Basque language teachers from European Basque centres meeting in Mallorca
Euskara. Kultura. Mundura.
The annual meeting of Basque teachers from European Euskal Etxeak (Basque centres), organised by the Etxepare Basque Institute, has taken place. This year the event was hosted by the Mallorca Artea Euskal Etxea.
The meeting was held on 13 and 14 October at Ca n´Alcover, the institutional headquarters of the Obra Cultural Balear. It was an intense and enriching two days of work for the teachers from the Basque schools in Paris, Valladolid, Barcelona, Berlin, Valencia, Pau and Bordeaux. Along with the usual sharing of experiences and teaching methods, intensive training was provided this year for online training. The Euskara Munduan method was emphasised in collaboration with its author, Jon Urdangarin.
As part of the ongoing 11-year effort to professionalize the teaching staff, the next meeting is already slated for October 2024 at the Euskal Etxea in Berlin.
We wish to emphasize the unanimously positive feedback from all participants and the contribution that this training has made to the quality of Basque language instruction at our Euskal Etxea in Valencia. The Euskara Munduan programme coordinator, Kinku Zinkunegin, stressed how important the results obtained in these meetings are. "Every Euskal Etxea operates under distinct circumstances and conditions. By identifying common points and challenges as a group and exchanging relevant topics and materials for consideration during the course, the entire group of teachers can benefit," Zinkunegin added.
Etxepare Basque Institute and the programme
One of the missions of the Etxepare Basque Institute is to promote knowledge of the Basque language among Basque communities abroad. Euskara Munduan (Euskara in the world) was set up for this purpose. Today more than 70 Basque centers around the world offer Euskara classes in collaboration with the Institute.
The programme has its origins in Argentinan Euskaraz, a project set up in 1990 to revitalize the Basque language in Basque centres in Argentina. Years later, the programme spread to Basque centers in other countries and became known as Euskara Munduan.