Something that really bugs me is the way people pick on my Maltese. Lets get something straight: Maltese is not my mothertongue and my Maltese is not perfect but I try!
I think my Maltese is acceptable. I confuse my male and female nouns but overall its not that bad and you can most definitely understand me. I learned Maltese as a child aged 10, from complete immersion into Malta, but here’s what seems to be the biggest ‘unacceptable; thing… I learned spoken Maltese in Gozo which is know for having a strong dialect. I think it is very rude when I a Maltese person picks on me about my Maltese or says ‘Car, your English is perfect but your Maltese is a no no’ or ‘Please speak to me in English’. Lets just step back here…. if you speak to me in Maltese it is proper linguistic etiquette for me to reply in Maltese if I know the language, which I do! Believe it or not I actually passed the O’level.. which has to show something. Not only that I dont go around saying ‘hey x, your English is terrible , please speak Maltese to me’…. which trust me I very well could because the English I hear sometime … ‘OMG; no comment’. If I wanted to be; I could be the fussiest person when it comes to English diction, tenses and especially pronunciation. I can also bitch about the mix of language.. here’s a good one DECIDE, English or Maltese… using both languages in the same sentence sounds utterly ridiculous.
So this is to all those ppl who pick on my Maltese.. stop it! I will take it against you and I will embarrass the shit out of you next time you speak English! Dont make me play ‘not’ nice!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
After years of travels and learning new languages, I strongly believe that languages are meant to *communicate*,not to divide people.
Malta might be a particular environment because of the massive usage of the English language, still mocking someone for his language, his accent, … it’s not just impolite but also says a lot of the people doing this, people not interested to communicate and share ideas, feelings, … but to feel superior than others. To say honestly this attitude seems to be a constant of English-speaking countries, where the language is mostly mnemonic. Compare with the different level of knowledge required by the normal people of the official language and the local dialects in China or Japan, for instance, or of the ex Soviet Union.
And about Japan: http://www.javno.com/en-world/japan-pm-faces-reading-test-as-popularity-sags_226060
Madonna, vera, these people vera jdejjquni lili as well
hehehe
Seriously though, you make a valid point. It’s the mix of the languages that is more infuriating. Yet personally, I find that a person who was born in Malta and bred here for the larger part of their life, should at least be able to speak some Maltese.
Fluency in a language though is a different matter. After all, we are only fluent in that which we choose are our preferred language. So it really makes no difference I guess, as long as you’re understood.
Mhux hekk imma missUs?