I have followed the correspondence about adopting Italian as our third official language. It is an interesting idea that we Maltese should seriously consider for several reasons.

Adopting a third official language does not mean, as some hastily conclude, giving less importance to Maltese, our national language and now an official EU language, of which we are all so proud. Nor is it equivalent to giving less value to English, our passport to the world. Italian should be seen as value added, the feather in our cap.

In relation to foreign language learning, the European Parliament already adopted a report where it was particularly stressed that member states should include at least two foreign languages from a very early age in their schools to maintain sufficient interest and motivation in becoming proficient in languages.

This would underpin mutual understanding and empathy across Europe. As much as I am proud and love the Maltese language I cannot but keep in mind that it is solely spoken by around 400,000 people worldwide. Having English and Italian introduced at an early age in our schools would give us a fair advantage on other countries. Choosing to study another foreign language such as French or German would be an added bonus.

It was reported that the fact that the Maltese are widely fluent in Italian is an overstatement. One correspondent doubted the number of Maltese who have actually read the great classics of Italian literature.

I find this argument completely anachronistic in this day and age where all literatures of the world have had to accept being dragged in the trail of the post-modern mass culture and where the Modernist and elitist taste in literature is well past its heyday.

With the same argument how many average Maltese men and women are truly conversant with Chaucer, Wordsworth, Dickens, T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden and Terry Eagleton? This did not stop us from having English as our official language.

Furthermore, the Italian language might not be spoken to perfection but keep in mind it is neither a subject studied at elementary level nor is it mandatory once introduced at secondary level. Indeed, given the lack of importance the Maltese education system affords to Italian, thumbs up to the Maltese who still speak it so widely - in a wooden fashion and with a heavy Maltese accent sometimes - but they speak it nonetheless.

I also found the idea of making an industry out of teaching Italian to foreigners enticing. I have friends, graduates in Italian from the University of Malta, who currently teach this language at the University of Toronto. They report a wide interest in learning this particular language even though the potential learners are often absolute beginners.

The fact that graduates from the University of Malta specialising in Italian are chosen by reputable foreign universities to teach it does give proof of the capabilities of us Maltese and of the very high standards achieved by the University of Malta. Then why cannot we be good enough to teach the same language in Malta, where, by and large, the culture is much more similar to the Sicilian and southern Italian one than anywhere else in Europe?

The market is out there. Among those eager to learn Italian are people who have an interest in music, theatre, history of art, film studies, restoration, dress design, industrial design, comparative literature, cultural studies and culinary skills, to name a few. A correspondent asked how we are to teach Italian in our overwhelmingly Maltese culture. I answer him with another question: how have we managed to make a successful industry out of teaching English when there is absolutely nothing Anglosaxon about our culture and, if anything, we are Mediterranean to the bone?

Given our ability in marketing, we should not fear to venture into something new. Armchair criticism comes easy. Proposing new ways of using Maltese talent and working on sculpting something beautiful out of it takes hard work and courage.