5 Challenges Every Bilingual Maltese Person Faces
Being born into a bilingual country is both a blessing and a curse.
Most people in Malta are fluent in both Maltese and English – the English language connects us to the rest of the world, while Maltese gives us a unique identity.
Knowing two languages can help you in your career, keep your brain young, and help you connect with many around the world.
Both Maltese and English are beautiful but growing up in a country which uses both languages and where everyone’s constantly comparing the two, and judging others based on their preferred language or accent can be challenging.
Here are 5 struggles with being bilingual in Malta:
1. Not Everything Can Be Translated Perfectly
There are some words or phrases in certain languages that can be very hard to translate into another language whilst simultaneously sticking to the exact same meaning and feeling they evoke.
Words are more than just the definitions of things, they can reflect the culture of a certain country or community. Some phrases in Maltese will also not make sense when literally translated, for example, ”Qtajt qalbi” literally translated is ”I cut my heart” but actually means ”I give up” or “I lost heart” – it loses some of its intensity.
2. Language Dominance
There’s always one language which ends up towering over the other. Malta is the perfect example of this, and it usually depends on where you’re brought up. If you were brought up in areas like Sliema, St. Julian’s, or Pembroke you’re more likely to be ‘tal-pepe‘ which is a name given to those who tend to use the English language more – usually mixed in with a lot of Maltese words.
And people from the South tend to speak more Maltese. This language dominance only becomes a struggle when you have to speak in the other language due to your studies or career.
3. Changing Your Personality Depending On The Language You’re Speaking
I don’t know about everyone else but I tend to change my personality depending on whether I’m speaking in Maltese or English. In English, my speech is way more friendly with a relaxed tone, whilst Maltese makes me sound more aggressive – although that’s just one of the characteristics of our language, very Mediterranean.
This also depends on who you’re talking to; our behaviour can adapt to the situation we’re in.
4. Being Judged For Having An Accent
The grass is always greener on the other side – foreign accents will always sound better than our own. This is certainly something we struggle with in Malta, where many try to imitate foreign accents when speaking in English, usually using either an American or British accent.
When someone has a thick and heavy Maltese accent, they are sometimes judged for it and may even be perceived as being less educated – which is obviously not the case. This can definitely take a toll on some.
5. The Mixing Of The Two Languages
The most obvious point – eventually the two languages start blending together, and consequently you end up losing both, a phenomenon called ‘code-mixing’.
Some phrases and idioms of one language may slip into your vocabulary whilst speaking the other language. In the process, you end up forgetting words from both languages, because you start substituting one with the other, and soon enough it turns into slang, like the word ‘mela’ in Maltese which is used in everyone’s everyday language, even among those who solely speak in English.
Many locals argue that if we start speaking more English than Maltese, we will lose our national identity but it could be argued that our culture lies in the fact that we do speak both of these two languages and the mix of them is what makes us who we are.
Both languages are so rich in history, we should be proud of both for different reasons and try to keep them both alive.
Being bilingual from a young age is secretly a godsend and we should be grateful for being born into a country which forces us to learn both languages at an early age, for it’s hard to learn a new language as an adult.
What language do you speak more of in your everyday life?
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