The International Commonality Reference Person for Languages and Interpreting
I’m Xabi Odriozola, from the Basque Country. I am the International Commonality Reference Person for Languages and Interpreting. You have just heard my language, which is around forty thousand years old. My language has given me a strong feeling of belonging to my people, to my land, to my culture, and a strong sense of integrity and connection that makes it harder for the system to manipulate and confuse me.
Language is something more than a tool for communication. It is the space where my people live, the space where my people’s best ideas are created—the ideas that can make this world better. It is also a space for you to reclaim yourself. I would like to help you to reclaim your people, your language, your background, and to be fully yourself everywhere you go.
Xabi Odriozola
Donostia, Basque Country