The importance of local language in Malta

@Cheryl Maltese is the main language with English second, as most of the

locals speak both we do not have any problems.

Maltese language is quite a difficult one to learn as it's Arabic.

Hey GozoMo,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.

If I may ask, how long did it take you to learn Maltese?

Is Maltese also taught as a language in schools?

Cheers,

Cheryl

Reading is a problem indeed. Many people in Malta do not learn Maltese at all because they can communicate in English. Maltese is the compulsory language for children in school, but not always required for foreign workers or people who retire in this country.

Regards to Mauritius where not everybody is familiar with Hindi the language of India, despite the numerous Hindu Temples.

@Cheryl  I have not learnt  Maltese, school have lessons inI both languages.

Very, very few expats learn Maltese simply because it is so difficult and as English is more or less universal. Maltese of course use Malti all the time conversing amongst themselves but all apart from the very old can speak English.

Many Maltese youngsters say they found it easier to learn English at school than their own language!

@Cheryl

Malta is a tourist country and English is dominating the business. There is no need for pensioners like me to learn the local language. You can compare Malta with Ireland. People have their local language, but English is the dominating language.

A while ago. This country was part of the Roman empire and everybody was speaking Latin. Now the culture has changed and the language too.

As the others have pointed out, it is not essential to learn the Maltese language for day to day life in Malta, but a good level of English is very important.

In recent years one of the requirements for Long-Term Residence Status for Third Country Nationals is to attend a course to learn the Maltese language. This is a 50 hour course is available at the local University specifically for this purpose.

I have been in Malta for many years managed to learn spoken Maltese. without any formal lessons. Typical of most self taught residents here, I learnt this in around 1-2 years. As Haselmar stated reading and writing is more difficult, due to the Maltese alphabet containing 30 letters: 24 consonants and 6 vowels (a, e, i, o, u, ie). The Maltese alphabet is in Latin script, just to clarify as GozoMo stated Maltese language is Arabic.

Being able to communicate in Maltese does help with integration and Maltese people do really appreciate when a person has made the effort to become more familiar with the language of their host country. There are plenty of Basic Maltese language lessons offered to expats. My workplace offers lessons to expat employees, even though the main language within the office is English.

Personally, I think it is worth learning the native language of my adopted country.

Yes, we do use English a lot.

But learning Maltese would be better, since you will understand most of the things and culture.

English is a second option, but it depends on you.

If you have a great English and you can speak fluently, there is no need to learn an extra language.

But you should try to learn at least the basics such as numbers and basic communication.

my aunt lives there and only speaks english and she gets by just fine