From Mr P. Apap Bologna

Josanne Cassar presented a thought-provoking piece with the above title about the lamentable state of English as it is spoken nowadays by the younger Maltese (TMIS, 25 May). I agree with her completely and do believe that English is not being taught well in Maltese schools. I have been reliably informed that some students in Gozo were prepared for A Level English in Maltese! Presumably because their tutors couldn’t express themselves in English. That’s surely something that needs to be put right.

It is possible that it may be necessary to accept that English is now a foreign language in Malta, and should be taught as such. This implies that teachers of English at Maltese schools should be qualified to teach English as a foreign language. There is a hidden anomaly that students are able to get through English A Level, by diligent research on the literary side, and reasonably good grammar, while not being able to speak properly or write creatively.

May I pick on Ms Cassar’s point about “bowl”? That word cannot be pronounced correctly without embarrassment in polite Maltese society, as we all know! So perhaps we should make allowances when there is a culture clash.

At the end of the article I couldn’t help noticing some slips of the pen. There was this sentence: “But, it would be nice if someone took this whole matter of spoken English in hand and try to steer it back onto its former well-chartered (sic) course.” This sentence must have been contrived in haste or possibly despair, so all is forgiven, including the mixed tenses (“took”... “try”). But how does one take spoken English “in hand” however hard one may wish to stretch the metaphor? And “well-chartered”, (obviously a typo)? The seas through which Maltese English is being navigated may be rough, but the seas themselves are well-charted – possibly!

Keep up the good work, Ms Cassar. I’m just doing a TEFL course, so I’m aware of my own shortcomings. We are on the same side.

Peter Apap Bologna

SLIEMA