Maltese: now with an official dictionary!

There are many reasons why translating Maltese is just a little more difficult than other European languages. It's mostly spoken, it has vocabulary based on Arabic and Maltese includes some Arabic grammar as well. To strengthen the Maltese language, the Malta Communications Authority published a dictionary.

public domain

The first official dictionary. It recognises the words you type in. It even has an automatic panel to write the letters that are typically Maltese: the ħ, for example. However, no translation is given. So you need to know the word you're looking for. So it will function as a reference dictionary.

On the one hand, this new dictionary will help Maltese in the first place, to find the correct spelling online. On the other hand, foreigners wishing to translate are better helped with this dictionary or this one.

An interesting exercise is to translate Maltese news articles into English. And advanced students can always translate from English to Maltese. For instance on TVM, with this article in English and in Maltese. And TVM has an English and a Maltese version, so students can translate as much as they like!

Studying Maltese? Follow my course! Over 200 students already enrolled!

17-years old polyglot shares his language learning tips!

In need of inspiration? Why not check out this interview with a teenage polyglot. He shares some of his tips to learn his new languages.

Don't get demotivated though! You can learn any language anytime, it only takes some effort and a right state of mind! No need to start as early as this talented teenager.

Teenage hyperpolyglot
Timothy Doner, an enormously accomplished language learner at age 17, talks with us in French, Mandarin and Russian, explains how each language "feels" to him, and shares some of his tips
Posted by The Economist on Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Grammar nerd test

Check which kind of a grammar nerd you are with this fun quiz from grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker. To my opinion, you should only learn the grammar you need to. First talk, read and write. If you need to check some grammar, do it. If not, don't. Anyway take the quiz!

5 best language learning websites

Which websites are the best ones to study a language? Here's 5 to start with:

Duolingo
Remarkable design, easy use. The website teaches you languages by inviting you to write, listen and read sentences. It's very interactive and ideal for on smartphones. The biggest advantage is that the website is completely free.

Busuu

Want to practise all your skills? Here's your way to start! Busuu covers over 35 languages and does so with so many tools! You can connect with teachers and other students. But... you have to pay to get access to more materials.

Livemocha
Over 6 million users - connect with those you want to. Very flexible. Live classes. Free and paid services. You can 'earn' new classes by teaching others. Loads of people are there, so make sure to select the right ones!

Babbel
Fun and learning combined. About 15 languages are available. The site offers an app as well, and, very surprisingly, there's a speech recognition software. So get ready to speak!

My Language Exchange
Very accessible and with a variety of options. It really helps to connect with other students. Try the pen pal option, there are 1 million persons waiting for you from over 100 countries.

Of course, there's many other websites that offer language games and lessons. Many of them focus on just one language. Make sure to check them out!

See also:
http://custom-writing.org/blog/how-to-succeed-in-studying/28327.html
http://c4lpt.co.uk/learning-resources/learn-a-language-online/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/18-great-sites-to-learn-a-new-language/
http://examinedexistence.com/10-great-websites-to-learn-a-foreign-language/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/10218763/Learn-a-language-for-free-the-five-best-websites.html

Language jobs in Europe - update

Which countries in the European Union (EU) need foreign languages? That's the key question the European Commission asked in a report published on 26 February 2016.

Not surprisingly, the different countries have different needs. But the main conclusions were quite surprising. The needs are very high: about one quarter of our jobs need a good level of knowledge of a foreign language. The higher the position, the higher the need.

English is not necessarily the most needed second language. Languages spoken by neighbour countries and non-English trading partners are needed as well. Business doing international trade are more demanding for foreign language skills, as well as the manufacturing sector and in the industry.

However, public services seem not to be needing languages. Strange, since the globalisation certainly has an effect on local governments. Businesses do not seem to find foreign language skills essential for new employees, compared to other skills.

And lastly, persons speaking several languages definitely have an advantage over those who only speak one language, since it is believed export will grow if the number of multilingual persons at a company increases.

Great findings! It should encourage you to study some more languages!

Executive summary
Report
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How close are European languages?

Copyright

An interesting study checked how close European languages are. Main ones are Germanic, Romance, and Slavic languages. However, there's no Maltese on the chart. And that's definitely a European language.

See the map here.

English 500 years ago - what a difference!

English 500 years ago - that's quite some time. Check out this poem 'Speke Parrot' read like it was read half a millennium ago. The introduction is in Latin though.


If it teaches us one thing, it's that languages evolve. Some languages evolve more than others. Especially those that are not or barely written evolve quickly. Because of technological developments, but also because people just invent new words. Languages live. So we need to know new words like telegraph or MP3, but also for new forms of organisations and functions like NGOs, or president.

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If you're interested in keeping up with the latest developments, usually a central language institute regulates the use of the language. The most funny way they do so, is by changing the dictionaries. New words are now included, and old words disappear. Make sure to check these language institutes.

More information on the poem? Well, check out the website.