crush wrote:PeterMollenburg wrote:I didn't quote everything as it was a rather large post. I just wanted to say thank you crush for giving me such a detailed reply. I'm going to take some screen shots so I don't lose this information. Thank you very much!
No problem! I'm always really excited when i see other people express an interest in Basque. I definitely think it's worth studying. I've met a few people who just used the Ikasten.net course and Mintzanet for language practice and after about a year of study were comfortable leaving the textbooks behind. I haven't been that consistent unfortunately, but i do keep coming back to it and now that i have someone learning it with me hopefully i can stick it through this time. It's not like it'll take you ten years before you can have a conversation, you really just need to learn the most common verb tenses/forms and as you get used to them the others will just come naturally. The rest, while a bit different from other languages, isn't all that complicated as Basque (at least Batua) is so regular.
I'm honestly not all that sure how widespread Batua is in France, but to me the French dialects do sound like someone speaking Basque with a French accent. But anyway, don't be afraid of Basque! I'm sure you'd have a lot of fun studying it. Did you know there's also a Basque mythology? Just as rich if not richer than that of the Romans/Greeks, unfortunately much of it has been lost due to the oral tradition of Basque, but what remains is still really interesting.
crush, I must be upfront with you. I am definitely interested in Basque, but will not study/learn it, unless I end up living/spending time in the region. At least that's my current thinking. Some time has passed since I asked those questions of you, and i'm still very grateful for the reply. However, I, like many other language learners suffer from wanderlust. Perhaps a little different from a good number of language learners is that, at least lately, I will hesitate in a big way, before even attempting to pronounce one syllable of a language that may hold little to no status in my every day life. I studied too many languages at once in the past with too slow progress. I learned to stop messing around and get down to business in one language. That language is French, and has been for a few years now.
I chose French, as my family and I would like to perhaps buy property or at least pass a good degree of time in France perhaps annually in the coming years. Although I think the interest in the language came before that plan, truth be told. In my language wanderlust I'm still known to read about various languages and explore the resources available out there, the status of the languages and so on.
As an avid language learner, like many of us on this forum, I figured it would be a nice experience to learn a minority language. I started exploring regional languages of France (reading about them), since it is there I plan to pass a good deal of time. However, I concluded that, if I take it upon myself to learn a regional language of France, best to choose the one I will in closest proximity to. For now I don't know where that will be. It's likely to be in southern France, but not necessarily in or near the Basque region, but time will tell. My point is, I am definitely interested in Basque as well as other regional/minority languages of France, but whether I go on to choose to study Basque, well, won't be evident for at least a couple of years I believe. Still, the feedback you've provided me will absolutely be explored and, I will potentially use every last bit of information you've provided if I choose Basque in the end.
I have passed through the region, very briefly I might add around 5 years ago, both on the French and Spanish sides. I found it particularly pretty (certainly not boring) from an aesthetics perspective, but I had next to no time to explore the region culturally. Unfortunately, though, I believe there are better choices if one is seeking the sun in southern France. Too much rain for my liking! Yet, the hills and mountains do attract me and I do find the Basque language a little more intriguing than Catalan or Occitan, although I do not dislike them.
Anyway, thank you again crush. I'll certainly be back to let you know if at some point I take it upon myself to attempt to learn this intriguing language. Oh and very interesting with regards to mythology!
