English
Before independence in 1964, Malta was a British possession, and a result of this is that English is still an official language, with government business being carried out in both English and Maltese. Most Maltese learn English in school, this being obligatory in most cases. Secondary and tertiary education are given exclusively in English. Today, 88% of Malta's population speak English. Aside from Maltese, English is the only other official language of the country. Although standard English is official, the variety of English commonly spoken in Malta is heavily influenced by Italian, not only in vocabulary (most commonly by pronouncing English words of Franco-Latin origin in an Italian style) but extending to phonology, with the English being heavily accented; however, Received Pronunciation remains standard amongst Maltese individuals of a certain socioeconomic bracket.
Read more about this topic: Languages Of Malta
Famous quotes containing the word english:
“Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road.
A reeling road, a rolling road, that rambles round the shire.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“He that would the daughter win
Must with the mother first begin.”
—17th-century English proverb, collected in J. Ray, English Proverbs (1670)