I write in reference to your editorial on “The evolution of a language” (TMID, 12 November).

Your admonition — “We should perhaps, stop and think a little bit more before we speak. When we are writing something important, we do not switch from one language to another. We stop and think how we can express ourselves in the best possible way.” — is wise counsel but for me the statement has a flaw that if corrected will make it far more powerful. To wit: The tense should be declarative, not conditional, and the statement should be more direct. I suggest: “We must stop and think before we speak and write.” Problems of language, writing and speaking, have been with us since the first cave man or woman grunted something into being that eventually became a word for the thing in question, but these same problems have become, as we say in the US, dumbed down of late, especially with the internet turning so many of our young into homogenised automatons who see writing and speaking as essentially instant messaging and only in English.

I think it’s wonderful that the Maltese share two languages with such a rich history of influences and nuance. And I think it’s even more wonderful that you’re using your talent for language, writing and speaking to help keep the distinctions strong and their respective value in place.

Don Bates

New York City