My flight is about to board.
I came to Malta for the weekend to meet and hang out with Vig Village members.
Last night was our farewell dinner (I tried rabbit for the first time – a local dish).
Now it’s time to say goodbye to this delightful island.
But first, there was time for…
One Last Coffee
After packing my bag, I left my Airbnb and wandered down my street. (I’m a wanderer.)
Ahead, I could see a bright red phone box left behind by the British.
Even further down the street I could see the Mediteranean Sea.
I turned into a small cafe that has V60 coffee (that’s the good stuff that takes longer to make and costs more)
I worked on my laptop.
But I was also listening to the proprietor talking with a friend.
Is he Spanish?
Italian?
From somewhere else?
I couldn’t figure it out.
I even hear him use some English words and phrases.
On my way out, as I was paying, I ask him where he’s from.
“Malta,” he said.
Ah, he was speaking Maltese.
Makes sense.
This small island has been invaded and occupied by the Arabs, the French the English and their neighbors are Italy and Spain and North Africa.
What an interesting place.
I can recommend a visit.
By the way…
English is also a big mix of other languages.
According to Senor Google, English is:
29% French
26% German, Dutch, etc
6% Greek
What about your native language?
Are there words that made it into English?
For example, when I was in India last month I learned that the word “khaki” comes from Hindi.
Share in the comments below!
Romanian language îs from Latin family like French,Italien,Spanisch, Portugues Also in my Romanian we have a lot of words from Turckish, Magyar ,German. English îs used a lot last time.
Yes, I think there are Romanian words that entered the English language ,but don’t know about.., hope there was!..
I like the way you describe this little.island ,mix of culture and languages.I wonder the word ” proprietor”, it doesn’t sounds like an English word…
I know some Hungarian loanwords in English:
czardas – csárdás (it’s a Hungarian folk dance)
goulash – gulyás (”a soup or stew of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulash
paprika – paprika (a spice made from dried and ground red pepper, in Hungarian it is the name of the fruit as well.)
shako – csákó (a military hat)
Hi, I’m Greek. Asynchronous, dialogue, ethics, erotic, drama, architect, horizon, guitar, comedy, geometry, metaphor, orchestra, panic, philosophy, paradise, syntax, system, tragedy, and utopia are a few English words with Greek origin.
Hi,in Bulgaria we have known all these comming from Greece words before start English studying. There is an interesting science named linguistics archeology showing the presence of an ancient common language…
Yes, I’m agree with you, in all alive language there are words of another languages.
For example the ” Bazar” in English mixed from Pertion.
The word “khaki” that you mentioned as an Indian word is a Persian word originally that went into hindi many years ago, then went to English at second.
Finish is one of the finno-ugric languages. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages
The Estonian language is very small, I don’t think that some words from the Estonian language come into the English language. But we are not worried – the small people of Estonia have provided something else, for example Bolt (which was also available in Malta), Skype, etc.
We bouth are Fenni-Ugri languages…
“Such a refreshing read! 💯 Your thorough approach and expert insights have made this topic so much clearer. Thank you for putting together such a comprehensive guide.”
I don’t think there are some words come to English from arabic language
Hi, I heard that a word “spruce” comes from Polish, ’cause when England wanted to buy wood in 16th century, it was delivered from Spruceland (in Polish “z Prus”).
Hi. The word ROBOT has got Czech origin. First used in a sci-fi play (R.U.R., 1921) by Karel Čapek, a Czech writer. The word was suggested by his brother Josef, a painter.
Robota – work (hard, compulsory)
Hi, in my language – slovak, we speak some words from english. But we reworked them a bit. Us for example word wanderer, we speak – vandrák. Or pack up – we speak – spaķuj sa.
Thanks