The Maltese Language - Il-Lingwa Maltija

Greetings to all fellow members of the Maltese diaspora, wherever they may be! My name is Ivan Cauchi and have been in Australia for 9 years. I hope that this article is just the start of a conversation with you, about topics of interest to our community and about the world around us.

The first topic I'd like to discuss is one which is close to my heart - the Maltese language, which identifies us as a community and hints at the rich heritage of which we should be justifiably proud.

During my time here in Australia, I have been struck by the ease with which the Maltese community here is losing the Maltese language. I first noticed this when interacting with the various branches of my family in Sydney and Melbourne, but also confirmed it when speaking to other families of Maltese descent.

Most second and third generation Maltese do not use their mother tongue in their day to day life, and at best can recognise and understand some words here and there but find it exceedingly hard to speak it. I've found that this is the case with many students I teach at the Maltese Language School of NSW. Happily there are exceptions, but these seem to be in a minority.

I can see a number of influences which may lead to this.

The first of these may be a sense of inferiority. I remember when back in Malta, people generally had a bad or negative opinion about their own countrymen's viewpoints and abilities, and generally looked up to people coming from abroad, and valued other countries (to the north, I hasten to add) better than our own. This sentiment may have been exacerbated by the organised emigration from the Maltese islands after World War 2, where people were leaving a country that had been bombed to within an inch of its existence, leaving it struggling to survive and rebuild, going to other countries with more resources, better organisation and prospects for life. This doesn't mean that emigrants had an easy life - sugar cane plantations in Queensland, wharfing in Sydney or lifting cardboard boxes is hard work, but hard work is better than no work, and this may lead some to conclude that this new country is better than Malta.

The second influence may be the perception that keeping the Maltese language has no practical benefit, and so is a nice to have. In Malta itself, English is the language of business, opens the door to study and knowledge around the world and is the lowest common denominator of communications during travel. In Australia, English is the main languange. Why do we even need Maltese?

This may lead Maltese parents to decide early on to prioritise for their children the language of the country of residence over their native tongue, which is a tragedy in terms of maintaining cultural links and sense of identity. I have often been told by parents that education officials in the past used to advise parents to do this, in order to give their children the best possible start at school. Can you imagine a more receptive audience than a guilty mum?

What a difference a few years make, or rather a few decades. Just last year in 2013, during a course on community language teaching, I was surprised to learn that research shows that children with two languages have better cognitive thinking skills, and perform at school as well as or better than monolingual students. In short, having two or more languages is seen as an advantage.¹ This is apart from other secondary advantages, such as better inter-cultural understanding and appreciation.

I would encourage parents who have the opportunity of passing on to their children our rich language, with strong links around the Mediterranean, not to pass it by. Children will pick up English anyway.

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Lill-membri kollha tad-dijaspora Maltija, huma fejn huma - merħba! Jisimni Ivan Cauchi u ilni l-Awstralja disa' snin. Nispera li dan l-artiklu jkun biss il-bidu ta' djalogu magħkom, fuq suġġetti ta' interess għall-komunita' tagħna u fuq id-dinja ta' madwarna.

L-ewwel suġġett li xtaqt niddiskuti huwa wieħed qrib ta' qalbi - il-lingwa Maltija, li tidentifikana bħala komunita' u tagħti ħjiel tal-wirt għani li għandna għalxiex inkun kburin bih.

Kemm ilni l-Awstralja, laqtitni l-ħeffa li biha l-komunita' Maltija hawn qegħda titlef il-lingwa Maltija. L-ewwel li nnutajtha kien meta bdejt niltaqa' mal-friegħi diversi tal-familja tiegħi f'Sydney u Melbourne, imma kkonfermajtha wkoll meta tkellimt ma' familji oħra ta' dixxendenza Maltija.

Hafna Maltin tat-tieni jew it-tielet ġenerazzjoni ma jużawx il-lingwa ta' art twelidna fil-ħajja ta' kuljum, u l-aħjar li wieħed jistenna hu li jagħrfu u jifhmu xi kliem 'l hawn u 'l hemm, imma jsibuha diffiċli ħafna li jitkellmuh. Din iltqajt magħha ma' ħafna studenti li ngħallem fil-Maltese Language School of NSW. Fortunatament hemm eċċezzjonijiet, imma dawn huma f'minoranza.

Nista' nara numru ta' influenzi li jistgħu jwasslu għal dan.

L-ewwel jista' jkun sens ta' inferjorita'. Niftakar meta kont għadni f'Malta, in-nies ġeneralment kellhom opinjoni ħażina jew negattiva dwar il-veduti u l-abbiltajiet tan-nies ta' pajjiżhom, u ġeneralment jirrispettaw iktar lil nies ġejjin minn barra, u jqisu 'l pajjiżi oħra (lejn it-tramuntana, naturalment) aħjar minn tagħna. Dan is-sentiment seta' tqawwa bl-emigrazzjoni organizzata mill-gżejjer Maltin wara t-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija, fejn in-nies kienu qed iħallu pajjiż li ntefgħulu tant balal li għoddhom qerduh, u iħalluh jitħabat biex jgħix u jipprova jerġa jiġi f'tiegħu, imorru f'pajjiżi oħra b'iktar riżorsi, organizzazzjoni u prospetti tal-ħajja aħjar. Dan ma jfissirx li l-emigranti kellhom ħajja faċli - pjantaġġuni taz-zokkor f'Queensland, xogħol f'xi moll f'Sydney jew l-irfigħ tal-kaxxi tal-kartun huwa xogħol iebes, imma xogħol iebes aħjar milli tkun bla xogħol, u għalhekk wieħed jista' jikkonkludi li dan il-pajjiż ġdid huwa aħjar minn Malta.

It-tieni influenza tista' tkun il-perċezzjoni li ż-żamma tal-lingwa Maltija m'għandha l-ebda benefiċċju prattiku, u għalhekk mhux neċessarja. F'Malta nnifisha, l-Ingliż huwa l-lingwa tan-negozju, jiftaħ il-bibien tal-istudju u l-għarfien madwar id-dinja u huwa mezz komuni ta' komunikazzjoni waqt is-safar. Fl-Awstralja, l-Ingliż hu l-lingwa prinċipali. X'nambuh il-Malti?

Dan jista' jwassal lil ġenituri Maltin li jiddeċiedu li għal uliedhom il-lingwa tal-pajjiż li fih qed jgħixu għandu prijorita' fuq dik ta' art twelidhom, li hija traġedja għaż-żamma tal-irbit kulturali u s-sens ta' identita'. Spiss nisma' mingħand ġenituri li uffiċjali tal-edukazzjoni fil-passat kienu jagħtuhom parir biex jagħmlu dan, sabiex it-tfal ikollhom l-aħjar bidu fl-iskola. Tista' timmaġina udjenza iktar riċettiva minn omm li qed nitniggżilha l-kuxjenza?

X'differenza jagħmlu ftit snin, jew aħjar ftit għexieren ta' snin. Is-sena l-oħra fil-2013, waqt kors fuq it-tagħlim ta' lingwi tal-komunita', kont sorpriż meta tgħallima li hemm riċerka li turi li tfal b'żewġ lingwi huma kapaċi jaħsbu aħjar, u fl-iskola jmorru daqs jew aħjar minn studenti li jafu biss lingwa waħda. Fil-qosor, li tkun taf żewġ lingwi jew iktar huwa meqjus ta' vantaġġ.¹ Dan apparti vantaġġi oħra sekondarji, bħal li wieħed ikollu għarfien aħjar u apprezzament ta' kulturi oħra.

Jien inħeġġeġ lil ġenituri li għandhom l-opportunita' li jgħaddu lil uliedhom il-lingwa għanja tagħna, li għandha rbit madwar il-Mediterran, li ma jħalluhiex għaddejja. It-tfal l-Ingliż jaqbduh xorta waħda.

1Community Language Schools - Reading 1, Certificate in Language Teaching 2013, Dr. Ken Cruichsank, University of Sydney