by Evan Madill

What do Escape Rooms, Surfing, and John Adams all have in common? 

These themes are all used to teach Basque, in my new book, Basque-ing in Language Learning.

My journey as a beginner of Euskara was difficult. In my experience of studying many languages, Basque was the only one where I truly felt frustration. My learning journey began with Beginner’s Basque by Wim Jansen.  I struggled to understand articles and suffixes that appeared at the end of words. These patterns were different from any other language I had seen. Furthermore, Wim Jansen’s book didn’t even include the notorious NOR-NORI-NORK agreements! But I had to use this book as it was one of few resources available to me as a beginner.

But this scarcity of learners’ resources was to be expected. Euskara, Europe’s only surviving pre-Indo-European language has less than 1 million native speakers. Nestled between Spain and France, this language has survived multiple empires. Euskara was even banned for several decades by Francisco Franco’s regime. Basque is a language isolate, meaning it has no living relatives.

 Of course, this uniqueness doesn’t mean that linguists haven’t tried to find links to other languages. Theories have been made connecting Basque to the Georgian language of the Caucasus, the Iberian language of pre-Roman Spain, and one paper even tries to identify it as a Celtic language. Some theorize that an ancestor of Basque was spoken by the earliest hunter-gatherers who spread through Europe after the Ice Age. Others believe that it was spoken by the earliest farmers that spread from Anatolia (explains the Georgian connection?) or from the later megalithic culture that built Stonehenge. Out of experience, I suggest not trying to figure out the origin of Basque to avoid the headache. It is better to save your energy for learning the language and guaranteeing its survival.

One day, I realized somebody needs to do something about the lack of resources for learning Basque. So I set out to write the beginner’s guide I wish I had. And then I had an idea—what if it was funny? What if it was casual and sarcastic? Most language learning books are dry and boring. The closest thing to fun language learning is our green avian friend—but even that falls short. 

In the process of writing my book, creative ideas popped into my brain, seemingly out of nowhere. When writing the chapter on numbers, I created an escape room scene where the players needed to know important dates in Basque history. A bonus chapter on dialects was written using historical fiction stories of John Adams’s journey through Basque Country, the Labourd witch trials, and more. Other lessons were taught using aspects of culture, mythology, and reference to notable surfing locations in the Basque country. Eventually, it was finally finished, and a fun, casual guide to the Euskara existed—the first of its kind (to my knowledge).

Then I had the idea to write another book. When I was a child, the CDC spent hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the slogan “VERB: It’s what you do.” The phrase that stuck with me, although I had no idea the purpose was to encourage kids to be more active. Verbs are the backbone of any language—but in Basque, they’re a whole different beast. So, I wrote Basque-ing in Verbs. 

This time, there would be no stories or sarcastic jokes, just straightforward instruction. A short, concise introduction to Basque verbs. The Nor-Nori-Nork agreements are covered in more detail and explained in an understandable way. The goal was to be different than Basque-ing in Language Learning, ditch the stories, and cultural references, and just focus on delivery of knowledge.

A title like Basque-ing in Language Learning leaves room for a sequel, which would be appropriately named Basque-ing Longer in Language Learning. This part is where you, the reader, assist in writing the book. If there is an aspect of Basque language and grammar that confuses you or that you’ve always struggled with, leave a suggestion in the comments. Share which aspect of learning Basque has beaten you up the most?

Both books are available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback.

Basque-ing in Language Learning

Basque-ing in Verbs