EU assistance for small languages possible after Maltese MEP's initiative

claire farrugia

Oct 30th 2009, 03:13

@chris borg
I never said we are second class citizens because of the size of our population, on the other hand our small size can be an advantage in some respects
for your info I do not live in Malta so I do not know more maltese who applied for EU posts, I know more Germans and Bulgarians who did and did not get accepted

Joe Fenech

Oct 29th 2009, 15:35

Being treated as 2nd class citizens comes only from out attitude, especially that of our Euro MPs who bow down to every thing! Nothing to do with language.

Chris Borg

Oct 29th 2009, 12:22

C. Farrugia

Your arguement is out of line. Are we second class citizens just because of the size of our population??

Also, it is obvious that you know more maltese who managed to land an eu job than bulgarian or german .... you also know more maltese who applied for an eu job than bulgarian or german.

For your information, there is actually a shortage of maltese working in Brussels. The 5 year period reserving posts in maltese units for maltese citizens is over and from now on these posts can be filled by other EU citizens who actually need less requirements to be eligible to apply.

Joe Fenech

Oct 29th 2009, 09:24

Promoting our regional language doesn't make Simon a 'Nationalist'. In that case Mintoff, would be a Nationalist too: he was one of the first to make us gobble down all this nonsense. A Nationalist politician would promote patriotism and strive to solve illegal immigration (no one in the PN, PL, AD is capable of anything of the sort).

The current local movement promoting made-up history, 'greatness' and culture (chocolate 'tradition', folk music, literature, language and dialects, etc ) is just a barometer of the state the country is in, indicating clearly that escapism is the only consolation to our despair.

On these same lines, we even had our Euro politicians speaking Maltese in the EU parliament! This is just a sign of chauvinism of the kind that was demonstrated in La Pelota Basca. Regional languages have no place in politics. Imagine Berlusconi speaking Lombardo at the EU parliament. Do he does it ?: NO! He speaks a proper language, a language with a history, a language that is rich and technical : Italian. Regional languages have no place in a globalised society either.

Stop wasting time and promote proper European languages and Chinese!

C Farrugia

Oct 29th 2009, 07:45

@charles caruana carabez
good work, important project to invest in improving the Maltese language
apart from finance writers, publishers, journalists , I would also include translators, we also write in Maltese :-))

claire farrugia

Oct 29th 2009, 07:33

@tonio privitelli
I don't know about the situation of Maltese students in Brussels but if they are indeed studying Maltese as a third language, then they can forget getting a tertiary education in Malta in courses such as law, where one has to know Maltese to be able to read the laws. How can the parents seriously want their children to learn their mother tongue as a third language? I can speak and write SIX languages fluently, but Maltese is still my first language and will always be, and it is the only one I speak without an accent. It did not stop me from learning other languages, so parents who think they are doing a favour to their children by giving them French and English as their main languages are doing a big mistake. In Malta their children will have problems, and cannot study what they want, probably will have to study and live abroad anyway cause they will feel out of place in their home country. If that is what the parents want, then go ahead.

C Farrugia

Oct 29th 2009, 07:23

@chris borg
I would not see it so negatively though, I know friends of mine from Bulgaria and Germany who have been sitting for EU tests for years and years in order to get an EU post and are never accepted, in these countries the competition is more because of the number of candidates applying and they really take the best of the best. However I know Maltese who passed the tests immediately. It seems to me that we have more advantages than disadvantages due to our size as far as working for EU institutions. As I said these Bulgarian and German friends of mine are highly qualified, have a great deal of knowledge, even about EU institutions themselves and have not managed to come in. While I know many Maltese who managed. I think most have a university degree when they apply anyway.

Jesmond Micallef

Oct 29th 2009, 02:34

Quote from Dr. Mario Sammut : "How can we improve the status of the Maltese language when our own educational system and general attitude towards it remains a mess that spawns unfairness? "

Solution - Remove the English language as being an official language in Malta. France is an ex German colony, they don't speak German there, niether english. After two savage European wars, ignited by nations that speak BIG languages, the United States of America had to make good for what these nations that speak BIG languages did to europe itself. Britain, Germany and France are still proud nations, I simply cannot see why Malta should not be proud of its less priviledged language. English should only be used when it comes to doing bussiness or negotiatiions with the United States of America, just as the French and Germans do. When one lives and works there, people will make sure you learn their mother languages wether you like it or not.

The ENGLISH Language is a very beautifull and an ever dynamic language, and I respect it really.

Readers please do comment dearly on my "small" comment !!

By the way, SMALL IS BEAUTIFULL..................nobody is afraid of you !!!!!

Dr Mario Sammut

Oct 28th 2009, 21:34

While lauding Dr Busuttil's initiative, it's about time the Education Department and the powers that be consider well their approach towards the Maltese language within the EU sphere. A look at the Guidelines mentioned by Chris Borg is enough to show the ridiculous anomaly which Maltese candidates wishing to work in an AST category have to face. "Secondary education giving access to post-secondary education" is interpreted for Maltese candidates as "Matriculation Ceritificate: 2 A Levels + 4 Intermediates". But doesn't the Matriculation Ceritificate actually give access to TERTIARY education, as opposed to post-secondary? Can't we even establish clear, unambiguous goalposts or distinguish between tertiary and post-secondary education?

Soon those who want to contribute towards the Maltese language while working in an AST (secretarial) category will be required to be in posession of a Degree in Nuclear Science in order to be able to do so! How can we improve the status of the Maltese language when our own educational system and general attitude towards it remains a mess that spawns unfairness?

Tonio Privitelli

Oct 28th 2009, 19:42

Maltese pupils who attend the European Schools for children of EU servants in Brussels and Luxembourg are DENIED the possibility of taking Maltese as their main language - they are forced to study English as their mother tongue, French as second language and Maltese as their THIRD language. They have to forego lessons from other subjects in their normal timetable to be able to study Maltese. All EU official languages, including other small languages such as Latvian and Slovene, can be taken as a first language in these schools, except Maltese. This thanks to a request a number of years ago by some "Maltese" parents on behalf of all other Maltese parents, past, present and future. Rather than funds it's a change in mentality towards our very own language that's required if we wish to stop the evident general linguistic degradation caused by the awful mish-mash of Maltese/English spoken by well-nigh everyone in Malta nowadays..

Chris Borg

Oct 28th 2009, 19:21

C. Farrugia.

If you look at Annex 1 (EUR 10) you will notice that the example of requirements needed by Maltese for grades AST1 to AST7 are 2 A levels and 4 intermediates including systems of knowledge.

If you compare it to the country with the closest education system, probably UK, they only require 2 A levels or equivalent and grades A to E are accepted.

Not to mention there are other countries that require less too.

Charles Caruana Carabez

Oct 28th 2009, 19:02

Simon and I worked on this project, which I proposed to him in August. It is intended to help finance writers, publishers and journalists/broadcasters. It's a small beginning, but I hope it will give a fillip to all those who write Maltese but combat financial difficulties because our market is just too small. Well done Simon.

C Farrugia

Oct 28th 2009, 17:10

As a freelance translator of Maltese, I really miss an online dictionary of Maltese, I always have to carry loads of dictionaries of English-Maltese, and it would be practical to have everything online, it would also be easier to introduce new words and update the dictionaries because most Maltese dictionaries are outdated. So either a database or an online English to Maltese dictionary would be practical for everyone, not just for the translators. The money could be used for this purpose

C. Farrugia

Oct 28th 2009, 17:04

@chris borg
I cannot understand your point about maltese citizens being disadvantaged when competing for european posts, I looked at the appendix 1 but I see no disadvantage for Maltese there . can you be more concrete in your point please?

Miriam Cassar

Oct 28th 2009, 16:45

Thank you Dr. Busuttil for this initiative. With more resources and educational programmes in schools and in the media, our language will surely get the desired boost that it badly needs. All the Maltese of goodwill want to see their much loved language and dialects on a par with other European languages.

John Camilleri

Oct 28th 2009, 16:42

Well done Simon. A true Nationalist. Your work in favour of Maltese is highly appreciated. Same congratulations to our Minister of Education, Dolores Cristina. In the European Parliament its quality that counts......not numbers.

Charle Flores

Oct 28th 2009, 16:37

Well done, Dr Busuttil. The Maltese Language needs all the help it can get from the EU. More important, though, it needs the support of a minority of families who deny their children use of the National Language in their erroneous belief that by exposing them to a kind of Maltese English they are doing them some good "for the future". Linguistic studies have long confirmed that a child first needs to learn his or her native language well while at the same time being introduced to other exciting and perhaps more useful languages. I have purposely left out those who do so only out of some misplaced snobbery, the way they supposedly spoke Italian before the last war. They do not even deserve this much attention.

Jesmond Micallef

Oct 28th 2009, 16:35

Cool !!!

Good to see that the language my family speaks at home is getting more support and recognition it so dearly deserves. My english is not bad at all,.............. no......!!!!!!!

Thanks to whom ??

Ommi u Missieri

Chris Borg

Oct 28th 2009, 16:27

How ironic.

Can the MEP or the Education Minister explain why EU citizens with maltese language as their mother tongue are disadvantaged when compared to all other EU citizens with regards to applying for vacancies with the EU???

Have a look at Annex I of these guidelines for applicants

http://europa.eu/epso/apply/how/guidelines/pdf/guide_ast_77-86_en.pdf