Learning English for teachers in Malta in April 2024

Bongu! We fly to Malta, an archipelago between Sicily and the coast of North Africa. 600,000 people live here on 316 square kilometers, making Malta the country with the fifth highest population density in the world. There are also over a million tourists every year.

The three of us were the first group of ITECH teachers to emerge from the cold, wet April weather on Saturday, April 13th. for the language course “Fluency & Language Development for Educational Staff” on the sunny island in the Mediterranean.

The English course started on Monday at the ETI language school. Suddenly going back to school was exciting, interesting, funny, very educational and at the same time incredibly tiring. Speaking English every day from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., paying attention to correct grammar and using all the new vocabulary at the same time was a tough challenge for us three “non-English teachers”! In addition to learning English, the focus was on active exchange with teachers from other European countries. We were able to learn a lot about the country-specific education and school systems of our classmates: What do they teach in France? How do you organize your lessons in Hungary? How is the school and education system structured in the Czech Republic? Our own language skills improved automatically.

And since there was never enough class time for the many interesting conversations, we all went on a discovery tour of the islands together in the afternoon. We visited the Rotunda in Mosta, climbed over the Dingli Cliffs in gusty winds, looked at the capital Valletta including St. John’s Co-Cathedral and enjoyed a brilliant dinner on the stairs in the famous San Paolo Naufrago restaurant. We took the Fast Ferry to the sister island of Gozo, drank a Kinnie or two, visited the market in Marsaxlokk, strolled through Rabat, walked over the city walls of Mdina, ate the ultra-tasty, incredibly cheap Maltese national pastry “pastizzi” several times and had them all a weakness for croissants with pistachio fillings. In the evening we fell into bed pleasantly tired after twelve hours of conversation in English. There was this roof-top pool that we never got to know, even though we had specially booked a hotel with a roof terrace.

The following Saturday we flew home with great memories and tons of new ideas for job shadowing and various school partnerships. As we took off, we were able to wave to our three colleagues as they arrived in Malta by aircraft. Of course, we had informed them in advance about the best pastizzi shops and pistachio croissant bakeries. They also knew: you don’t need bathing suits, you don’t have time for that. And then there was the matter of the ear plugs…because, as we mentioned, in order to be fit for class the next day, you needed noise protection to get a decent night’s sleep given the population density.

Conclusion: It’s worth it, again at any time!