Summary

Bagoaz’s Basque course makes a great first impression. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t live up to expectations. It contains lessons, exercises and a Spanish–Basque dictionary. The lessons are the most useful part: they contain a Spanish-language explanation of key Basque grammar and vocabulary with some example sentences. Some lessons introduce a lot of material at once, and the presentation isn’t ideal, either: it’s dense and the text is very small on mobile. However, the information is clearly explained. The exercises make up the bulk of the app, but they’re the most disappointing part. They’re entirely based on translating Basque sentences to and from Spanish, and the questions often include vocabulary that wasn’t in the lesson. The dictionary features snippets from the free dictionary Elhuyar, but you would be better off going directly there: Bagoaz often only includes the first definition listed in Elhuyar. Words like rico only translate to the Basque word for wealthy, not delicious. Bagoaz isn’t without value, but it works better as a reference guide to beginner-level Basque than as a course.