I realy enjoyed this video. I was feeling quite depressed. My girlfriend walked out on me for another man and I lost my job I've got no morgage, then I clicked on this video and hearing you doing that really silly Maltese accent really made my day!
Not bad for someone who hasn't lived in Malta or spoken the language! :) My kiddo thinks that I do a funny Maltese accent and he wants to learn. We found your video quite helpful.
@narratormat - Great linguistic analysis of the Maltese accent - which, as you say, is quite distinct and separate from the way both Italian and Spanish tend to deal with liquid consonants and vowels. Bravo! (I am half-Maltese.)
@@narratormatt My understanding of a 'liquid consonant' is a consonant where the mouth is partially-closed at the point of pronunciation - the chief ones being 'R', and 'L'. And so, as you have pointed out, Maltese treats the pronunciation of 'R' and 'L' sounds very differently from both Italian, and Spanish. I do think that there can be a certain staccato-like quality to some phrasing in Maltese, which I put down to the fact that it is a Semitic language (cf Lebanese, Turkish, and Arabic - in that order), rather than a Romance language (cf French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, and Romanian, etc).
@@talprofs neat. I just narrated a book in an Italian accent and found that the key to sounding Italian vs European Spanish was to open my vowels as wide as possible. I'm wondering if Maltese lives on the other end of the spectrum (though certainly not as closed off as, say, Russian)
@@narratormatt I agree with you in terms of where Maltese sits on the open vs closed vowel spectrum. I am in the process of recording a new voicereel demo, which will feature a piece with a Spanish accent. I studied Spanish at school, and also at college, and one of my Spanish teachers at school, a gifted linguist who also taught me French, once said to me: 'Spanish is a language of vowels; French is a language of consonants.'
Interesting takes, some accurate others quite generically Mediterraen I feel (native speaker). I think that most Maltese people pronounce words well, except the TH which was very accurate and the ING -> INK, but what makes the accent distinct is the intonation... We speak with the exact same "melody" as when we are speaking Maltese, often lengthening and changing the tone of certain sounds as they are said. For example "I already told you!". This would be said as " I alrEAdy tOWld YOu - "All the people" would sound almost like "aLL d pee-pill" (as in medical pills).
Why thank you. Honored that someone associated with Malta is seeing progress with this Accent being attempted by non-Maltese (previous responses to me and others have sometimes been brutal). Where do you think I got it right and where is there room for more accuracy?
@@narratormatt I cannot really explain but you sound better than most foreigners who try to imitate the maltese accent by sounding more Italian instead... I think we maltese have difficulty with TH sounds like tree and three sound the same.. salmon for example we sound the l... and perhaps we vocalise all the vowels and consonants..
I would suggest you hear the maltese bulletin in English..tune to live tvm.. of course it won't be exactly how common lay people speak but you can start there.. hope this helps
As someone who's Maltese, was raised in Malta, speaks Maltese and knows the Maltese accent too well (Also ABSOLUTELY DESPISE IT LOL), you got a few of these right I'd say.
@@narratormatt I think it's combination of things. We Maltese people are hard-headed people, so when we argue we get louder and the louder we get, the rougher the accent. It is also not the best sounding when trying to sound professional. Luckily for me, I developed my own accent so people can never guess I'm Maltese hahaha.
What is the strongest part of the language that comes across in the English-Language pronunciation? Also, do the Maltese tend to learn English from the British or from the North Americans?
@@narratormatt we learn british english nowadays and when we speak english now, we use more a british accent other than a maltese accent, we only speak in the maltese accent when speaking maltese, even though people who are older tend to use the maltese accent while speaking english, but usually, older people dont know how to speak english that well since they were more used to agriculture than education when they were younger. our language in fact has some english words in them like televixin, new words that are being made are being incorporated to maltese in english, like mowbajl and leptop and kompjuter.
Maltese is wonderful being an *Arabic* based dialect but I have noted with absolute horror that there is quite a bit of Italian pollution in it. Are there active steps by either the citizenry or Maltese government to *stop, reduce or remove* this pollution?
@@sanchoodell6789 our language is made up of semetic (arabic), anglosassonu (english) and rumanz (italian). This is beacuse we were conquered by them in the past and got language influences from them, so its normal.
As a Maltese native speaker, I could be in the middle of a crowded London train station with hundreds of people babbling on with god knows how many different languages, but I'd recognise a Maltese accent from the first syllable. I don't really find that your accent gives me that same trill of recognition, though. The Maltese accent, I think is one of the most difficult to fake. I've never really heard a convincing imitation of it.
It's difficult to give an objective analysis of one's own accent, so I couldn't tell you exactly *why* it doesn't sound quite right - I just know it doesn't. It is better than most other attempts I've heard, mind you, but to me it sounds like a generic "Mediterranean" accent that could just as easily be Greek or italian , but lacking that "aha" feature that immediately says Maltese.. I think that the most distinguishing feature of the Maltese accent is not its pronunciation as such, but its intonation and cadence, so that is probably what you should concentrate more on. That being said, keep also in mind that Maltese accents also vary quite widely between socio-economic groups and even between towns, so in reality there is no one standard Maltese accent.
@@etiennebonanno you're not the only one who had "dinged" me for focusing exclusively on pronunciations, rather than including tone and inflection! What are some of the trickiest accents you've faced?
You got it all completely wrong. You sound more like a Spaniard trying to speak in English rather than a Maltese. Keep in mind also that English is Malta's official language whilst Maltese is Malta's National language.
To do a correct maltese accent, you need some scandinavian accent + italian intonation and up-and-down patterns, roll your "R" don't trill them (just like an american) and you'll be good
@@gdaaps yes I'm maltese. The majority of Maltese speak English fluently. You will also find around 20% of the Maltese population who prefer speaking in English and may find Maltese hard to speak especially when it comes to writing skills. Italian is also a language we study in mid school and most of the Maltese population understand it.
@@Jamezd20 I was in Malta in april and the agent who has helping me find an accomodation didn't speak a really fluent english (on the opposite). So maybe that was an exception? Also one of the house owner could not speak in english really well with me but was speaking maltese to the agent.
I realy enjoyed this video. I was feeling quite depressed. My girlfriend walked out on me for another man and I lost my job I've got no morgage, then I clicked on this video and hearing you doing that really silly Maltese accent really made my day!
Well... I'll take that! So, are you Maltese? And I'm so sorry for your trouble.
Never heard of the Maltese accent so this should be fun
Great job Matt, Always enjoy your work
Not bad for someone who hasn't lived in Malta or spoken the language! :) My kiddo thinks that I do a funny Maltese accent and he wants to learn. We found your video quite helpful.
@narratormat - Great linguistic analysis of the Maltese accent - which, as you say, is quite distinct and separate from the way both Italian and Spanish tend to deal with liquid consonants and vowels. Bravo! (I am half-Maltese.)
Why thank you. Tell me more about "liquid" ? Do you mean that Maltese is more staccato by contrast?
@@narratormatt My understanding of a 'liquid consonant' is a consonant where the mouth is partially-closed at the point of pronunciation - the chief ones being 'R', and 'L'. And so, as you have pointed out, Maltese treats the pronunciation of 'R' and 'L' sounds very differently from both Italian, and Spanish.
I do think that there can be a certain staccato-like quality to some phrasing in Maltese, which I put down to the fact that it is a Semitic language (cf Lebanese, Turkish, and Arabic - in that order), rather than a Romance language (cf French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, and Romanian, etc).
@@talprofs neat. I just narrated a book in an Italian accent and found that the key to sounding Italian vs European Spanish was to open my vowels as wide as possible. I'm wondering if Maltese lives on the other end of the spectrum (though certainly not as closed off as, say, Russian)
@@narratormatt I agree with you in terms of where Maltese sits on the open vs closed vowel spectrum. I am in the process of recording a new voicereel demo, which will feature a piece with a Spanish accent. I studied Spanish at school, and also at college, and one of my Spanish teachers at school, a gifted linguist who also taught me French, once said to me: 'Spanish is a language of vowels; French is a language of consonants.'
Interesting takes, some accurate others quite generically Mediterraen I feel (native speaker). I think that most Maltese people pronounce words well, except the TH which was very accurate and the ING -> INK, but what makes the accent distinct is the intonation... We speak with the exact same "melody" as when we are speaking Maltese, often lengthening and changing the tone of certain sounds as they are said. For example "I already told you!". This would be said as " I alrEAdy tOWld YOu - "All the people" would sound almost like "aLL d pee-pill" (as in medical pills).
This is really interesting.
Why thank you. Honored that someone associated with Malta is seeing progress with this Accent being attempted by non-Maltese (previous responses to me and others have sometimes been brutal). Where do you think I got it right and where is there room for more accuracy?
@@narratormatt I cannot really explain but you sound better than most foreigners who try to imitate the maltese accent by sounding more Italian instead... I think we maltese have difficulty with TH sounds like tree and three sound the same.. salmon for example we sound the l... and perhaps we vocalise all the vowels and consonants..
I would suggest you hear the maltese bulletin in English..tune to live tvm.. of course it won't be exactly how common lay people speak but you can start there.. hope this helps
@@observemalta6598 that is very helpful. Thank you! How did you come upon this vid?
As someone who's Maltese, was raised in Malta, speaks Maltese and knows the Maltese accent too well (Also ABSOLUTELY DESPISE IT LOL), you got a few of these right I'd say.
I'll take it! Thank you :)
And what makes you despise the accent?
@@narratormatt I think it's combination of things. We Maltese people are hard-headed people, so when we argue we get louder and the louder we get, the rougher the accent.
It is also not the best sounding when trying to sound professional.
Luckily for me, I developed my own accent so people can never guess I'm Maltese hahaha.
Omg I nearly cried this was so funny sorry to say it doesn't sound all that Maltese dough (I'm Maltese)
forsi xi accent ta' sicilia, mhux accent ta' l-malta għax meta jtħaddetu bil-inglizija, il-maltin jidhru bħall scandinavians hhh
For the accent to come out perfectly you need the maltese language
Yours was meh, could be better, thats too italian
What is the strongest part of the language that comes across in the English-Language pronunciation? Also, do the Maltese tend to learn English from the British or from the North Americans?
@@narratormatt we learn british english nowadays and when we speak english now, we use more a british accent other than a maltese accent, we only speak in the maltese accent when speaking maltese, even though people who are older tend to use the maltese accent while speaking english, but usually, older people dont know how to speak english that well since they were more used to agriculture than education when they were younger. our language in fact has some english words in them like televixin, new words that are being made are being incorporated to maltese in english, like mowbajl and leptop and kompjuter.
Maltese is wonderful being an *Arabic* based dialect but I have noted with absolute horror that there is quite a bit of Italian pollution in it. Are there active steps by either the citizenry or Maltese government to *stop, reduce or remove* this pollution?
@@sanchoodell6789 our language is made up of semetic (arabic), anglosassonu (english) and rumanz (italian). This is beacuse we were conquered by them in the past and got language influences from them, so its normal.
As a Maltese native speaker, I could be in the middle of a crowded London train station with hundreds of people babbling on with god knows how many different languages, but I'd recognise a Maltese accent from the first syllable. I don't really find that your accent gives me that same trill of recognition, though. The Maltese accent, I think is one of the most difficult to fake. I've never really heard a convincing imitation of it.
Yeah, it's tough to "pull-one" on natives. How does this rank in the (not ideal but workable) imitations?
It's difficult to give an objective analysis of one's own accent, so I couldn't tell you exactly *why* it doesn't sound quite right - I just know it doesn't. It is better than most other attempts I've heard, mind you, but to me it sounds like a generic "Mediterranean" accent that could just as easily be Greek or italian , but lacking that "aha" feature that immediately says Maltese.. I think that the most distinguishing feature of the Maltese accent is not its pronunciation as such, but its intonation and cadence, so that is probably what you should concentrate more on. That being said, keep also in mind that Maltese accents also vary quite widely between socio-economic groups and even between towns, so in reality there is no one standard Maltese accent.
@@etiennebonanno you're not the only one who had "dinged" me for focusing exclusively on pronunciations, rather than including tone and inflection! What are some of the trickiest accents you've faced?
Do You Have A Twitter Or Facebook?
Yep! You can find me on facebook at Audiobook Narrator Matt Haynes and twitter at AudiobookMatt
Basically English with an italian accent
Eh, not quite... check out my Italian video for the differences. Did you notice some key ones?
You got it all completely wrong. You sound more like a Spaniard trying to speak in English rather than a Maltese. Keep in mind also that English is Malta's official language whilst Maltese is Malta's National language.
To do a correct maltese accent, you need some scandinavian accent + italian intonation and up-and-down patterns, roll your "R" don't trill them (just like an american) and you'll be good
are you maltese?
Do Maltese really speak english natively or is it just a secondary language you learn at school?
@@gdaaps yes I'm maltese. The majority of Maltese speak English fluently. You will also find around 20% of the Maltese population who prefer speaking in English and may find Maltese hard to speak especially when it comes to writing skills. Italian is also a language we study in mid school and most of the Maltese population understand it.
@@Jamezd20 I was in Malta in april and the agent who has helping me find an accomodation didn't speak a really fluent english (on the opposite). So maybe that was an exception? Also one of the house owner could not speak in english really well with me but was speaking maltese to the agent.
@@Jamezd20 so your mom was speaking in english to you while you were growing up?