Expat Commandments

Taken from http://www.nomarmiteintunisia.co.uk/

• Though shalt not expect to find things as thou hast them at home for verily thou hast left home to explore different things.
  
• Thou shalt not take anything too seriously, for a care-free mind is essential for a healthy body.
  
• Thou shalt not sit around and mope and feel unwanted or unskilled; there are many people and organisations who would be grateful for your donations of time and energy.
  
• Thou shalt not worry, for he that worrieth hath no pleasure.
  
• When in Rome, thou shalt be prepared to do somewhat as the Romans do.
  
• Thou shalt not judge the people of a country by the one person who has given thee trouble. Remember that thou art a guest in a foreign land, and he who treateth his host with respect shall be honoured.

Linguistics Circle

A view of Valletta from the University of Malta campus:

Last week I went to a talk organised by the Linguistics Circle. The talk was given by a German translator working at the European Commission. As Maltese is now an official language of the EU he was given the opportunity to learn Maltese and now translates the few documents the commission receive in Maltese into German (he explained that most Maltese documents sent are written in English).

During his talk he outlined the difficulties he faced whilst learning the language and gave some suggestions for current students of Maltese. He highlighted a common problem students face in that whenever they try to address people in Maltese they get a response in English - I have not yet really tried to speak to strangers in my basic Maltese yet but judging from the response from the audience his point was a valid one.

Most people in the audience were from the Maltese for Foreigners course held in the evenings at the University and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of Brits in the audience.