Is Malta an english-speaking nation?

snubbleste

I keep hearing and reading this notion that Ireland is the only english-speaking country in the eurozone. This seems to be a statement of fact.
Yet, the maltese to the best of my knowledge use english daily to communicate, just like us. They also have some other language that is co-official just like us.

Sources for this fact include Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney, the high-brow(!) rté presenter Claire Byrne.. and that's just today so far.
So, is Malta an english-speaking nation?

nlgbbbblth

I might be wrong but I think it has two official languages - English and Maltese. A bit like us - English and Irish.

44leto

I don't know what language they put in a search engine.

WoollyRedHat

I don't know but Maltteasers orginated from there, of course everyone knows that,and it's their national dish

ICANN

I've never been to Malta but I always thought it was a primarily English speaking island.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta#Languages
This says that 100% of people speak Maltese while 88% speak English.

chin_grin

44leto wrote: »

I don't know what language they put in a search engine.

Yeah, it's tough these days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta#Languages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Malta

im invisible

Don't make the Maltese Cross

mconigol

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Deus Ex Machina

I don't know if it is true as I have never actually visited Malta, but I have it on good authority that they communicated only by stripping naked, covering their nether regions to with olive oil and then using as language the high pitched noises which jumping up and down in a state such as this produced from the friction between one's perineum and one's inner thigh.

efb

Don't let the Chinese find out!

Mods pls delete

Mike 1972

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

I might be wrong but I think it has two official languages - English and Maltese. A bit like us - English and Irish.

They have although Im not sure how the demographics stack up regarding ratios between fluent speakers of either/both languages stack up.

Some might contend that the Netherlands is also an English speaking country seeing as how most of the population can speak it very fluently even if its not their actual first language.

PapaQuebec

I regularly visit Malta. The Maltese have their own language (which sounds like a cross between Arabic and Greek!). All Maltese speak English, and speak it very well!
Malta is well worth a visit. It's clean, relatively crime-free, family-friendly, and - because Malta doesn't have "beaches" in the same way Spain etc does - well off the skanger tourist-trail!!!
Pretty cheap too!

later12

snubbleste wrote: »

I keep hearing and reading this notion that Ireland is the only english-speaking country in the eurozone. This seems to be a statement of fact.

Most Maltesers do speak English, but only Smarties have the answer.

No really OP, I think when people say that, they are ignoring Malta for convenience. It is a competitor in the financial services in some respects, but that's about it. In general terms, we can ignore Malta.

mikom

Malta, the country where the locals pack out the pubs to watch England play in international soccer qualifiers..... even though the Maltese national team is playing someone else at the same time.

PapaQuebec

mikom wrote: »

Malta, the country where the locals pack out the pubs to watch England play in international soccer qualifiers..... even though the Maltese national team is playing someone else at the same time.

Or if you visit "The Dubliner" on Spinola Bay you can witness a mixture of locals and expats (both British and Irish) watching GAA on most Sunday afternoons in season!

Pandora2

later12 wrote: »

Most Maltesers do speak English, but only Smarties have the answer.


Funny:D

Worked for a Maltese guy once, did not know he was Maltese until he told me as he sounded just like middle class english accent of the day, cultured in fact. His English was impeccable.

Batsy

Malta gained its independence from Britain in 1964.

Italian was the country's official language until 1934, when it was replaced by Maltese and English.

The Maltese Constitution recognises both as 'equal and the same'.

Just as for Welsh-speakers in Wales, Maltese speakers in Malta also speak English as their native language. They all understand both languages. Many of them also speak Italian and French as well as Maltese.

The Eurobarometer states that 100% of the population speak Maltese. Also, 88% of the population speak English, 66% speak Italian, and 17% speak French. This makes Malta one of the most bilingual countries in Europe.

Maltese is descended from Sicilian Arabic, a form of Arabic spoken in Sicily and Malta between the ninth and fourteenth centuries. The language is now extinct in Sicily but it developed into Maltese on the island of Malta. Maltese is the only Semitic language spoken in the EU. It is also the only Semitic language written in the Roman script. Despite is being descended from a form of Arabic the language has been influenced by Sicilian and Italian, to a lesser extent French, and more recently English.

From the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe:

Maltese

L-Unjoni hija mibnija fuq il-valuri ta' rispett għad-dinjità tal-bniedem, ta' libertà, ta' demokrazija, ta' ugwaljanza, ta' l-istat tad-dritt u tar-rispett għad-drittijiet tal-bniedem, inklużi d-drittijiet ta' persuni li jagħmlu parti minn minoranzi. Dawn il-valuri huma komuni għall-Istati Membri f'soċjetà karatterizzata mill-pluraliżmu, in-non-diskriminazzjoni, it-tolleranza, il-ġustizzja, is-solidarjetà u l-ugwaljanza bejn in-nisa u l-irġiel.

English

The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.

44leto

They speak English like proper people. I do pity foreigners who can't speak english, like how do they understand each others.

Mike 1972

44leto wrote: »

They speak English like proper people. I do pity foreigners who can't speak english, like how do they understand each others.

+1

English was good enough for Jesus wasnt it ?

44leto

Mike 1972 wrote: »

+1

English was good enough for Jesus wasnt it ?

LOL
My god that's scary

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif] "an Arkansas congressman," Miriam A. Ferguson, Robert Byrd, or Stromm Thurmond) once told the head of the Joint National Committee on Languages:

"If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for me."
[/FONT]

Cú Giobach

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Some might contend that the Netherlands is also an English speaking country seeing as how most of the population can speak it very fluently even if its not their actual first language.

But they don't speak it among themselves, therefore The Netherlands is not in any way whatsoever, an English speaking country.
In Malta however English is used alongside Maltese for communication, especially in education or in professional e.g. scientific, technical etc, contexts.

People also speak a linguistic blend of Maltese and English and often also speak a combination of both languages i.e. one sentence in English the next in Maltese, it's all a bit complicated.