Vexed question of language (3)

The recent discussion in The Times on the state of the Italian language in Malta today has highlighted varying positions.

My view is that, since Malta is living in a globalised world, we should certainly increase and widen the possibilities of foreign language acquisition in our country.

At the same time, however, we should not neglect cultivating those languages that historical, cultural and natural circumstances have endowed us with during the times.

The excellent knowledge of Maltese, our mother tongue; English, the language of our former colonisers; and Italian, the language of our cultural elite for roughly four centuries, has given us Maltese a head start over others until very recently.

Things are changing fast now, as language acquisition becomes a priority for one and all not only in the 27 countries of the EU, but indeed all over the world.

So, by all means, let us strengthen the linguistic skills of our people; let us continue widening our linguistic horizon to include German, French, Spanish, Latvian, Hungarian and what not. But not at the expense of our three traditional languages.

Indeed, the high standards governing our more than centennial trilingual tradition should be further reinforced. Our solid base in Maltese, English and Italian should serve as a solid launching pad for the acquisition of a fourth and/or fifth language.