From Margate to Malta

Brent Slater started blogging before he travelled to Malta, writes Mike England in The Guardian - Prince Edward Island:

..Slater, who hails from Margate, P.E.I., is one of two students from the University of Prince Edward Island who is completing the final weeks of an exchange program with the University of Malta. Slater was not consciously trying to escape the P.E.I. winter by jetting to the island of Malta, but he has no regrets about the chance it has given him to soak up sunshine and over five millennia of Mediterranean culture and civilization. His decision to go to Malta was based on an interest in island studies and after attending classics classes with UPEI professor D.F. Buck on the Greek and Roman civilizations.

Soon after his arrival, Slater knew that he was not going to have an easy time with the official language, Maltese, which he describes as a mixture of Italian and Arabic. But, he says, language has not been an issue. “The Maltese speak English very well. I wish I could return the favour in their language, but it is very difficult for me to even pronounce some of the place names. It’s so different from anything else I’ve come across.” English is the language used exclusively for public entertainment, but Maltese is sometimes inserted for humourous effect.

Slater recently experienced this at the performance of a pantomime. “The panto was neat because it was mostly in English, but there were a few parts where the dame (the main provider of comic relief, played by a male) spoke in Maltese … I had no idea what ‘she’ was talking about, but I kind of liked it that way,” says Slater. Slater notes that Prince Edward Islanders and the Maltese have a few things in common. For example, they take great pride in their homes and gardens, depend heavily on tourists and are very friendly towards visitors...

Ashley Clarke's year to remember in Malta