# Learning Euskara (Basque) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018 "2004-03-13T02:50:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/1 "2004-03-13T02:50:44Z")
Kaixo! I’ve been hearing quite a bit about the ETA in the Basque region of Spain (known as el Pais Vasco to the Spaniards), and have heard that they speak a language which predates Latin, called Euskara. Now, this interests me a bit, and I decided I’d like to learn some of the basic workings of that language. Having only about 800,000 speakers, however, it’s rather difficult to find any information about it online. Specifically, right now, I’m interested in pronunciations so that I know how to say what words I’ve found already. Anyone have any ideas where I might find these resources, especially online? Eskerrick asko! ~ Monica ---
**Author:** ![seawitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@seawitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seawitch)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/2 "2004-03-13T03:12:21Z")
The University of Idaho (might actually be called Boise State) has a Basque language program, although I’ve never heard it called Euskara. I have heard Eskaldunak, which I’m supposing is related. Anyway, they might have tapes available. Sorry I don’t know about resources online - I only know about the college because my brother went there. Basque is a horribly difficult language, though. I know about 25 words, and that’s more than anyone I know. My grandmother speaks Basque fluently, as her first language. I’m sorry to report that she’s not the kind of person you’d want to talk to for even a minute. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/3 "2004-03-13T17:44:20Z")
Does anyone know whether most people who speak the Basque language also speak Spanish? Also, are exclamatory sentences preceded by an upside-down exclamation point or questions preceded by an upside-down question mark? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/4 "2004-03-13T18:18:26Z")
> [@monica](#): > > Does anyone know whether most people who speak the Basque language also speak Spanish? Well, the Basques in Spain do. But the Basque country traverses the Spain-France border, and the Basques in France also speak French. > [@](#): > > Also, are exclamatory sentences preceded by an upside-down exclamation point or questions preceded by an upside-down question mark? No. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/5 "2004-03-13T18:28:00Z")
When I was in Spain on vacation, I heard it spoken one time. It’s the most bizarre sounding language you’ve ever heard. It almost sounded like chirps and trills. I have heard that it is not even close to any other language still spoken today. Haj ---
**Author:** ![deadeyesdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@deadeyesdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deadeyesdad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/6 "2004-03-13T18:29:54Z")
Come to Bakersfield, California. There are plenty of Basques here. In fact my house is surrounded by Bascos. Plenty of Basque restaurants and even a Basque club. A quick search of the local university did not show a Basque language class. This site might have what you are looking for: [[http://www.kcbasqueclub.com/](http://www.kcbasqueclub.com/)](Kern County Basque Club) ---
**Author:** ![deadeyesdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@deadeyesdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deadeyesdad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/7 "2004-03-13T18:32:22Z")
> [@deadeyesdad](#): > > Come to Bakersfield, California. There are plenty of Basques here. In fact my house is surrounded by Bascos. Plenty of Basque restaurants and even a Basque club. A quick search of the local university did not show a Basque language class. > This site might have what you are looking for: > [[http://www.kcbasqueclub.com/](http://www.kcbasqueclub.com/)](Kern County Basque Club) I did the Url thingy backwards sorry [Kern County Basque Club](http://www.kcbasqueclub.com/) that should be better ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/8 "2004-03-13T18:45:20Z")
> [@monica](#): > > Specifically, right now, I’m interested in pronunciations so that I know how to say what words I’ve found already. Anyone have any ideas where I might find these resources, especially online? I think you’ll find a lot of good links [here](http://www.cd.sc.ehu.es/Sarean/). For those who wonder what Basque sounds like, one of the [sites linked](http://bips.bi.ehu.es/bakio/web/osasuna.htm) at the url above has soundfiles of sentences. The site is entirely in Basque, so I have no idea what these sentences mean, but I figured out that hitting “Entzun” gave me a reading of the sentence. Hope this gives you a place to start! ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/9 "2004-03-13T20:12:31Z")
[This site](http://www.ehu.es/grammar/) is a decent introduction to Euskara grammar. However, it’s only an introduction, and doesn’t include a lot of information about more advanced grammar topics. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/10 "2004-03-13T21:14:36Z")
> [@monica](#): > > Does anyone know whether most people who speak the Basque language also speak Spanish? Also, are exclamatory sentences preceded by an upside-down exclamation point or questions preceded by an upside-down question mark? According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_people), there are ‘few, if any’ Euskara monoglots. About 600,000 people speak Euskara and Spanish, about 75,000 Euskara and French. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/11 "2004-03-13T22:13:44Z")
There’s apparently an old legend that the Devil spent 20 years learning Basque, and only learned how to say “no”. It’s notoriously difficult to learn. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/12 "2004-03-13T22:46:33Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > When I was in Spain on vacation, I heard it spoken one time. It’s the most bizarre sounding language you’ve ever heard. It almost sounded like chirps and trills. I have heard that it is not even close to any other language still spoken today. Like Japanese, and a few other languages, Basque is a language that doesn’t belong to a language group, and has unclear origins. It’s beleived the language predates the Indo-European root language(s) that give us the various Latin and Germanic languages we use today (English being both.) ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/13 "2004-03-14T03:27:00Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > There’s apparently an old legend that the Devil spent 20 years learning Basque, and only learned how to say “no”. It’s notoriously difficult to learn. Wow, and I can already say “no” (ez) _and_ “yes” (bai)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/14 "2004-03-14T03:30:56Z")
> [@monica](#): > > Wow, and I can already say “no” (ez) _and_ “yes” (bai)! 😃 Heh. I _meant_ to add “supposedly” before “notoriously difficult to learn.” No, really, I did! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/15 "2004-03-14T04:38:45Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > … > For those who wonder what Basque sounds like, one of the [sites linked](http://bips.bi.ehu.es/bakio/web/osasuna.htm) at the url above has soundfiles of sentences. The site is entirely in Basque, so I have no idea what these sentences mean, but I figured out that hitting “Entzun” gave me a reading of the sentence. What is it about the language that it sounds like Russian to me? (Which I don’t understand a word of either.) I listened to a couple of them, and if I overheard this, I would have guessed it was Russian: [http://bips.bi.ehu.es/bakio/web/wav/bt082.wav](http://bips.bi.ehu.es/bakio/web/wav/bt082.wav) ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-euskara-basque/234018/16 "2004-03-14T06:33:46Z")
This sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before. Languages never cease to amaze me!