Boise alumna studies Basque language in Spain

Elena Rielinger is conducting linguistic research in the Basque Country, a region spanning parts of Spain and France. The former Boise State University student arrived in the area in the fall of 2026 to begin a year of fieldwork funded by a Fulbright Scholarship.

Rielinger graduated from Boise State in May 2026 with degrees in linguistics and interdisciplinary studies. She won the Fulbright award in the spring of 2026. Her specific research focus is the education of immigrant adults in the Basque language.

The scholar noted that the linguistic environment in the region is complex. In the Basque Autonomous Community, Basque and Spanish hold co-official status. However, Rielinger observed that Spanish is frequently the language used on the streets, while Basque is taught in schools. On the French side of the border, French is the primary language of instruction and daily use.

Rielinger is examining how this bilingual and trilingual dynamic affects immigrant students. Many of these learners arrive from South America and already speak Spanish. She is investigating why some students hesitate to learn Basque if they do not perceive it as a practical tool for daily communication.

Rielinger is working with a professor who has previously studied similar issues in local schools. That earlier research found that immigrant children often resisted learning Basque because they already spoke Spanish. The students questioned the necessity of learning a language that was not widely spoken in the streets.

Rielinger’s interest in the Basque language developed after she moved to Boise. She is a U.S. Navy veteran who had been stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, before enrolling at Boise State. She stated that she had never heard of Basque cheesecake before moving to Idaho.

She began taking Basque classes and researching the local community during her freshman year. Rielinger said the Basque community in Boise helped her feel at home in the city. She later added an interdisciplinary studies major that combined anthropology, Basque studies, and user experience research.

Rielinger said this combination of fields supported her goal of conducting interdisciplinary research. She noted that the local Basque diaspora in Idaho provided a starting point for her academic work. The community in Boise has close ties to the Departments of World Languages and Linguistics at the university.

Rielinger plans to use the findings from this Fulbright year to support her applications to graduate school. She intends to continue studying linguistics in her doctoral work. Her current fieldwork aims to help preserve the Basque language in its native region.