Aitor Spoke Basque in His Final Exam – and Passed

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Aitor Spoke Basque in His Final Exam – and Passed.

On November 3, 2026, ABC.es reported on an examination in the Basque Country that began with an unexpected linguistic moment. Aitor, a student who struggled to speak Spanish, told his professor before beginning the defense of his master’s final project: “The thing is, I find speaking Spanish difficult.” According to the professor, he was visibly nervous.

The professor’s response was remarkable because, by her own account, she did not speak very good Basque. Rather than continue the examination in Spanish, she sought to connect with Aitor in his language. The result: a smile, a successful defense and a master’s degree he passed.

A Sentence in Basque Eased the Tension Before the Exam

The tension before the defense

The professor chaired a panel examining master’s students’ final theses. When Aitor spoke before the defense began, she could clearly see his nervousness. His statement was also a direct disclosure: He could not express himself in the examination’s language, Spanish, as well as he would have liked.

Her reaction was particularly special because she herself did not have strong Basque skills. She did say that she was understanding Aitor better over time. One reason was his Instagram account: Beñat Olea publishes tips on using Basque there. The professor watched his videos and, in this way, learned to better connect with him.

The specific sentence

When the professor addressed Aitor, she said in Basque that her Basque lessons, or watching his videos, were progressing slowly. She apologized for her level while doing so. With the sentence, she connected her own uncertainty about speaking Basque with the student’s situation, as he in turn was struggling with Spanish.

“Egun on. My Basque classes, that is, watching your videos, are progressing slowly. I’m sorry.”

“Egun on, mis clases de euskera (o sea, ver tus vídeos) van despacio, lo siento”

The professor described this remark with a wink toward Aitor. According to her message to Olea, the comment relieved the tense situation and brought a smile to the young man. It did not resolve every language difference between them. It created a direct moment of recognition amid the pressure of the examination.

The Master’s Thesis Was Successfully Defended in Basque

No problems with the chosen language

The professor said there was no issue with the fact that Aitor defended his thesis in Euskera. In the end, she described the entire defense of the TFM as a complete success. Her summary was clear: “I got a smile out of him and he passed. So, eskerrik asko.”

The episode reached its audience through Olea, a Guipuzcoan influencer known for his advice on using Euskera on Instagram. Olea had shared the professor’s account of the examination. The teacher also credited his videos with helping her understand Aitor and with shaping how she related to her students and taught Euskera.

For Olea, the message from his follower was more than an amusing anecdote. He described it as an example of Euskera and Spanish coexisting in situations of great pressure. In his response, he called the account beautiful and showed that he was visibly flattered by its impact on his followers’ everyday lives.

What the Episode Shows About Examinations in Two Languages

Not a general success story

The case does not show that every examination may be taken in any language. The source presents a specific situation in which a student openly named his difficulty with Spanish, the professor responded in Euskera and then confirmed that she had no problem with him defending his thesis in that language.

What made the moment work was the direct connection between them. Aitor communicated his difficulty before the defense began. The professor did not treat his nervousness as an obstacle, but addressed him in the language he preferred and used Beñat Olea’s videos as a shared reference. Her wording had a double meaning: She apologized for her own level while simultaneously showing that she was trying to understand him better.

For anyone who has ever felt that words become harder under pressure, the story offers one very concrete lesson: A sentence in your own language can create a connection when the usual language feels difficult. In Aitor’s case, that connection began with a smile and continued through the successful defense of his master’s thesis.