From Mr C. Pool

I enjoyed reading the article A Moment in Time by Charles Flores with the heading “There’s a corner of a foreign field” (TMIS, 23 July).

I have just returned from a two-week holiday in Malta and, as I travelled to and fro from place to place, I could not help wondering at what has happened to our Maltese language. As I listened to people talking to one and other and in groups I could hear English words – French words – Italian words and the occasional German word getting into the conversation.

I am 69 years old and have lived away from Malta since I was 15 years old but I was amazed to hear the Maltese language being eroded to the point that soon we will not be able to say that we ever had one.

This makes me feel so sad to see that a small nation like ours, whose people flourish in every corner of the globe, will soon be losing its native language.

Charles Pool

PORTSMOUTH

ENGLAND