From: william bright
Message: 274
Date: 2001-09-15
>Marco Cimarosti wrote, Fri, 14 Sep 2001 11:55:27 +0200--
>> Years ago, a widespread Italian newspaper published a letter from a very
>> annoyed American lady who was in Italy for learning Italian. She reported
>> that, as soon as she tried to utter some Italian, people detected her
>> English accent and started speaking in English to her.
>
> I've encountered that here in Malta as well. So few foreigners bother to
>learn it, that natives invariably try to switch to English, or worse, they
>completely mishear my sentence as if it was English- because they expect
>English. My best compliment? "I thought you were English!" (i.e., 'By
>the looks of you, I didn't THINK you were Maltese until you started
>speaking!' [I'm not..])
>
> Qalam's manifesto being refreshed in mind [thank you], I've noticed
>something else here. I'm currently working on projects concerning this
>language (Maltese) on the computer. Something curious is that while
>Maltese is really the more common language spoken, despite English being
>an official language and spoken with foreigners, people prefer to WRITE in
>English. I have heard this in other language groups as well, that they
>prefer language A, but language B is easier to write in, shorter, more
>common, etc.
>
> In Maltese, there is first of all a sense of the language being inferior,
>but remember I'm talking even about handwritten notes to oneself and to
>others- not international correspondance.
> Secondly, the orthography can be a little difficult, being the semitic
>system but with Latin letters, and having two silent letters. People have
>said they are afraid of writing because they might get it wrong!
> I am not bilingual - yet - but I'm trying. To me translation isn't a 1:1
>thing and meanings can change. However, I've started to catch myself
>writing down notes on what someone says in the 'opposite' langauge they're
>using!
>
> As well, the language has not to my knowledge had discussions on
>terminology and usage- but they are starting. And so, a lot of
>conversations are peppered with ad hoc borrowings. Some people feel
>uncomfortable writing a 'normal' english word with Maltese orthography
>because it 'looks strange'. It's a chicken and egg thing, because many
>technical fields are not the subject of published works.
>
> I always thought that writing was a type of communication, a record of
>langauge as it was spoken. Has anyone else seen this kind of relationship
>with the written system, where one language is definitely preferred for
>speaking and another definitely preferred for writing?
>
>Regards,
> Steven
>
>
>
>
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