started.

Today’s image is by Ana Belen.