Basque Country Live

So says University Lecturer at HUHEZI (Faculty of Humanities and Education) and Erasmus student coordinator, Julia Barnes. Born near Bristol, with her formative years spent in New Zealand, Julia talks to EITB about learning Basque, teaching English and rubbing shoulders with some of Spain’s most famous stars.

You are teaching on a course to Basque students called “Education in Europe and the Global World: Good practice” and all your teaching is in English. Tell us what that entails.

Julia Barnes: It’s a four-year teaching degree for students specializing in various subjects. We don’t actually teach English as such; what we try to do is activate the English the students have been learning since school; we teach topics such as Europe, Education in Wales, Christmas across Europe – all through the medium of English. So essentially they learn English by learning how to learn things in English!

In the third year some students do a two-month teaching practice in Welsh-speaking schools in North Wales and it’s very successful. Although sometimes it’s difficult because they don’t understand all the Welsh, it really gives them an opportunity to compare what happens in Wales with what happens here.

What are some of the key things about teaching people how to teach a second or third language?

Julia Barnes: If you can understand how you learned your first language or languages you’re halfway there. To the people here who are bilingual anyway, it makes sense to them.

You based your PhD on trilingualism, specifically your own children’s – How do you see the possibility of a trilingual Basque Country over the next couple of decades?

Julia Barnes: It’s perfectly possible to do. As soon as people here start being more exposed to English it will just take off. At the moment we’ve got a situation where we’re giving children exposure to English at an early age, but for a short time plus the teaching they’re exposed to is not always ideal as most nursery English teachers haven’t trained to teach English. A new degree we are giving in HUHEZI now will actually train people to be language teachers in infant education.

Tell us what first brought you to the Iberian Peninsular.

Julia Barnes: After A levels ( Bachiller), two friends and I decided to spend a year abroad so we went to Madrid; they came back and I stayed for four years teaching English. Around the same time Franco died: I remember people celebrating all the time. I got involved in the ‘movida madrileña’ and met people like (popular Spanish groups) Burning and Alaska. During the day I worked as an English teacher. But I don’t think I realized at the time just how exciting it was because everything was exciting to me then – I was 18 and I’d just left home.

You’ve lived in England, New Zealand, Madrid and here: What are the main differences between these cultures?

Julia: I tend to think I ended up here because NZ gave me a more relaxed view of life than England: Open air, love of the outside, the beach, the sea and the mountains. I was young at the time, but I have memories of doing things outside. England is more of an inside culture.

When did your Basque adventure start?

Julia: I started learning the language before I had any plans to come here. I was fascinated by it. As part of my studies at university I had to take an exotic language so I chose Basque! Then after passing my PGCE (British teaching certificate) I started working for Eurocentres who had a project with the cooperatives of Mondragon to bring teachers from England to teach English to their employees; I was part of that. I met my husband through it and ended up staying.

What needs to change to improve the possibilities of us becoming tri-lingual?

JB: I think it’s very important for people to realize that all three languages are to be equally valued for different reasons. At the moment, three languages are vying for space, but we’re certainly getting there.

So is there going to be a new generation of fluent English-speaking Basque people in the next ten or fifteen years?

JB: I think so; we are already seeing a huge improvement in the quality of English that students bring to their university studies as a result of the early English programmes, taught in the Basque Country since the nineties. On the other hand, we’re still dealing with Franco’s educational legacy and a generation of teachers educating in a very traditional way, especially in Secondary which is like the last bastion, although teachers are finally in there doing content-based teaching through a foreign language. Once the new multilingual teachers we train enter education I think we’re really going to start seeing a difference, but it’s not quite there yet.

So says University Lecturer at HUHEZI (Faculty of Humanities and Education) and Erasmus student coordinator Julia Barnes. Born near Bristol, with her formative years spent in New Zealand, Julia talks to EITB about learning Basque, teaching English and rubbing shoulders with some of Spain’s most famous stars.  

You are teaching on a course to Basque students called “Education in Europe and the Global World: Good practice" and all your teaching is in English. Tell us what that entails.

It’s a four-year teaching degree for students specializing in various subjects. We don’t actually teach English as such; what we try to do is activate the English the students have been learning since school; we teach topics such as Europe, Education in Wales, Christmas across Europe - all through the medium of English. So essentially they learn English by learning how to learn things in English!

In the third year some students to do a two-month teaching practice in Welsh-speaking schools in North Wales and it’s very successful. Although sometimes it’s difficult because they don’t understand all the Welsh, it really gives them an opportunity to compare what happens in Wales with what happens here. 

What are some of the key things about teaching people how to teach a second or third language?

If you can understand how you learned your first language or languages you’re halfway there. To the people here who are bilingual anyway, it makes sense to them.

You based your PhD on trilingualism, specifically your own children’s – How do you see the possibility of a trilingual Basque Country over the next couple of decades? 

It’s perfectly possible to do. As soon as people here start being more exposed to English it will just take off. At the moment we’ve got a situation where we’re giving children exposure to English at an early age, but for a short time plus the teaching they’re exposed to is not always ideal as most nursery English teachers haven’t trained to teach English. A new degree we are giving in HUHEZI now will actually train people to be language teachers in infant education.

Tell us what first brought you to the Iberian Peninsular

After A levels ( Bachiller) , two friends and I decided to spend a year abroad so we went to Madrid; they came back and I stayed for four years teaching English. Around the same time Franco died: I remember people celebrating all the time. I got involved in the ‘movida madrileña’ and met people like (popular Spanish groups) Burning and Alaska. During the day I worked as an English teacher. But I don’t think I realized at the time just how exciting it was because everything was exciting to me then – I was 18 and I’d just left home. 

You’ve lived in England, New Zealand, Madrid and here: What are the main differences between these cultures?

I tend to think I ended up here because NZ gave me a more relaxed view of life than England: Open air, love of the outside, the beach, the sea and the mountains. I was young at the time, but I have memories of doing things outside. England is more of an inside culture. 

When did your Basque adventure start?

I started learning the language before I had any plans to come here. I was fascinated by it. As part of my studies at university I had to take an exotic language so I chose Basque! Then after passing my PGCE (British teaching certificate) I started working for Eurocentres who had a project with the cooperatives of Mondragon to bring teachers from England to teach English to their employees; I was part of that. I met my husband through it and ended up staying.

What needs to change to improve the possibilities of us becoming tri-lingual?

I think it’s very important for people to realize that all three languages are to be equally valued for different reasons. At the moment, three languages are vying for space, but we’re certainly getting there. 

So is there going to be a new generation of fluent English-speaking Basque people in the next ten or fifteen years?

I think so; we are already seeing a huge improvement in the quality of English that students bring to their university studies as a result of the early English programmes, taught in the Basque Country since the nineties. On the other hand, we’re still dealing with Franco’s educational legacy and a generation of teachers educating in a very traditional way, especially in Secondary which is like the last bastion, although teachers are finally in there doing content-based teaching through a foreign language. Once the new multilingual teachers we train enter education I think we’re really going to start seeing a difference, but it’s not quite there yet.

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Even before I came to the Basque Country people told me about the Basques being very shy and held back. They recommended me to just make the first contact because behind the mask of shyness I would find some very open en friendly persons. And some other people said like ´´yeah enjoy the sangria and flamingo´´..Ok I could laugh about that right away because by the hits that Google gave when I typed the Basque Country I understood that it would not be like the Costa Brava or something.

But still, I thouhgt that the people who told me about the big shyness were just blowing things out of proportion. That was at least until I came here..

The first time I entered my flat and met my housemates..The first time I entered a shop or supermarket.. The first time I entered a full classroom.. People were looking at me all the time like I was a very strange object and they didn´t spoke to me right away. Even now after I have been here almost three months they still look at me like that on the streets sometimes.

At first I thought like `what´s going on? ´Do I have something on my face (except for my freckles)? The first feeling I got was to walk pass everybody really fast because I didn´t like the starring. But then I let my brains work realized that of course I must be strange to everyone here. In Arrasate for example most of the old people probably have never seen a foreigner before, except for on the TV maybe. Then they see me passing, a 1.83 m tall girl with red hair and freckles (that on top of that wears shoes with heals because she isn´t tall enough yet).

So I decided to just say “Hola´´ or “Epa´´/“Keitxo´´, which I learned here, to people while I was passing by them. Surprisingly the curious and a little afraid looking faces turned into smiling faces! I got a greeting back, most of the time followed by a question or a comment. Unfortunately I didn´t understand everything that people told me right away, especially not when it was in Basque, but I learned a little and I´m still learning.

And once the contact with a Basque is made it´s not hard to make friends at all. Everybody has been very interested and friendly to me. Most of the time people have a good sense of humour as well.

But even now I know the way it works around here I can´t help it like still mentioning the shyness of people. For example..
I can´t forget the faces of the two old men that I was passing by yesterday. It was raining so I held my umbrella a little higher trying not to hit them. While I did that they looked up to me with big eyes and there mouths fell open. So I smiled and said “Keitxo!´´ Which made them look even more shocked, that came over as rude so I just walked past them. But then behind me I heard “ Keitxo!´´, and when I looked back one of the man was waving shyly at me.

This happened on my way to school were I had to give a presentation with some classmates about a Basque restaurant that we want to open in Tokyo (just imaginative of course). During the presentation again the shyness of the Basques suprised me so much.

My group of five stood before the class, all with a blush on their cheeks and giggling. They asked me if I was nervous and actually I really wasn´t because I have known that class for like 2 months now. And that´s exactly why I was so surprised of them being shy, they have known each other for almost four years now.

Our presentation was well prepared by all of us, we did good research and had some interesting background information so I accepted it would go smooth. But no..
Once the teacher interrupted the first speaker with a question they all looked at each other like ´you give the answer, you give the answer´. So I started speaking but I didn´t know the full presentation so some parts I had to guess.

I looked at them while I was speaking and added “Right?´´ to my sentences. They nodded on everything. Then the presentation continued one of my classmates whispered me in my ear what the answser that I gave should also have contained. So I said to him that he should open his mouth because it would be could for our credits. He nodded. Then their fell I silence and I said to teacher, wait he has to add something. We were all looking at him waiting for his comment but then, and I felt so bad about it because I had placed him in this position, he turned all red en said to me “ No, you say it! You say it´´. Of course I did but it surprised me so much! Why should they be shy to speak in public? Especially when it is in front of their classmates who they have known so long now.

I think it could be because they had to speak in English. Everybody here keeps telling me that their English is terrible but I don´t agree because they tell me bunch of funny stories in English all the time. For sure they know English..

If it was up to me I would say that they just shoudn´t be so stubborn, it´s much better to just try and make fun of it when you use a wrong worth or something. That happens to everybody, even to the ones for who English is their mother tongue.

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