Ensuring the survival of Maltese in the EU

Malta is able to provide professional translators and not having Maltese as an official European Union language is not an option. Linguist Patrick Beacom believes that with the right training, there will be enough translators to cater for this new market niche.

Mr Beacom, who is half-Maltese, is partner and project manager for Inter-Com translations, a top London-based foreign language services company which works for many prestigious corporates and organisations. He has expert knowledge of English, German, Italian, French and Spanish, as well as being proficient in Maltese.

"I was very excited when I heard that Maltese was going to be an official EU language," Mr Beacom said. "Language gives us our identity. The EU is a whole community of different people and it is important for everyone to have information available in their own lanaguage," he said. Although the cost of translations may seem prohibitive at first, Mr Beacom said that in reality, "in the whole spectrum of the EU, the actual cost per citizen for translations is very small."

As a linguist, he finds the pessimism surrounding the translation business in Malta worrying. He is especially concerned at recent 'solutions' which contemplated excluding Maltese altogether or not using it for the moment. "This is not an option. If we do not make use of Maltese we will end up being dominated by English and Italian once again. Besides the loss of identity, how can people who speak neither language get information?" he said.

When asked about the recent translation mishaps, Mr Beacom said: "So far, we've never had a market for translators, thus there never was any professional training available locally. In this context, we should not be surprised at teething problems." However, Mr Beacom believes that the scenario will change.

"The culture needs to change," he said. "Let us learn from our mistakes. We must accept these teething problems and move on. If this opportunity is taken away from us it would be a tragedy for the Maltese language." He "agreed wholeheartedly" with the planned University of Malta course in translation services, saying it is "an excellent idea."

Mr Beacom believes that delaying using Maltese or excluding the language altogether will not solve any problems. Rather, such steps would create more problems. "If we do this, the teething problems will still be there. The sooner we start translating, the better. We can start with certain documents and take it further when the translators are fully trained," he said.

If the industry starts moving now, by the time the first students qualify as Maltese translators, they will find a market which has already started to mature. "If we delay the process, the problems will not go away. We need to make a start as soon as possible," Mr Beacom said.

Mr Beacom acknowledges that the current lack of qualified translators is a problem. "But we have capable people. We have people who know the language very well and with a bit of guidance, they can produce quality work. With the right training, the problem will be solved. Let us learn from our mistakes and move forward," he said.

"What we need is to start compiling terminology databases as soon as possible. We also need a government appointed panel to oversee the language in an EU context. Thus, when new terminology is formed, the panel can give guidance to translators," Mr Beacom said.

Asked about legal documents, Mr Beacom said: "The EU mostly does such translations in-house. Moreover, we have to remember that legal documents are not the only ones to be translated. Yes, for legislation we have to have the right panel of people to do that, but in the meantime there are many other documents which could be translated, for example those dealing with environment, drug abuse, third world aid and many more."

Mr Beacom also said the EU accepts all published forms of a language. "Let us take this attitude as well and most importantly, have a panel as soon as possible to oversee the process. We need to have one common goal - keeping Maltese as an official language," he said.

"I hope that other people will come forward and stand up for Maltese," Mr Beacom said. "We cannot allow the language to be put on ice. Maltese gives us our identity. The EU itself is keen to keep diversity alive, and by safeguarding our language, we will be helping this diversity emerge."