A SURVEY conducted recently by the European Union shows that the Maltese are among the most proficient in foreign languages among nationals of EU member states.
Results of a Eurobarometer survey published last week show that 93 per cent of the Maltese know at least one language other than their mother tongue. The average in the EU 25 member states is much lower and stands at just 50 per cent. The only other member state with better language skills than Malta is Luxembourg, where French is widely spoken. Latvia also performs well and ties for second place with Malta.
The Eurobarometer survey was carried out between May and June in all the 25 member states of the EU. In Malta it was conducted by MISCO and a sample of 500 people aged over 15 were asked about their mother tongue, which other languages they know and what the level of their language skill is.
Among the results highlighted, the survey shows that the mother tongue of the majority of EU citizens is their country's national language: 100 per cent of respondents in Poland name Polish as their mother tongue, and 99 per cent of respondents in Greece, Cyprus and Hungary name their national languages. In Malta, 97 per cent of respondents said that their mother tongue is Maltese. The highest number of interviewees stating their mother tongue is another language than one of the official languages of their country can be found in the Baltic States: 29 per cent in Latvia and 19 per cent in Estonia said that Russian is their mother tongue.
Only half the citizens of the member states assert that they can speak at least one language other than their mother tongue well enough to have a conversation. The best language skills are found in relatively small member states: 99 per cent of Luxemburgers, 93 per cent of Maltese and Latvians and 90 per cent of Lithuanians know at least one other language besides their mother tongue. On the contrary, a large majority in Hungary (71 per cent), the UK (70 per cent), Spain, Italy and Portugal (64 per cent) said they mastered only their mother tongue.
The three most widely known languages among the Maltese are English, known by 89 per cent of the population, Italian, in which 60 per cent claim that they can have a conversation, and French, possessed by 17 per cent of respondents.
At the EU level, English is the most widely known language besides the mother tongue at 34 per cent. This is followed by German, 12 per cent, and French at 11 per cent. Spanish and Russian are spoken as a foreign language by five per cent of respondents.
Meanwhile, as part of the European Day for Languages, Marjes Zammit and Rowena Grech from the Department of Arts and Languages in Education of the University of Malta, represented Malta during a European language festival held in Brussels a few days ago. This festival was part of a European language project entitled FEEL (Funny Easy and Effective Learning about Countries Cultures and Languages).
The aim of the project was to provide basic linguistic knowledge and introduce EU citizens to the cultural processes, products and activities of the languages of the 10 new EU accession countries.
The project also aimed to promote awareness among EU citizens of cultural particularities of the accession countries and the new status of a particular language as an official language of the EU. The Brussels language festival encouraged people to take interest in the study of new official EU languages like Maltese.
During the language festival, Maltese, together with the other nine languages of the new EU accession countries, were presented to the public through the five senses of smelling, hearing, touching, tasting and seeing.
Participants and visitors were able to "listen" to Maltese in various ways particularly through dance and song and had also the opportunity to taste and smell Maltese food and learn more about our location in Europe through various games and activities.