euskalkultura.eus

Bilbao, Bizkaia. Last week, the Azkue Foundation created Mintzatu.com, with the objective of uniting all the places in which euskera is spoken in the world and link them all with a single web page. Azkue has created this page but it cannot be completed without the help of the Basques around the world. The process is very simple: just register with Mintzatu.com and signal on the map where euskara is spoken.

The map already includes many Basque places, stores and business in Euskal Herria, and there are also a few from the Diaspora. EuskalKultura.com would like to invite all the Basques of the world to participate and include all the places of the Diaspora that speak euskera.

How do you include a new site?

To create new Basque places on the map is very easy. Just go to Mintzatu.com, register as a user and click the option "Lekua Gehitu" (add a place). Show on the map the place, drag the button where you want it, or filling the address in the form below the map. Finish and save. This location can be a euskal etxea, a business, a store, an euskaltegi... it will appear afterwards on the map.

EuskalKultura.com was told by Amaia Ozerin, from Azkue Foundation, that the Mintzatu project has taken the Diaspora into account from the beginning. "For us it is very important to show that euskera is spoken beyond the geographical limits of the Basque Country. With the web we can see where the Diaspora exists and situate it on the map," explains Ozerin.

Where is euskera spoken in, say, Buenos Aires?

In addition to placing Basque sites on the map, Mintzatu.com offers other useful tools: for example, finding locations that speak euskera in the vicinity of the user. The Azkue Foundation will create next year an application to use this option on mobile devices, but it can be used already simply by entering their webpage on their phone.

Once the map on Mintzatu.com becomes full of Basque places, the system will offer very interesting possiblities. For example, a Basque who travels to Argentina will be able to find locations nearby that speak Basque. Or a Basque who is lost in  San Francisco, Shanghai or Sydney cpuld find someone who can give them directions in euskera.

Prizes in the Diaspora too

We know that in the Diaspora there are many people who speak or are learning euskera in Basque centers or in lectures;  because of this, we would like to invite our readers to participate Mintzatu.com. It can be a fun and interesting way to connect with the Diaspora and Euskal Herria, creating an international network of places that speak euskera and unite Basques of different euskal etxeak and help students of Basque to practice. 

Another incentive: the Azkue Foundation will give out prizes to users: to the one that creates the most sites, the one who does the most check-ins, who has the most friends on the platform, who finds two rare treasures on the map, etc. This will be held on February 15th, and the prizes will be gift cards for 100 and 200 euros for FNAC (for the Diaspora, they can be redeemed on FNAC´s website).

EuskalKultura.com already appears on the map as a place that speaks euskera. Your euskal etxea should be too! What are you waiting for?