Directions in Maltese
I have noticed that some of our traffic directions are being changed from English to Maltese. Is this a joke? Do the Maltese people require directions to reach their destinations?
I have always been given to understand that tourism is one of the pillars of the economy. Having directions in English has always been greatly welcomed by our overseas visitors.
I have personal experience of visiting a country (Russia) where directions are in Cyrillic. Hence, there is the obvious conclusion that one does not dare go out of the hotel for fear of not knowing the place.
I am sure that our Tourism Minister will look into this seriously and stop this ridiculous new venture. If anything, let us have these directions in the two official languages of the country,that is, Maltese and English, for the benefit of our foreign visitors. I suppose only a handful of the thousands who come to Malta are Maltese.
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Emma Harrison
Aug 7th 2012, 17:33
I really cannot understand this attitude towards your own language. If you want to be like all other EU citizens use your language everywhere. Tourists love to read and learn other languages. It is part of the fun when you are abroad.
Where on earth do you expect to find Maltese written on road signs? Well, it goes without saying! Do not be afraid of giving Malta the bilingual face it deserves.
Sahha!
M. Hills
Aug 5th 2012, 14:52
Since when have these street names have "Maltese" names.....only a decade or so ago we had Italian names and then English names and all this within my memory..for example my late father lived with his parents in Strada Molino.When I got to live there it became Windmill Street ...both names familiar to the locals in Cospicua also called Bormla...lately, this same street became "Triq il-Mithna" the maltese word for windmill and molino but many of us still call it Windmill Street... English does not belong to the English whom some of you like Norman grech associate with our colonial past..English belongs to the world it is a the lingua franca of the world. If we welcome tourists to the island we must make it easy for them to get about by using a language all understand ALONGSIDE MALTESE usung the Maltese IN USAGE AT THE TIME and not xi malti safi bhal Misrah San Gorg..it should be St George's Square under the Maltese version. Kemm hemm nies jghidu misrah instead of pjazza or piazza please make a survey because I'd love to know...
Remaining inflexible is a sign of inferiority complex.
Norman E Grech
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:38
Always keep to the Maltese names and let no one change them! Amen!
Wenzu Vella
Aug 3rd 2012, 09:36
Mario, Greece gets far more tourist than Malta and their directions are not only in Greek but also in their Cyrillic Alphabet. So what is your problem? No other country Anglicise the names of their cities and villages like Malta do. Can anyone please tell me how or why BORMLA becomes COSPICUA? Sliema stays Sliema and do not become Holy Mary.
Charles DeMicoli
Aug 3rd 2012, 03:30
The problem with road signs is that they are too small and not strategically located, plus sometimes there is no continuity, and some don't give you much time to figure out which direction to take. I just returned to NYC from a visit and I had to go around some roundabouts a couple of times till I saw the tiny, low to the ground signs.
As regards the language the signs should be in, they should be in the native language, in this case, Maltese. Sure, not everyone understands them totally, but it doesn't need much intelligence to figure out the names - the spelling is not that much different, though some place names do need the English name in parenthesis.
One of the interesting aspects of travelling to a foreign country is to absorb their culture and yes, figuring out the place names. My wife just returned from Rome, and she had a hard time getting help with directions, because very, very few Italians speak American, but she managed to get around, especially thanks to Apple! As far as I know, lack of speaking English hasn't held back Italy much, has it.
Another thing to consider is Detour signs during the feasts/street closures. As an example, I was coming back to Valletta from Sliema when a main thoroughfare was closed due to the Msida feast. I asked one of the policemen at the bottom of the road, and he told me I should know how to go around! I kept looking for a "roundabout with palm trees". After a couple of times circling around the same route, I finally followed an Arriva bus to get out the mess and continue on my way.
M. Hills
Aug 5th 2012, 15:00
Are you comparing the Italian language to Maltese? Don't make me laugh! Dante's language and the language of Opera eh?? Educated people have no problem following Italian signs because italian is an international language which Maltese,much as I love it, IS NOT.. so if I see the words strada,piazza,viale in Italy I know exactly what they mean because we, in malta use these words...because pre-British ,Italian was the dominamt foreign language...here...
John Neville Ebejer
Aug 2nd 2012, 20:50
@ Tony Gatt
Oh my! speaking English = you are educated! Globetrotting on a merchant Navy ship means = one can set standards of how to measure what means to be educated!
Many merchant navy seamen (including serving the crown - oh my!) can speak much english and can tell you the best brothels in the worst towns around the globe - so do not waver around your theories so convincingly.
Mr Tony Gatt
Aug 3rd 2012, 08:58
@John Neville Ebejer
May I suggest that before you make comments like that to an English-language newspaper you learn the language first? Then I might be able to understand what you mean by "so do not waver around your theories so convincingly."
In other words I might be offended if I knew what you were trying to say. As it is, you provided me with a good laugh.
John Neville Ebejer
Aug 2nd 2012, 20:32
@ Franco Farrugia
So translating Birgu ? we put up hamlet!? because that's the translation - you see Vittoriosa is in Italian and it would translate Victorious - shalll we have that? What about those who say 'Sliema'? Do they con themselves they are saying Tas-Sliema in English? A translation of Tas-Sliema in English would be 'Hail!
What else is pseudo Englsh many would like to see on the road signs as a sign of common sense? Instead of Bormla maybe Cospicua - which is in Italian for visible?!
Now let's see who talking more sense....because yes, I agree from what I see it is not that common! Translate Birgu - that's a good one!
donald borg
Aug 2nd 2012, 18:49
Common sense is so uncommon. TM use your brains please. Din l -ideja ta xi cuc Malti??
Norman E Grech
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:13
@ Donald Borg!
Cuc min ikompli jilaq il barrani!!
Prosit TM!! Issa Jien kritikajtkom hafna pero f'din l'inizzjattiva naqlalkhom il kappell!
James Tyrrell
Aug 2nd 2012, 13:44
You have to remember that this is being done by Transport Malta. How many of their ideas have been logical ones?
Evarist Saliba
Aug 2nd 2012, 13:32
A road sign has one main and overriding purpose, and that is to help a person to find a locality where s/he wants to go. Since Malta receives about a million tourists a year, an imprtant contribution to Malta's economy, it would be foolish not to take this into consideration especially when both Maltese and English are our offcial languages.
Driving through Spain over a span of three years, I was confused when Spanish was replaced by Catalan in road signs. Common sense prevailed and both languages were eventually used. The same consideration was afforded in Greece to those who could not Cyrillic.
M. Hills
Aug 2nd 2012, 12:38
Our national languages at the present time are Maltese and English and I find it so stupid of the government to have signs only in maltese ...there was a time when the national languages were italian,latin and the colloquial spoken maltese dialect ...then was then and now is now and we need not exaggerate our identity by sticking to one language only a TINY MINORITY understands..and many can't even write it correctly or speak it without interjecting in English....it isolates us and makes us look stupid.. and I, as a maltese ,think it is VERY STUPID
Charles DeMicoli
Aug 3rd 2012, 03:09
How does it "make us look stupid"?!?
My friend, you need to stop feeling like a second class citizen.
Be proud, be Maltese - don't have to acquiesce to nobody.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 2nd 2012, 12:00
Quote: 'Do the Maltese people require directions to reach their destinations?'
What has THAT got to do with it? The directions MUST be in Maltese first and foremost but in my opinion, some of them need translating into English AS WELL.
Norman E Grech
Aug 2nd 2012, 12:44
@ F Farrugia!
In certain cases, directions should also be in English (making sure Maltese is present first and foremost) I give you that, but NAMES should always be in Maltese.
You're name is Franco, why should I call you Frank? or Francis? Franco is Franco!!
John Neville Ebejer
Aug 2nd 2012, 11:20
I believe that, actually, there should have never have been an attempt at translating place names.
Place names reflect the history of the place and in some cases, like the 'Hal-' an integral part of the name, a title. Should, for example a place like Haz-Zabbar or H'Attard be translated, which translation has been erroneously given off as leaving out the 'Haz- ' or H'?
It denudes the name of an integral part. Defenetely there is no difficulty for a visitor to pronounce Haz-Zabbar rather than Zabbar. In any case, even if there was a difficulty should we we call Siggiewi - Sigiwigi then, because that sounds easier in English(because during the British period no effort was made to pronounce the word properly) and for visitors to pronounce more easily? One could follow the signs just as easily if these are always presented the right way on whatever media is used. The right way including writing and pronounciation. You search that on the net -and find it written in the right (Maltese way) and you follow it that way on the road signs. What's the problem?
Franco Farrugia
Aug 2nd 2012, 12:02
'Haz-Zabbar' certainly needs no translation but 'Birgu' would need it.
You see, there is such a thing as common sense.
But, from what I read in these comments, ... such common sense is not so common. On the contrary, it's becoming quite rare!
Ramon Casha
Aug 2nd 2012, 11:18
1. No, it's not a joke.
2. Yes, Maltese people still do need directions in Malta.
3. No, directions in English are irrelevant to visitors. No tourist comes to Malta because its road signs are in English.
4. Cyrillic is not a language, it's an alphabet. Malta uses the same alphabet as England with the exception of 4 letters - and even these are sufficiently similar to existing ones to pose no trouble.
5. The vast majority of direction signs are already in Maltese only, and it doesn't seem to cause trouble to tourists trying to get to Marsaxlokk or Mdina or Ħondoq ir-Rummien. What difference will half a dozen new names make?
Mr Duncan Scerri
Aug 2nd 2012, 11:53
Because the tourists who are booking into a hotel in St Paul's Bay and when driving to their destination do not equate San Pawl il-Baħar as being the same place.
If we're going to have two official languages for the nation, we must ensure that one of them is not completely sidelined. It's tantamount to giving equal rights to all on paper, but then preventing the exercising of those rights.
Claiming to be a dual-language nation that deals only with Maltese cheats the many tourists who, yes, do come to Malta because English is an official language.
Otherwise we should simply remove all references to English being any part of the constitution. Perhaps we should also modify the history books, since everyone knows we've always been at war with Eastasia.
Norman E Grech
Aug 2nd 2012, 11:54
Qedin naqblu ghal darba!! :-)))
Ramon Casha
Aug 2nd 2012, 13:38
@Duncan: If someone is unable to make the association between "St. Paul" and "San Pawl" perhaps they should not be driving at all. Besides, like I said, there are only a small number of such place names. Do tourists to Italy mix up Venice and Venezia, or Rome and Roma? I thought not. The only place name I can think of which is significantly different is Gozo/Għawdex. Far more confusing IMO are names like Cospicua/Bormla, Vittoriosa/Birgu etc. - and neither of those names are in English.
Mr Tony Gatt
Aug 2nd 2012, 18:42
Maybe no tourist comes to Malta to read the road signs but English has a huge influence on why people come to Malta. It's no coincidence that British tourists have made up the bulk of visitors for at least the last 40 years. O.K. so maybe the Brits are lazy and don't bother to learn foreign languages, but that's their loss- and Malta's gain.
Mr Tony Gatt
Aug 2nd 2012, 10:58
On a trip to Tokyo I took the precaution of photographing the name on the hotel where I stayed and the name on the nearest train station.
I figured even if I met somebody who did not speak English I would have a fair chance of finding my way back!
Chris Tuckley
Aug 4th 2012, 07:58
Mr Gatt I read with interest the comments of this letter, I visit Malta every year at least once, my family and I love the place, My son of 14 was asked to choose a language at school, he asked for Maltese which shocked the teachers. Maltese is not available to learn here in the UK, therefore he had to do the usual German and French, I found that he had downloaded a language course from the net. His comment is that the next time we are in Malta he wants to be able to speak Maltese, after 40 years of visiting Malta I understand more than I speak, the majority of Brits are lazy, will not learn a new language, will only eat English food. You know what I mean. heard a comment a few years ago regarding Pastizzi " I am not eating a pasty with peas in, it is disgusting," more fool him, Sometimes I feel ashamed to be English with idiots like that.
Norman E Grech
Aug 2nd 2012, 09:58
I cannot disagree with you more! No, It's not a joke at all, it's a good move to the right directions.
Yes names should ALWAYS be shown in Maltese. As tourists, irrespective whether they speak English or not, as yes, there are quite a lot that don't, have good used to names like Mdina, Sliema and wardija, which are in Maltese, they can easily get used to names like san Giljan and san pawl! I would NEVER change a anme to suit others, a name ias a name! In addition every country I've visited, and I've visited quite a few, show the names of their places in their language, and rightly so! Why on earth should we be the submissive country? Only yesterday I was stopped by a Polish man, who had a Polish map of Malta in his hand. He did not know a word in English, and this is no sin. He pointed to where Wardija was and I directly him how to go their
Well done Transport Malta! Finally, common sense prevails!
Mr Tony Gatt
Aug 2nd 2012, 11:01
Why not go the whole hog and ban English in school and University? That should give kids a great chance in life!
As it is I notice the standard of English among teenagers deteriorates year on year.
Mr Duncan Scerri
Aug 2nd 2012, 11:45
"Only yesterday I was stopped by a Polish man, who had a Polish map of Malta in his hand. He did not know a word in English, and this is no sin. He pointed to where Wardija was and I directly him how to go their"
You gave him directions in Polish?
"Why on earth should we be the submissive country?"
You have such a huge chip on your shoulder. I was about to wonder why, but really couldn't give a flying fig about negativity.
Norman E Grech
Aug 2nd 2012, 12:41
@ Duncan Scerri!
Au contraire Monsieur! You are being very negative.
This Poilsh tourist pointed to Wardija (Ara! A Maltese name!) on his Polish map and I happened to be in Burmarrad so I showed him which road up to Wardija to take!
My point is (although apparently it needs to be spoon fed) That we DO NOT need English names AT ALL! names are names and should ALWAYS be in Maltese!
Yes, submissive country, because this all stems out from our past submissiveness, always trying to please the British, like we're some kind of second class people!
Tourists came here from many different countries and I can assure you that quite a sizable percentage DO NOT understand English! So, are you suggesting we don't invite these people?
What crap!
Mr Tony Gatt
Aug 2nd 2012, 16:53
@ Norman Grech
In my 40 years globetrotting as a Merchant Navy seafarer I can assure you the number of people I met with a modicum of education who could not speak English was very small indeed.
With the ones who couldn't (or wouldn't such as the Quebecois) my French served me well.
Sebastian Hawks
Aug 3rd 2012, 17:55
Norman E Grech,
English is one of two official languages of the Maltese Islands, the other is Maltese.
Please choose the reason of your report below: