Falling standards of English

Joseph W. Galea

Aug 9th 2008, 08:58

Which of course leads one to wonder, what kind of English do these thousands of students who come to Malta specifically to learn English, go away with?

Maria Ferstl

Aug 8th 2008, 22:08

I'm afraid low achievements in foreign languages are often due to lack of knowledge in the native language. Maltese is not taught at the same level as other national languages in the respective countries, because "we need English". So it seems to me that the damage to English is done exactly by teaching too many, and not to few, things in English. I.e. Maltese students are stuck in a really bad vicious circle...

Maria Ferstl

Aug 8th 2008, 21:48

@Rachel Galea
What about the EU salaries one can earn as a Maltese translator etc.? Not much better an occasion than working with those "international companies"?

Rachel Galea

Aug 8th 2008, 21:23

@Maria Fersti,
Whilst I fully agree with you about the Maltese language I still feel that something needs to be done about the teaching of English in our schools. One of the biggest assest a Maltese person had was his knowledge of the English language. Unfortunately today this seems to be dropping by the way side which is a big pity.

True, Maltese is our national language and we are pround of it, but unfortunately if today's reality it will not get us very far. Knowing how to communicate perfectly in Maltese is not going to get us a good job with any of the international companies the government is enticing to invest in our country .... Smart City being one example. On the other hand knowing how to communicate perfectly in English will.

Our education system has to look back to see where it went wrong with the teaching of English to bring it back upto par. This, without lowering the standard of Maltese.

laurence schembri

Aug 8th 2008, 20:19

@ J. C. Micallef
Speak for yourself, I happen to speak and write in four languages impecabbly and with accent to match, even my Bavarian and Neapolitan dialects are perfect (with accent to match).
Are you trying to tell me that I am unique?

Charles DeMicoli

Aug 8th 2008, 17:25

@JC Micallef: you used lower case for Maltese, upper case for 'Brits' - I feel sorry for you. Upper case for earth in the expression 'how on earth', and upper case for the language that is english. YET, our standards went downhill right after March 31st, 1979 - this must be true because an ex-pat told you so, very scientific.

As far as the ad is concerned, the writer took short cuts commonly used in advertising copy - not that I'm saying it's elegant - could have used a couple of dashes, substitute 'selling' for 'having', and a phone number.

As far as for the rest of you who somehow get perverted satisfaction in pointing out the shortcomings of your neighbors, etc. - it shows something about your character. And Ray, next time you visit England or the British Isles, take your camera with you and make sure you have enough memory cards. You'll have plenty of similar pix to bring back. Oh, and by the way, don't bother sending them to the local papers, they won't print them.

Maria Ferstl

Aug 8th 2008, 13:09

Sorry, but if I were Maltese, I would rather order a copy of the Deċiżjonijiet 1 and assimilate the new orthography rules of Maltese instead of wasting my time on assessing other people's foreign language skills...

Alfred Grech

Aug 8th 2008, 12:49

The error in the sign could have also been an innocent mistake not necessarily poor English. Whoever did it, forgot an h.

JC Micallef

Aug 8th 2008, 12:10

100% agreed with.

What most maltese know is a bit of a number of languages unfortunately.

Cannot fathom how on Earth we're going to solve this - many people don't read enough, I guess, and despite the steady influx uf English speaking tourists, there seems to have been a noticeable negative imapct on our English since 31 March 1979. Or so I was told by an ex-pat living in Malta.

But, to be fair, the Brits don't exactly write impeccable English, either. Pardon me being too pedantic, but I've seen "it's" and "its" often geting mixed up on UK websites. Even plural words, written with an " 's " - using the possesive 's' instead of the plural one, and many other similar (stupid) mistakes.

M. Buhagiar

Aug 8th 2008, 12:10

I guess such content would have been more appropriate on the OIM website. However, reading the previous comment, I remembered a very similar case when our neighbour called his truck "Black Pirot". It took us a while to learn that he meant "Black Pirate", which had been recently released at the time.

Karl Consiglio

Aug 8th 2008, 12:04

Classic.

Martin Galea

Aug 8th 2008, 09:44

I fully agree with what the writer has to say. Not that long ago, a friend of mine, and myself, had to stop driving, due to laughter, upon seeing a sign painted on the front of a large truck, which read "Brave Hearth". After bandying the idea about between ourselves, we agreed that it had nothing to do with the Scottish rebel leader, so ably portrayed by Mel Gibson, but was probably something to do with a hearth rug possessing supernatural powers.

Darwin did indeed get the wrong islands.