Gozitan author and MCAST academic Dr Charles Daniel Saliba recently paid a courtesy call on Dr Ian Borg, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism (MFT).
During the meeting, Dr Saliba spoke about the importance that diplomats and staff in overseas missions place on Maltese language resources because they help the missions promote Maltese language and culture abroad.
Dr Saliba explained how he himself benefited from this. “Fourteen years ago, the President of the International Association of Paremiology, Professor Rui João Baptista Soares, worked with the then honorary Consul of Malta in Tavira, Dr Josè Lisboa, and the Maltese Embassy in Portugal, then led by HE Simon Pullicino, so that Malta would be represented for the first time in the Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Proverbs in Tavira, Portugal, the – City of Proverbs.”
He explained that “this diplomatic kickstart resulted in my twice representing Malta at this international conference, the publication of two research papers and the publication of Provérbios Europeus/European Proverbs/Proverbji Ewropej in 2022, coauthored with Professor Soares himself and published by the association. This trilingual book (Portuguese, English and Maltese) was launched under the patronage of then Ambassador of Malta in Portugal, Mr John Camilleri, and his then deputy Mr Mario Buttigieg.”
Dr Saliba praised the initiatives taken by the Directorate of Consular Services and Maltese Living Abroad (DCSMLA) within the MFT to promote literacy in the Maltese language outside the Maltese Islands.
He stated that they are a step in the right direction and that he has therefore donated complete sets of the first level of the Maltese for Foreigners series, which contains My First 750 Words in Maltese, Maltese Grammar Essentials in Context 1 and Speaking Maltese 1 as well as the Maltese/Italian versions of these books: Le mie prime 750 parole in maltese, Grammatica maltese essenziale e contestuale 1 and Parlo maltese 1, and the Maltese/German versions: Meine ersten 750 Wörter auf Maltesisch, Grundlagen der maltesischen Grammatik im Kontext 1 and Maltesisch sprechen 1. The books will support the initiatives of the DCSMLA in collaboration with the Centre for the Maltese Language.
At the meeting, Dr Saliba presented the Deputy Prime Minister with the Maltese for Foreigners series, a collection of 22 books to teach Maltese as a foreign language to adults as well as the new children’s series entitled Maltese as a Foreign Language for Juniors, consisting of Learning Maltese 1 and Learning Maltese 2.
Dr Saliba said, “the new series was very well received, and later this year, I have plans to publish Learning Maltese 3 and Learning Maltese 4.”
For more information about these publications, please visit: www.charlesdanielsaliba.com or watch this video.