You’re right. I need someone more mature than you. ;)

Hey! I came to read your predictably spurious and specious reply.

Thanks for the laugh.

I particularly like this part: “The fact that it is a Germanic language does not mean it has anything in common with Dutch.”

You’re a born comedian.

[Daphne – Run along and find somebody your own age and mentality to play with.]

God, you’re a dumb one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages

And no Latin does not have more in common.. no wait, I won’t even reply to that most idiotic of remarks. I congratulate you actually for the inventive attempt at being stupid.

Well, I have to go now miss “no” it all ;)

I can’t argue with a fool.

[Daphne – I know a great deal about English, Sherlock. The fact that it is a Germanic language does not mean it has anything in common with Dutch, or that it is easy for English-speaking people to learn Dutch and vice versa. On the other hand, it is extremely easy for German-speaking people to learn Latin, because they have internalised already the single major obstacle to speakers of English and of Semitic and Romance languages who try to learn it: the concept that nouns are declined. Speakers of Arabic learn spoken Maltese in no time at all merely through immersion, and vice versa. However, if you stick a Dutch person who knows no English into an English-speaking community, he will still need to take lessons and will continue to struggle. Quoting Wikipedia impresses nobody, rather the opposite. The roots and origin of languages are one thing; what those languages are in the present, having evolved over time and space, separately, is another. It is a complete misconception that those who speak Italian will find it easy to learn Latin, or that those who speak Dutch (or German, for that matter) will find it easy to learn English. My mother tongues are a Germanic language (English) and a Semitic language (Maltese), yet I have no plans to even try learning German or Dutch, found Latin a terrible struggle, but had absolutely no problem with French. I probably will not have any problem with Arabic, either, and plan to take it up.]

No, cause Dutch is a germanic Language, just like English, whereas Maltese is mostly a romantic (yes nowadays more than semitic) language, like French and Italian.

Quite obvious really, if you take the time to think. Yes, think- there’s a concept for you ;)

[Daphne – Maltese is structurally identical to Arabic and much of its vocabulary is identical too. English has very little in common with Dutch, and it’s only some nouns here and there. As for Germanic languages, German itself has, structurally, far more in common with Latin (declensions) than it does with English. And Latin itself has more in common with German than it does with the so-called Romance languages, which are derived from it but are nothing like it. But I wouldn’t expect you to know that.]

I know we need English , Baxx, but I’m proud of my mother language. It’s part of our culture.

To tell you the truth, I’ve been to many parts of the world and prefer to work here in this madhouse we call home, like many other people in Europe want, after all.

There’s no place like Malta, mild weather, friendly people, even friendlier politicians who are careful not to upset us, everything is a stone’s throw away, beautiful sea, windy all year round, no smog, no red, orange or green alerts, free medication, no heat expenses, no land tax , no council tax, no slippery ice covered parts of the road, no tax on food and medicine (it is permanent now) safe to go out for a walk after seven in the evening and enough time on our hands for a pastime.

X’iz-zubbara trid iktar?

[Daphne – 1. Mild weather can be found in many parts of the world, and Maltese weather is, between June and October, extreme and not mild. 2. Maltese people are not friendly, but hostile, suspicious and keep newcomers at arm’s length. 3. Who chooses where to live on the basis of whether politicians are friendly or not? 4. Everything is a stone’s throw away: that’s why things get so mind-numbingly, soul-destroyingly boring and dull. 5. Beautiful sea – fine, but others might have beautiful mountains or lakes, so who cares. 6. Wind? 7. The air is actually quite polluted. 8. Free medication might be a winner if you crippled by a chronic condition, but otherwise why bother considering it. 9. On the contrary, heating costs more here than it does elsewhere, because paraffin, electricity and wood cost the earth. Those who say they have no heating expenses have intolerably cold houses between November and April. 10. Taxes etc – agreed. 11. Ice on the roads? Who cares. 12. Yes, you have plenty of time to do things after and around work BUT there’s not much to do, is there.]

Your obsession with a “mother tongue” is exactly why this country is fucked up beyond repair. English and Maltese are your official languages. They’re both mother tongues.

I’d like to see you get a job anywhere in the world (except Malta of course) if you put “Maltese” as you mother tongue in a CV.

I’ve left Maltese out altogether in mine. It’s useless outside the tiny confines of this madhouse we call home.

This maybe an interesting ‘discussion’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnwlLWL6mO4

@John , when I was eleven I had to speak English, our headmaster was English and the rector was an American. Their lessons were obviously delivered in their mother tongue.

I can assure you, John, that if I were to hear you speak English, I would never in a million years take you for a nederlander.

Baxx, my mother language, is Maltese.We can’t have two mothers, can we?

[Daphne – No, but we can have two mother tongues if we had a bilingual mother.]

I learnt another language because it is beneficial to me.

English is highly important for our survival, but we shouldn’t sideline our mother language , I’m proud of my country.

I have worked with Dutch people for two years and met others on other occasions, our accents are the same.

[Daphne – ?????!!!!!!!! A Dutch accent is like a Maltese accent, when both are speaking English? Not even remotely.]

Don’t get me wrong , not like this bloke here ,or like a Sliema woman asking questions interspersed with Maltese words and with a Maltese tonality.

[Daphne – Sliema women? You’re talking to one right now.]

We end a question on a higher tone whereas the British end a question on a lower tone .

[Daphne – It’s unfortunate that you mention ‘the British’ rather than ‘the English’, given that the typical Maltese accent is most often confused with a Welsh accent, precisely because of that sing-song intonation you mention. The Welsh are British.]

What I mean is that the hard consonants are uttered by the Dutch like like we do. Our accent is a grade lower than the very hard Scottish accent.

[Daphne – I give up. When the average Maltese person speaks English, he doesn’t sound like the Dutch, or the Scottish, or even the Welsh. He sounds like a Middle Eastern or North African person speaking English, for very obvious reasons. It’s not as though you didn’t have enough exposure to that over the last few months on the television news. The Dutch at least know English, but most Maltese are at North African level, despite our separate recent history and very different linguistic heritage. Indeed, watching people interviewed on the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi, I was taken aback to see just how many spoke far better English than so many people in Malta do.]