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Interviews with Maltese Students

1st interview

Interviewer: What subject do you study?
Secretary: Basically, I work here at university. I work in the international office.
Interviewer: Do you associate some things with Germany?
Secretary: I have some German friends and have watched some movies. But that's it basically.
Interviewer: What's your opinion on the EU?
Secretary: I'm not decided yet. It's difficult to…, I'm not 100% sure.
Interviewer: Which language do you speak at home?
Secretary: Maltese, at home.
Interviewer: Do you think it's good to have two languages in a country? Or better to have just one?
Secretary: As long as the Maltese don't ignore their language, it's okay for me. It's better because then we can speak both quite well.
Interviewer: Okay, thank you.

2nd Interview

Interviewer: What do you study?
Student: I'm a part-time student, here to get a diploma in health and safety.
Interviewer: And what things do you associate with Germany?
Student: Well, Germany is a very nice country, especially Frankfurt and Berlin. The economy is very good
Interviewer: What do you think is the typical German character?
Student: Yes, German people,…German character is one that wants everything right, mostly on a friendly basis. Germans are very nice people.
Interviewer: What is your opinion about the EU?
Student: Well, personally I'm not in favour of my country joining the EU. It's good for the other countries, especially Germany.
Interviewer: And which language do you speak at home?
Student: I speak Maltese, English and a bit of Italian.
Interviewer: Do you think bilingualism is an advantage for your country and culture?
Student: It's an advantage to speak the local language, very advantageous.
Interviewer: Thanks.

3rd Interview

Interviewer: What do you study at university?
Student: I'm doing a B.A., to become a teacher. And my area of studies is design technology.
Interviewer: What do you think about Germany?
Student: Nothing, I mean I do not know much about Germany.
Interviewer: What do you think about the EU?
Student: I'm actually from Canada. My parents are Maltese. I think it's a good idea. I don't know much about it. I'm not saying it's good or bad. But I think there will be more opportunities for both the European countries and Maltese people to do outside work - and studying would be cheaper.
Interviewer: So you would like Malta to join the EU?
Student: Yeah, I would like it.
Interviewer: And which language do you speak at home?
Student: Depends on who I talk to. With my parents I use Maltese but with my sister English. We were born in Canada, both of us.
Interviewer: Do you think bilingualism is an advantage for Malta?
Student: Obviously, it's an advantage. I mean, of course, it's an advantage to communicate with other countries. But even then, if we get into the E.U. , it will be really hard, you know.
Interviewer: Thank you.

4th interview

Interviewer: What do you study?
Student: I'm studying law.
Interviewer: And what are some things you associate with Germany?
Student: There are a lot of things. There are negative and positive things. The Maltese during the Second World War took a lot. But then there a positive things, as well.
Interviewer: And what do you consider as the typical German character? Do you have any German friends?
Student: No.
Interviewer: And what is your opinion about the EU?
Student: I don't agree. For me we shouldn't join.
Interviewer: What are your reasons?
Student: Yes, it's difficult for us to compete with the other countries like Germany or France.
Interviewer: Do you think they will do anything like dominate Malta?
Student: I don't think so.
Interviewer: Which language do you speak at home?
Student: Maltese.
Interviewer: Do you think that bilingualism is a positive or negative thing?
Student: You either speak one language or the other, you know. Not both of them.

5th interview

Interviewer: What is your job at university?
Student: I'm a student here.
Interviewer: And what do you study?
Student: I'm studying management.
Interviewer: And some things you associate with Germany?
Student: Germany is such an economy.
Interviewer: And what do you consider the typical German character?
Student: It depends the area, because they are more cold than the Maltese. I think because the Maltese are more Mediteranian friendly , you know. But when they are in Malta they are different again.
Interviewer: And what is your opinion on the EU?
Student: It's a very strong economy block. Germany is the major part in my opinion. We need to make it so Malta can join because it's an open market based on democracy and free trade.
Interviewer: So you have already answered the next question. You think that Malta could join the EU?
Student: Yes, because Malta is a small country, a small market. We need to enlarge our market and even the students have little opportunity to study; by joining EU programs they might have more.
Interviewer: And Maltese is your main language?
Student: Yes, Maltese is the main language. English we use it for official purpose, correspondence, writing letters, official letters.
Interviewer: Okay, thank you very much.

6th Interview

Interviewer: What do you study?
Student: Management.
Interviewer: Some things you associate with Germany?
Student: Schumacher.
Interviewer: What would the character of a typical German be like?
Student: Strong character, without much sense of humour
Interviewer: Your general opinion about the EU?
Student: I think we should join the EU because the practical
situation here is not very good; now we are forced to enter the EU, I think.
Interviewer: What language do you speak at home?
Student: Maltese.
Interviewer: Do you think bilingualism is a disadvantage or an advantage for
your culture in general?
Student: I think it is a big advantage.

7th Interview

Interviewer: What do you study?
Student: English and history
Interviewer: What do you associate with Germany?
Student: I have never been to Germany; that's why I don't really know it well but I
sometimes think that you Germans sort of keep things very sad maybe?
Interviewer: What's your opinion about the EU?
Student: I haven't thought much about joining EU, mainly I don't really know all the
details. All the parties here stand either one way or the other but I think if we join the EU we students wouldn't really benefit because it's already too difficult for us to go abroad and study and I don't think we would have much help. If we join the EU we would still remain sort of the same.
Interviewer: So you would not join the EU, you don't think Malta should?
Student: Right now I don't think we would benefit; I might change
my views if I know more, however.
Interviewer: What language do you speak at home?
Student: Maltese
Interviewer: Do you think bilingualism is a advantage or a disadvantage for your
culture?
Student: I have two credits on bilingualism I think we as Maltese benefit from
speaking English as well since nobody speaks Maltese. We can't go abroad only speaking Maltese; nobody even knows Maltese
is a language. I think the more languages we know, especially in our
society, the more we benefit.

8th Interview

Interviewer: What is your job at university?
Lecturer: I am a assistant lecturer but not at the university in a special college which
is called Malta College of Science and Arts.
Interviewer: And what do you teach?
Lecturer: I teach a special subject which is called systems of knowledge. It is obligatory for any
student.
Interviewer: It's about techniques for learning?
Lecturer: It's a discipline broaching the gap between arts and sciences so it's a two-year course
and it leads to the intermediate examine, one of the requirements for
universities.
Interviewer: Three things you think of when you think of Germans and
Germany?
Lecturer: Do you have three hours? I come from an area in Malta which was
completely bombed, razed to the ground during the Second World War so my
first impressions about Germans were not nice ones. At first when I was
young, Germans were used to mean war and enemies. But then by the time
I started growing up, I realised that I could have been on the other side by accident. So you learn that everybody has his
weakness and has his good points. Of course in the sciences the Germans
did a lot of work, especially in space program, so there are very
important positive aspects about the Germans.
Interviewer: The German people - what's your opinion about them?
Lecturer: They think highly of themselves. This is generalisation; it doesn't mean that
every German is like that, but they give this impression that they want to dominate, you know in fact this is even today one of the reasons I don't want Malta to join the EU. Perhaps it's prejudice but I don't like being bossed there. I think that Germans try to dominate Europe in economic and other aspects. They have a big population, and obviously they have a important strategic place in Europe at the centre. They have had a thousand years of history against the French culture so the EU is an attempt to bring peace to Europe finally after one thousand years. But at the same time a small country like Malta and many other micro states like Liechtenstein and Monaco might think that they can tend to live on their own without joining Europe.
Interviewer: Some Maltese people don't think so?
Lecturer: Well I am a candidate of a political party. I come from the socialist
Party. To the labour (socialist) party it is a major policy that Malta can definitely continue on
its own without joining Europe.
Interviewer: What language do you speak in your family?
Lecturer: Well I speak English obviously and Maltese is my national language. In fact
in my family we talk in Maltese only. I have three children. I understand
French, I understand German, I tried to study German as well but I have so
many things to do. I think for the Maltese German is easier to learn
because it has the same sounds as Maltese.
Interviewer: Do you think it's an advantage or a disadvantage to speak two
languages?
Lecturer: I think it's an advantage. Iif I can speak six languages it's better than five.
I have a strong identity, a very strong Maltese identity. I come from the
harbour area. In Malta we had the language question whether
to speak English or Italian especially before the
Second World War. For a long
time Maltese was not written. A lot of the elite in Malta refused to speak in
Maltese because they considered this the language of the kitchen. That's against my principles. As a reaction I make sure I talk all the time in
Maltese but that doesn't mean I didn't let my children learn English. My children in fact are fluent in five languages; they speak English, Maltese, French, German.