‘Kaixo’, ‘hello’!

You are in the Mintzo room.
Mintzo is the Basque word for ‘speech’.

There is a screen in front of you.
On the screen you can see a video about Basque.
There are also some additional facts and figures about the language, such as:

 
● How many people speak it.
● Whether it’s spoken more in cities or villages.
● Whether older people or younger people speak it more.

This information is constantly updated.
On the screen are the answers to any questions you may have about the situation of the Basque language.

There are 600 facts and figures.
The method for collecting this type of data was established by sociolinguist Patxi Baztarrika.
A sociolinguist is someone who studies the relationship between languages and society.

Patxi Baztarrika is also one of the curators of this exhibition, along with Kirmen Uribe.
Kirmen Uribe is a Basque writer and philologist.
A philologist is someone who studies the language and literature of a specific people.

To view the data, press the buttons on the left-hand side of the screen.
The buttons look like doorbells.
Imagine that this screen is like the people who live in an apartment block.
The doorbell on each floor represents part of the strength of the Basque language.

In recent years, the number of Basque speakers has increased throughout the Basque Country.
However, numbers have not risen evenly across all three regions:
the Basque Autonomous Community, the Autonomous Community of Navarre and the Northern Basque Country in France.

Our goals are to improve these figures and ensure that Basque is spoken and shared every day and in all areas of life.

To find out where this information comes from, press the ‘sources’ button at the bottom of the screen.

Once you have finished, press ‘finish’.

Remember to ‘like’ Basque before going up to the first floor to continue your visit.)