Learning the Maltese language in the UK

Hi MGrima,

I've the same problem, courses are not really to expect. Private tuition hard to find.

Here a few books:

Antoinette Camilleri: Merħba Bik
to me, not really helpful. The book itself doesn't have a key, nearly no English translations, not much English explanation. In short: you need a teacher beside.

Lydia Sciriha: Beginning Maltese and Continuing Maltese are ok. The only thing I can't stand is the beeping sound on the CD, between words and sentences.

Joseph Aquilina: Concise Maltese-English English-Maltese Dictionary is ok. Nevertheless I prefer the original version of it.

***Joseph Aquilina, Maltese - English - Maltese Dictionary. Very good, for beginners the 2 Maltese volumes are sufficient.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3618 … ix-volumes

***For self-studies I recommend: “Learn Maltese, why not?” Joseph Vella, as printed book or to download: http://www.ebook3000.com/Learn-Maltese- … 44055.html . All explanations in English. Al Maltese sentences translated. There is a key to all exercises.

Lorna Vassallo, Maltese through English. A new book (2012), very good, all explanations in English, all translated. But not for a beginner.  http://maltapark.com/item.aspx?ItemID=2160826

The CDs EuroTalk, TalkNow! Tghallem il-Malti. Different levels.

Just to listen to:
http://www.campusfm.um.edu.mt/pages/web … m#series_2

Good luck
tina

Ah, thanks so much for your help; really useful.... so looks like I'm going to have to do it the hard way!!! )  Thanks again!

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Hi Lorna,
għandi pjaċir ħafna li "niltaqa' miegħek" :-))). Ħadt gost ħafna ħafna li sibt il-ktieb tiegħek! Grazzi.

I found your book in Valletta last year and got very excited, I went through all the chapters and was very enthusiastic about it.
For example: I already asked many Maltese how to express the conditional (in no other books I found a chapter about the conditional), however none of their answers was satisfactory. In contrast, your explanations and examples were very good and helpful, grazzi ħafna!
As well I appreciated the chapter about the "grammatical terminology" and all your lists with verbs, and suffixes. The whole book is a great help!

I'm looking forward to your other books, which for sure I will buy when I in Malta next time.

Inselli ħafna għalik
tina

Dear Tina,

Very nice to hear from you too.  Yes, just as you said, there are a number of topics that have never been explained in books before.  In order to know what 'innovative' about the book (ie has never been discussed before : go to the end of the book and there is a page called 'Further Note'.  That note is a very important note in fact.  It tells you exactly what's new.  Remember the Maltese language was always though to the Maltese before.  So, the student/learner was always very familiar with the language before actually learning it / learning how to write it.

Thanks for the good comments.  That gives me courage to go on.  Book 4 and 5 of the series are already way on the way but these depend so much on the sales of the first, second and third book.

Nirringrak hafna tal-interess, lilek u lil kull min xtara l-kotba tieghi! (if you have any queries please do not hesitate to write to me here).

Dear everybody,

Excuse me for the English mistakes I've done amongst which 'though' instead of 'taught' - it shows Im quite tired.  Upon reading them again I am more than aware of them!

tina_ch wrote:

Hi MGrima,

I've the same problem, courses are not really to expect. Private tuition hard to find.

Here a few books:

Antoinette Camilleri: Merħba Bik
to me, not really helpful. The book itself doesn't have a key, nearly no English translations, not much English explanation. In short: you need a teacher beside.

Lydia Sciriha: Beginning Maltese and Continuing Maltese are ok. The only thing I can't stand is the beeping sound on the CD, between words and sentences.

Joseph Aquilina: Concise Maltese-English English-Maltese Dictionary is ok. Nevertheless I prefer the original version of it.

***Joseph Aquilina, Maltese - English - Maltese Dictionary. Very good, for beginners the 2 Maltese volumes are sufficient.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3618 … ix-volumes

***For self-studies I recommend: “Learn Maltese, why not?” Joseph Vella, as printed book or to download: http://www.ebook3000.com/Learn-Maltese- … 44055.html . All explanations in English. Al Maltese sentences translated. There is a key to all exercises.

Lorna Vassallo, Maltese through English. A new book (2012), very good, all explanations in English, all translated. But not for a beginner.  http://maltapark.com/item.aspx?ItemID=2160826

The CDs EuroTalk, TalkNow! Tghallem il-Malti. Different levels.

Just to listen to:
http://www.campusfm.um.edu.mt/pages/web … m#series_2

Good luck
tina

Hi there,
This topic is interesting, because Malta was my first choice of relocation back in 1990.
At that time, I never bothered about Maltese language because I knew they speak English over there.
How is Maltese language?  Any similarities with other language(s)?
Is it easy to learn?  Simple grammar or killer grammar? 

Also, do the Maltese speak proper English, or it's all Americanized or localized Maltenglish?

Hi John

You may have a look at these sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_languagehttp://aboutmalta.com/language/maltesegrammar.htm#genhttp://aboutmalta.com/language/survival.htm

tina_ch wrote:

Hi John

You may have a look at these sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_languagehttp://aboutmalta.com/language/maltesegrammar.htm#genhttp://aboutmalta.com/language/survival.htm

Hello Tina,
Thank you.
I realize I re-invented the word Maltenglish in my previous post: I found it in your link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_language

Do you think Maltese language will disappear?

Dear John,

Thanks for your interest. Putting it simply, Maltese is a mixture between Arabic, Italian and today quite some English.  The alphabet is a latin one though (ie the same as English).  Consisting of three languages at once the grammar is a very vast one and mainly semitic.  I would call it a difficult language myself although Ive met people who disagree.  In fact I know foreigners who learnt the language by themselves apparently without books after a few years living here.  These include different nationalities eg French, Russians etc etc.  Well, I think it all depends on how interested you are.

Re English, the Maltese are the best English speakers outside the UK. We all start learning English at the age of 3/4.  Today's youngsters are even much better at English, as before (my age) we used to start off with three languages (Maltese, English. Italian) when young.  So what we lacked in English we made up for by knowing a lot of Italian.  But still Italian is the third language in Malta today inspite of being given less importance and most Maltese understand Italian too.

The Maltese have also won a number of awards for teaching English as a foreign language and Malta is also preferred to learn English because we pronounce English more articulately,
In fact teaching English as a foreign language is quite a big industry here and there are about 40 such schools.

That said, the Maltese do not all know how to speak English that well.  It depends a lot on their background.  Obviously as all university courses are taught in English, it is not easy to find a graduate who doesnt speak English well.  But even at secondary and primary level (from 4-16) a number of subjects are taught in English at school.

To conclude, I can also say, that the Maltese having a history of colonization (and having passed peacefully from one empire to another for 2000 with only one armed revolt  in 1798) are known for their friendliness and hospitality.  Even if they do not know how to express themselves well, they will show you around to help you find a place or employ a lot of time to help a foreigner feel at home in our country.  As a prolific traveller I think this is not just a myth but a truth.  As Maltese, we all know we depend on foreigners, and that s why tourists come here. 

Hope the answer is satisfactory and remember Im also a tourist guide so excuse my detailed answer!

And by the way, best English speakers outside UK in EUROPE.  I dont mean better than the Americans, Canadians, Australians   Hope you got it!

lornavassallo wrote:

Dear John,

Thanks for your interest. Putting it simply, Maltese is a mixture between Arabic, Italian and today quite some English.  The alphabet is a latin one though (ie the same as English).  Consisting of three languages at once the grammar is a very vast one and mainly semitic.  I would call it a difficult language myself although Ive met people who disagree.  In fact I know foreigners who learnt the language by themselves apparently without books after a few years living here.  These include different nationalities eg French, Russians etc etc.  Well, I think it all depends on how interested you are.

Re English, the Maltese are the best English speakers outside the UK. We all start learning English at the age of 3/4.  Today's youngsters are even much better at English, as before (my age) we used to start off with three languages (Maltese, English. Italian) when young.  So what we lacked in English we made up for by knowing a lot of Italian.  But still Italian is the third language in Malta today inspite of being given less importance and most Maltese understand Italian too.

The Maltese have also won a number of awards for teaching English as a foreign language and Malta is also preferred to learn English because we pronounce English more articulately,
In fact teaching English as a foreign language is quite a big industry here and there are about 40 such schools.

That said, the Maltese do not all know how to speak English that well.  It depends a lot on their background.  Obviously as all university courses are taught in English, it is not easy to find a graduate who doesnt speak English well.  But even at secondary and primary level (from 4-16) a number of subjects are taught in English at school.

To conclude, I can also say, that the Maltese having a history of colonization (and having passed peacefully from one empire to another for 2000 with only one armed revolt  in 1798) are known for their friendliness and hospitality.  Even if they do not know how to express themselves well, they will show you around to help you find a place or employ a lot of time to help a foreigner feel at home in our country.  As a prolific traveller I think this is not just a myth but a truth.  As Maltese, we all know we depend on foreigners, and that s why tourists come here. 

Hope the answer is satisfactory and remember Im also a tourist guide so excuse my detailed answer!

Dear Lorna,
Thank you very much for taking the time to explain so thoroughly.  Nobody so far answered my questions, posts or threads in this forum so clearly as you did. 

I helps to know that Maltese are the best English speakers in Europe after English in England.
It makes me wonder how well the Gibraltarians speak ...

Perhaps because of expats, lots of travelers and Internet many languages will die leaving room for just a few major languages to persist and evolve.
I realize how hard it is for Maltese to resist the big wave of change. 

lornavassallo wrote:

And by the way, best English speakers outside UK in EUROPE.  I dont mean better than the Americans, Canadians, Australians   Hope you got it!

Americans, Canadian, Australians and etc. speak localized English.  The best English speaker with perfect diction is the Queen of England whom I have difficulty imitating ... 
Thank you one more time. 

hI, I'm quite sure that In London there are a number of Maltese students doing postgraduate studies in languages, education and similar subjects who most probably would have learnt Maltese at University in Malta before going abroad. They would probably be glad to give some private tuition for some extra cash. It might be possible to contact them through Language faculties in London Universities.
I know tens of Maltese students in London, but mostly from engineering andtechnical backgrounds.