[MCAST News Hub] As Malta’s international workforce grows, learning Maltese has evolved from a cultural curiosity into a practical skill for professional survival and advancement. However, maintaining the motivation to learn in an environment where English is widely used remains a shared challenge for many expatriate professionals.
Natalia, a banking professional originally from Ukraine, shares her first-hand experience. She notes that because her local Maltese colleagues often communicate in their native tongue during daily operations, learning Maltese has become essential for better team integration and business efficiency. “It is better for me,” Natalia explains. “Not just for work, but also to integrate better into this society, and even to settle down here.”
Addressing the practical difficulties expatriates face in language acquisition, Karl Debono, a Senior Lecturer at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), offers targeted professional advice. He emphasizes that the government and relevant public platforms should increase investment in digital tools—such as improved spell checkers, speech-to-text tools, and localized applications—so that public systems can simultaneously and more smoothly support both Maltese and English.
Experts point out that for expatriate professionals, the key to learning Maltese often lies not in how to start, but in maintaining resilience and persistence amidst the dual challenges of limited digital resources and a dominant English-speaking environment.
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