Now that I have the gentle readers' attention, I have to start with a confession - I purposely indulged in some attention-attracting hyperbole in my original letter (The Right And Duty To Speak English, August 31). In my defence, however, I must say that it was the fruit of years of aggravation.

Antagonism towards English and those who choose to speak it is often displayed in Malta, yet nobody ever raises an eyebrow, let alone an outcry, when this happens.

So, I asked myself this question: If no one turns a hair when English-speaking Maltese are insulted or mocked, what would happen if I lashed back in the same spirit of intolerance?

So I called it a scullery language (not my invention, by the way - it has been called il-lingwa tal-kcina before) and suggested we drop it in favour of English.

The reaction in this paper and other fora has been satisfyingly voluble and distinctly violent; I was accused of being an unpatriotic, traitorous snob. This display is precisely the militant, arrogant attitude of the hard-line Maltese-speaking camp I deplore. I do not, in actual fact, look down on my fellow Maltese who speak our language in our own country. Why can't they remember that this country has two official languages and that I am merely speaking the other? Some Maltese choose to speak Maltese. Other Maltese choose to speak English. That does not make some of us more or less Maltese than others.

I did say that we are lucky enough to have a choice. A choice is just that: Apples or oranges, but some opt to infuse class distinction into the language one speaks. If people have a complex about using one language over another, that is hardly my fault. Class distinction might have been a factor a number of decades ago, but English is now simply the language of the world.

Maltese-speaking people should stop assuming that English-speaking Maltese look down on, or feel superior to the rest of the population. The hard-liners among them should also stop being difficult and obstructive with those of us who feel more comfortable speaking English - this foolishness is counter-productive and must stop, once and for all. After all, most of us can communicate effectively in both languages.

At the end of the day, that is what matters.