Ixiar Pagoaga, “Everyone has told me that more is done in Basque, and I do.”

What experiences has left you a space of a week?

Yesterday [26 October] I had a very nice day. I had a celebration and I was with three jeans over 40 years old. I said, “I know you are learning. Will we do a trial, at least the first full hour in Basque? I will do it to you patiently and as you can answer.” What a good experience! It wasn't about going to the store and shopping, the themes of life came out, and besides, some were foreign, some were newcomers. And I said, oysters, we have a lot more to do. They thanked me, and they told me that if they did, everybody would have a better Basque level.

Have you had something that is not so nice?

In a store, I saw something unpleasant. The 5-year-old spoke in Spanish to his mother and the merchant said "Euskaraz!" in an unpleasant way. I didn't dare to say anything, but it made me angry. I didn't think it was good. If you say it right, it's worth it, but as it's sent to you, and to a child -- not to your mother, not to your father.

Overall, a good experience.

It was a good surprise. They march slowly, quiet, and if you look at people well, they try a lot more.

What does “well-looked” mean?

If you sit in front of him and make a gesture as if you didn't understand him, tell me: “I repeat it to you.” You don’t have to say “Euskaraz!” but “rejoice, goazen!”. And look at it, because we want them to do it.

You'd also have to start in Basque and go to Spanish.

We were four chatting and you know little about Euskera. I saw her an hour or so, oh, a face -- and I said, “Do we change boy?” and he “Yes, please.” Those moments are also nice. They also see that I speak in Basque calmer. We were all talking about Euskera and he was looking back and forth, we saw that he was losing things, and at one point we thought that “it’s too much for this.”

Are these tests also valid?

It is an effort of Christ also for him, and he learns. If you do everything in Basque, you take it out of the group. In this example, we were five months without seeing each other. We met for a ceremony, I couldn't get out of it all. It is able to follow the simplest, but at a given moment it is lost. I think we have to measure it.

What is going to leave you this week?

Do you understand a small legacy to look at it and say it? Yes? Well, go ahead. Are you right? There is an answer in Spanish. But I'm going to do it in Basque.

Has the attitude of the people been good?

Yeah, very good. Everyone has told me “more often this!” and I do.

You've learned a few words from malinka.

I had become curious about my mother and my daughters in Geneva. I always speak to the child in Basque. His mother does it as a damn, and I told him that she can learn Basque with the child. He told me he knows how to say “good morning,” “hello,” “how about.” I told her that in the next session I would do a little more in Basque and she would teach her the words in Malinkera. He wanted to give value to his language, as we like to give to ours. He was surprised that I wanted to know the damn.

Saioa Larruskain, “Thanks to the challenge people have come out of the closet”

How did the week go?

It was a very nice experience. For example, I met a neighbor and thought I didn't know Euskera. To see how he tries it, how he wants to speak in Basque, for me it is very nice. I've gone to a small trade and I've done it in Basque. I've done it before, but now he has the veneer on his chest, and that's new, even though he responds in Spanish. If you did it in Basque and you answered it in Spanish, maybe you would do it for the second time, but if you did it in Spanish, we would go to Spanish.

The “Belarriprest” veneer (which means you want to be spoken to in Basque) is effective.

It's a little boy, you know he wants to speak in Basque, slower, but you talk to him. You go to the store, because it always meets the employee you made in Spanish and now has veneer, it is “belarriprest”. Before, you didn't know what the problem was, or the Basque level was very low, or you didn't dare to express it in Euskera, or it could even be a bad attitude towards Euskera. Now you know that you want us to speak to him in Basque, and he will answer you in Basque or not.

Thanks to this challenge, people have come out of the closet. “Belarriprest” [1,916] and “ahobizi” [958 people have declared that they want to speak in Basque through the “ahobizi” veneer] has been many people registered. Some Euskaldunberris have joined the “ahobizi” group. In our batch was the Euskaldunberri girl and has been appointed as “ahobizi” to get out of the closet.

From 3 December, that is, when the veneer is removed?

Changing language habits with people is very difficult. This experience will make habits change. So far I have spoken to some in Spanish, perhaps from now on I do them in Basque... No, no, it will be, I will speak to you in Basque.