國中會考基測◆英語科題庫下載題庫

   If you visit Spain, you will hear people speaking Spanish most of the time. But if you go north to the Basque Country, you will also hear a language that is only spoken there: Euskara. Nobody knows when people began to speak Euskara, but one thing is for sure: It was already in Europe before any other language arrived.

    Although Euskara has been around for thousands of years, it experienced its worst time in the 1990s, when it almost died out. From 1939 to 1975, when Spain was in Francisco Franco’s hands, everyone had to use Spanish only. Under this rule, people who were heard speaking other languages would be stopped by the police. And the police were always around, so the Basque people were afraid to speak Euskara in any public places. They felt that even the walls were listening. Over time, the Basque people spoke Euskara less and less, and some families even stopped teaching their children the language. To save Euskara, some people set up language schools to teach Euskara. Because of their hard work, Euskara was not “killed” but lived on long after Franco died.

     Although Euskara is heard and seen across the Basque Country today, Spanish is still more commonly used in Spain. However, many people who know Euskara still choose to speak Spanish in public places. For this reason, some people have started to worry again about the future of Euskara. How long can it live?