Native English Conversation: Life in Malta with Leonardo English

Hello, and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast, the listening

Hello, u merħba għal The English Like a Native Podcast, ir

resource for intermediate to advanced-level English learners.

-riżorsa tas-smigħ għal studenti ta' livell intermedju sa avvanzat tal-Ingliż.

My name is Anna and today we have a very special guest.

Jisimni Anna u llum għandna mistieden speċjali ħafna.

You might even recognise his voice.

Tista 'saħansitra tagħraf il-vuċi tiegħu.

His name is Alastair Budge and you might know him from English

Jismu Alastair Budge u forsi taf lilu minn English

Learning for Curious Minds.

Learning for Curious Minds.

How are you, Alastair?

Kif int, Alastair?

I am fantastic.

Jien meraviljuż.

How are you, Anna?

Kif int, Anna?

I'm very well, thank you.

Jien tajjeb ħafna, grazzi.

It's nice to see your face.

Huwa sabiħ li tara wiċċek.

It looks like you're in a nice sunny place there.

Jidher li qiegħed f'post sabiħ xemxi hemmhekk.

I am, yes.

Jien, iva.

It is about 20° outside and the sun is shining, there is a blue sky, which I

Huwa madwar 20° barra u x-xemx tiddi, hemm sema blu, li nifhem li

understand is slightly different to the situation where you are at the moment.

hija kemmxejn differenti mis-sitwazzjoni fejn int bħalissa.

Yes, yes, I am slightly envious, I have to be honest.

Iva, iva, jien kemmxejn għira, irrid inkun onest.

We do have blue skies and sunshine, but we also have minus numbers over here in terms

Għandna smewwiet blu u xemx, imma għandna wkoll numri nieqes hawn f'termini

of our temperature, it's -5°, although it may have warmed up slightly, but it

tat-temperatura tagħna, hija -5°, għalkemm setgħet saħqet ftit, iżda kien

was -5° when I went out this morning.

-5° meta ħriġt dalgħodu.

It's certainly different to your 20°.

Huwa ċertament differenti għall-20° tiegħek.

I would swap with you happily.

Nixtieq nibdel miegħek kuntenti.

The last time we worked together was on a very different project.

L-aħħar darba li ħdimna flimkien kien fuq proġett differenti ħafna.

Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

Trid titkellem ftit dwar dan?

That was a story-based podcast called Pioneers of the Continuum,

Dak kien podcast ibbażat fuq storja bl-isem Pioneers of the Continuum,

which came out last year.

li ħareġ is-sena l-oħra.

It was a kind of collaboration between lots of amazing English

Kienet tip ta 'kollaborazzjoni bejn lottijiet ta'

language podcasters and people from YouTube, including yourself.

podcasters aqwa tal-lingwa Ingliża u nies minn YouTube, inkluż lilek innifsek.

And if people listening to this have not listened to that show then you

U jekk in-nies li qed jisimgħu dan ma semgħux dak l-ispettaklu allura

can definitely go and check it out.

definittivament tista’ tmur u tiċċekkjaha.

It's called Pioneers at the Continuum.

Tissejjaħ Pijunieri fil-Continuum.

There was a group of time-travelling friends and they all go back to a

Kien hemm grupp ta’ ħbieb li jivvjaġġaw fil-ħin u kollha jmorru lura għal

certain time in history, and they experience some fun things; and Anna

ċertu żmien fl-istorja, u jesperjenzaw xi affarijiet divertenti; u Anna

plays, I've forgotten the name of your character, Anna, but you play...

tilgħab, insejt l-isem tal-karattru tiegħek, Anna, imma int tilgħab...

Ellie.

Ellie.

Ellie.

Ellie, that's right!

Ellie. Ellie, hekk hu!

You go back to the time of the suffragettes...

Tmur lura għal żmien is-sufraġetti...

That's right.

...and have some fun.

Hekk hu.

...u tieħdu gost.

So, if you'd like to hear Anna pretending to be a person in the

Għalhekk, jekk tixtieq tisma’ lil Anna tippretendi li tkun persuna fi żmien

time of the suffragettes, then you should definitely go and listen

is-sufraġetti, allura żgur għandek tmur tisma

to Pioneers of the Continuum.

’ lil Pioneers of the Continuum.

Yeah, that was a really good fun project.

Iva, dak kien proġett divertenti tassew tajjeb.

It definitely kind of plays into my love of acting and,

Żgur li tilgħab l-imħabba tiegħi tar-reċtar u,

you know, embodying characters.

taf, li tinkorpora karattri.

So, I had a lot of fun.

Allura, ħadt pjaċir ħafna.

So, thank you again for including me in that project.

Allura, grazzi mill-ġdid talli inkludietni f'dak il-proġett.

So, you are in a place that has beautiful weather.

Allura, inti f'post li għandu temp sabiħ.

Where exactly are you?

Fejn int eżatt?

So, I'm in a small country called Malta at the moment.

Għalhekk, bħalissa qiegħed f’pajjiż żgħir li jissejjaħ Malta.

It is a tiny rock in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

Hija blata ċkejkna f’nofs il-Baħar Mediterran.

If you imagine where Sicily is, so for people who can't imagine where

Jekk timmaġina fejn tinsab Sqallija, allura għal nies li ma jistgħux jimmaġinaw fejn

Sicily is, it's the, 'the ball', 'the leg' that is Italy is kicking.

tinsab Sqallija, huwa l-, 'il-ballun', 'il-sieq' li hija l-Italja qed tispiċċa.

And if you go almost exactly a hundred kilometres south from there,

U jekk tmur kważi eżattament mitt kilometru fin-nofsinhar minn hemm,

you hit a tiny little rock in the middle of the sea and that is Malta.

tolqot blata ċkejkna f’nofs il-baħar u dik hija Malta.

Yeah, I have very fond memories of Malta.

Iva, għandi memorji sbieħ ħafna ta' Malta.

It was one of my first trips abroad that I can remember as a child.

Kienet waħda mill-ewwel vjaġġi tiegħi barra minn Malta li nista' niftakar bħala tifel.

So, my mum had told me that we were going to go to Blackpool for Easter.

Għalhekk, ommi kienet qaltli li konna se mmorru Blackpool għall-Għid.

I was very excited about going to Blackpool.

Kont eċċitati ħafna li mmur Blackpool.

And then she kept buying all these clothes for our holiday

U mbagħad baqgħet tixtri dawn il-ħwejjeġ kollha għall-vaganza tagħna

that were all very summery.

li kienu kollha sajfija ħafna.

And I was like,

U kont qisni,

"Mum, it's quite cold at Easter and Blackpool's quite windy

"Omm, huwa pjuttost kiesaħ fl-Għid u Blackpool huwa pjuttost riħ

because it's on the coast.

għax fuq il-kosta.

Are you sure we're going to Blackpool?"

Int żgur li se mmorru Blackpool?"

And she said,

"Oh, don't you know, Blackpool's always very hot at Easter.

U qalet, "Oh, ma tafx, Blackpool dejjem sħun ħafna fl-Għid.

It's like a phenomenon that just happens."

Huwa bħal fenomenu li jiġri biss."

And I'm like,

"What?"

U jien bħal, "X'inhu?"

I believed her and then we got in the car to go with our cases.

Emmintha u mbagħad dħalna fil-karozza biex immorru bil-kaxxi tagħna.

And I said,

U jien għedt,

"Where are we going?

"Fejn sejrin?

Because we don't seem to be going the route to Blackpool."

Għax ma jidhirx li sejrin ir-rotta lejn Blackpool."

She's like,

"No, we're going to take a bus to Blackpool.

Hija qisha, "Le, se nieħdu xarabank għal Blackpool.

We're going to the station, the bus station."

Immorru l-istazzjon, l-istazzjon tal-karozzi tal-linja."

Oh right.

Okay.

Eh sewwa.

Okay.

And then I kept seeing all these like vans and things with

U mbagħad bqajt nara dawn kollha bħal vannijiet u affarijiet bl-

Manchester Airport written on them.

Ajruport ta’ Manchester miktub fuqhom.

I was like,

"Oh, that bus must be going to Manchester Airport.

Kont qisni, "Oh, dik il-karozza tal-linja trid tkun sejra lejn l-Ajruport ta' Manchester.

And that bus is going to Manchester Airport.

U dik il-karozza tal-linja sejra lejn l-Ajruport ta' Manchester.

And that one's going to Manchester Airport."

U dik il-linja sejra lejn l-Ajruport ta' Manchester."

And then she went,

U mbagħad marret,

"We're at the airport we're actually flying to Blackpool."

"Qegħdin fl-ajruport li fil-fatt qed itiru lejn Blackpool."

And I was like,

U kont qisni,

"What we're gonna fly to Blackpool!

"Dak li se ttiru lejn Blackpool!

That's amazing!"

Dik aqwa!"

And then we get in there and obviously she couldn't hide it anymore because

U mbagħad nidħlu hemm u ovvjament ma setgħetx taħbiha aktar għax

we were going towards the flight that was being announced for Malta.

konna sejrin lejn it-titjira li kienet qed titħabbar għal Malta.

So, it's just this endless surprise that my mum kept bringing out.

Allura, hija biss din is-sorpriża bla tarf li ommi baqgħet toħroġ.

And yeah, it was a fantastic holiday.

U iva, kienet festa meraviljuża.

And so, I've got very fond memories of what a beautiful little country with

U għalhekk, għandi memorji sbieħ ħafna ta’ x’pajjiż ċkejken sabiħ

beautiful blue seas and beaches and you know, it was very nice, very nice.

b’ibħra blu u bajjiet sbieħ u tafu, kien sabiħ ħafna, sabiħ ħafna.

So, why are you in Malta?

Allura, għaliex inti Malta?

You're living there.

Int qed tgħix hemm.

Yes.

Iva.

It's not just a temporary thing.

Mhux biss ħaġa temporanja.

I've been living here since the start of 2017.

Ilni ngħix hawn mill-bidu tas-sena 2017.

So, yeah, for seven years now.

Allura, iva, għal seba' snin issa.

Right.

For nearly as long as I've been a YouTuber doing English Like a Native on YouTube.

Dritt. Għal kważi kemm ilni YouTuber nagħmel Ingliż Bħal Native fuq YouTube.

I moved here with my then-girlfriend because she was offered a job

Jien mort hawn mat-tfajla tiegħi ta’ dak iż-żmien għax ġiet offruta impjieg

here at the university and it was meant to be a one-year thing

hawn fl-università u kienet intenzjonata li tkun xi ħaġa ta’ sena

to kind of see if we liked it.

biex naraw jekk għoġniniex.

Seven years later, she's now my wife, we've got two little Maltese

Seba’ snin wara, issa hi marti, għandna żewġ

babies and it has become a sort of temporary home for us, I guess.

trabi żgħar Maltin u saret speċi ta’ dar temporanja għalina, naħseb.

And when you first had that discussion about, oh, I've been

U meta kellek l-ewwel darba dik id-diskussjoni dwar, oh, ġejt

offered a job, was there any doubts about whether you would go?

offrut impjieg, kien hemm xi dubji dwar jekk tmurx?

Were you apprehensive?

Kont beżgħan?

Did you have any reservations about moving to a new country?

Kellek xi riżervi dwar li tiċċaqlaq f'pajjiż ġdid?

Because even for a year, it's quite a big step to take.

Għax anke għal sena, huwa pass kbir li wieħed jieħu.

There were a few doubts, I guess, at the start.

Kien hemm ftit dubji, naħseb, fil-bidu.

I was in a period of my career where it was possible to work remotely and to have

Kont f’perjodu tal-karriera tiegħi fejn kien possibbli li naħdem mill-bogħod u li nagħmel

a bit of a break from what I was doing.

ftit waqfa minn dak li kont nagħmel.

So, from my perspective, I thought, you know, "Why not?"

Allura, mill-perspettiva tiegħi, ħsibt, taf, "Għaliex le?"

What's the worst that can happen?

X'inhu l-agħar li jista' jiġri?

That you go to somewhere for a year and you don't like it.

Li tmur xi mkien għal sena u ma togħġbokx.

And then, you know, it's only a year, things are always reversible.

U mbagħad, tafu, hija biss sena, l-affarijiet huma dejjem riversibbli.

And at that point in time, you know, it was just the two of us, we didn't have

U dak il-ħin, taf, konna biss it-tnejn minna, ma kellniex

a huge amount of stuff, we didn't own a house, we didn't have much, so it was very

ammont kbir ta’ affarijiet, ma kellniex dar, ma kellniex ħafna, għalhekk kien

easy to kind of pack up our life in London and come over here for a little bit.

faċli ħafna li tippakkja l-ħajja tagħna f'Londra u jiġu hawn għal ftit.

Things are a little bit different now, we've got a bit more stuff, including two

L-affarijiet huma xi ftit differenti issa, għandna ftit aktar affarijiet, inklużi żewġ

humans, so leaving would be slightly more complicated, but it was a relatively easy

bnedmin, għalhekk it-tluq ikun kemmxejn aktar ikkumplikat, iżda kienet

choice to take at that point in time.

għażla relattivament faċli li tieħu f'dak il-mument.

So, you mentioned that you didn't own a house because that would be

Mela, semmejt li ma kellekx dar għax dik kienet tkun

the first thing that would come to my mind if I was doing a temporary

l-ewwel ħaġa li tiġini f’moħħi jekk kont qed nagħmel temporanju

suck it and see kind of move for a short period to see if I liked it.

nagħmilha u nara tip ta’ moviment għal perjodu qasir biex nara jekk jogħġobnix.

If you're selling a house in this country, a lot of people own their house.

Jekk qed tbigħ dar f'dan il-pajjiż, ħafna nies għandhom id-dar tagħhom.

There's a lot of expectation in society that you would at some point

Hemm ħafna stennija fis-soċjetà li f'xi punt tixtri

buy your own house, but selling is expensive and you know, a slow process.

d-dar tiegħek, iżda l-bejgħ huwa għali u taf, proċess bil-mod.

So, then if you're doing it just to move out to somewhere for a year,

Allura, allura jekk qed tagħmel dan biss biex tmur f'xi mkien għal sena,

then you don't like it, you have to come back and then you have to buy a

allura ma togħġobx, trid terġa 'lura u mbagħad trid terġa' tixtri dar

house again, get back into the housing market, which is very difficult.

, terġa 'tidħol fis-suq tad-djar, li huwa diffiċli ħafna.

In this country we call it getting back onto the ladder.

F'dan il-pajjiż nsejħulha li terġa' fuq is-sellum.

So, you get onto the housing ladder, the property ladder.

Allura, ikollok fuq is-sellum tad-djar, is-sellum tal-proprjetà.

And so, you didn't own, but do you own in Malta?

U allura, inti ma kontx, imma int stess f’Malta?

Do people in Malta buy their houses?

In-nies f’Malta jixtru djarhom?

Yes, people in Malta...

Iva, nies f'Malta...

it's sort of a national sport, buying and selling houses.

huwa speċi ta' sport nazzjonali, ix-xiri u l-bejgħ ta' djar.

Right.

Dritt.

Yes.

Iva.

But, I'm not partaking in that national sport, no.

Imma jien mhux qed nieħu sehem f’dak l-isport nazzjonali, le.

Okay.

So, it keeps it quite easy for you, footloose and fancy-free.

Okay.

Għalhekk, iżommha pjuttost faċli għalik, sfużi u bla fantasija.

You can pick up and go as long as you take your children with you.

Tista' tiġbor u tmur sakemm tieħu lit-tfal tiegħek miegħek.

Indeed.

Yeah.

I gotta remember them.

Tabilħaqq. Iva.

Ikolli niftakarhom.

So what was your experience in terms of language learning?

Allura x'kienet l-esperjenza tiegħek f'termini ta' tagħlim tal-lingwi?

Do they speak English in Malta?

F’Malta jitkellmu bl-Ingliż?

When you mentioned your story of your mum kind of suggesting you

Meta semmejt l-istorja tiegħek ta' ommok qed tissuġġerixxi li

might be going to Blackpool and actually you arrived in Malta.

tista' tmur Blackpool u fil-fatt wasalt Malta.

If you first got off the plane and you thought you'd actually landed in

Kieku l-ewwel niżel mill-ajruplan u ħsibt li fil-fatt niżel f'Blackpool

Blackpool, it wouldn't be so far wrong.

, ma jkunx s'issa jkun ħażin.

Malta obviously looks very different to Blackpool, but there are a lot

Malta ovvjament tidher differenti ħafna minn Blackpool, iżda hemm ħafna

of things that are very similar between the UK and Malta for

affarijiet li huma simili ħafna bejn ir-Renju Unit u Malta għal

reasons I'll explain in a minute.

raġunijiet ser nispjega fi ftit minuta.

But one of the things is that English is an official language of Malta.

Iżda waħda mill-affarijiet hija li l-Ingliż huwa lingwa uffiċjali ta’ Malta.

There are two official languages, Maltese and English.

Hemm żewġ lingwi uffiċjali, il-Malti u l-Ingliż.

Right.

Dritt.

It wasn't particularly difficult at all because literally everyone speaks English.

Ma kien partikolarment diffiċli xejn għax litteralment kulħadd jitkellem bl-Ingliż.

And this is not like some perhaps pretentious Brit going to, you

U dan mhux bħal xi Brittaniku forsi pretenzjuż li jmur,

know, Madrid or Berlin and saying,

taf, Madrid jew Berlin u jgħid,

"Oh no, it's okay, everyone's going to speak English."

"Oh le, okay, kulħadd se jitkellem bl-Ingliż."

It is actually an official language; the main newspaper

Fil-fatt hija lingwa uffiċjali; il-gazzetta ewlenija

in the country is in English.

fil-pajjiż hija bl-Ingliż.

All the signs are in English.

Is-sinjali kollha huma bl-Ingliż.

It has such a high population of foreigners now that you're

Għandha popolazzjoni tant għolja ta’ barranin issa li int

in lots of areas, including the area in which we live.

f’ħafna żoni, inkluż iż-żona li ngħixu fiha.

If you go to any bar or restaurant and if you were to speak Maltese,

Kieku tmur f'xi bar jew ristorant u kieku kellek titkellem bil-Malti,

lots of people wouldn't even be able to speak Maltese back to you.

ħafna nies lanqas biss ikunu jistgħu jitkellmu bil-Malti lura lilek.

Really?

Tassew? Għalhekk, huwa interessanti f'termini ta', taf, l-isfond tiegħi bħala li

So, it is interesting in terms of, with my, you know, background as a

language learner and being involved in helping people learn English,

qed jitgħallem il-lingwa u li nkun involut biex ngħin lin-nies jitgħallmu l-Ingliż,

one part of me thought, you know,

parti minni ħsibt, taf,

"I've got to lean in and learn as much Maltese as I can."

"Irrid nitgħallem u nitgħallem daqstant Malti kif nista’.”

But the reality is that even some of my Maltese friends here don't speak Maltese.

Imma r-realtà hi li anke xi wħud mill-ħbieb tiegħi Maltin hawn ma jitkellmux bil-Malti.

It's really in the category of things that I would have done only

Huwa verament fil-kategorija ta 'affarijiet li jien kont nagħmel biss

for my personal enjoyment really, rather than any kind of utility.

għat-tgawdija personali tiegħi verament, aktar milli kull tip ta' utilità.

It's a very hard language.

Hija lingwa iebsa ħafna.

It's a very complicated language from a grammar point of view to such an

Hija lingwa kkumplikata ħafna mil-lat tal-grammatika tant

extent that because so many people in Malta, so many Maltese people, have got

li minħabba li ħafna nies f'Malta, tant nies Maltin, għandhom

such good English, there are certain things they do in English, even if

Ingliż daqshekk tajjeb, hemm ċerti affarijiet li jagħmlu bl-Ingliż, anke jekk

they're speaking Maltese to each other.

qed jitkellmu bil-Malti. lil xulxin.

For example, counting.

Per eżempju, l-għadd.

Numbers in Maltese are very complicated.

In-numri bil-Malti huma kkumplikati ħafna.

And so if you hear two people speaking Maltese to each other, and

U allura jekk tisma’ żewġ persuni jitkellmu bil-Malti ma’ xulxin, u

then they're talking about a number, they'll use the English number.

mbagħad qed jitkellmu fuq numru, jużaw in-numru bl-Ingliż.

Because numbers in English are easy, right?

Għax in-numri bl-Ingliż huma faċli, hux?

You learn 1-10, or 1-20, rather, and then you say 20, 30, 40, and your hundreds,

Titgħallem 1-10, jew 1-20, pjuttost, u mbagħad tgħid 20, 30, 40, u l-mijiet tiegħek,

and then you, you've got them all.

u mbagħad int, ħadthom kollha.

In Maltese, it's a lot more complicated, so people even who are speaking Maltese

Fil-Malti, huwa ħafna aktar ikkumplikat, għalhekk nies anke li qed jitkellmu bil-Malti

will use English numbers in general.

se jużaw in-numri bl-Ingliż b'mod ġenerali.

So, my long-winded answer to your question is that I understand some very basic

Għalhekk, it-tweġiba twila tiegħi għall-mistoqsija tiegħek hija li nifhem xi

Maltese, but I am not a Maltese speaker because I've not really attempted to be.

Malti bażiku ħafna, imma jien mhux kelliem Malti għax ma tantx ippruvajt inkun.

It was in the category of things where I thought my attention

Kien fil-kategorija tal-affarijiet fejn ħsibt li l-attenzjoni tiegħi

is better used elsewhere.

tintuża aħjar x'imkien ieħor.

I guess that was a bit of a relief for you because if you are moving to

Naħseb li kien daqsxejn ta’ serħan għalik għax jekk tkun qed tiċċaqlaq f’post

a new place and you have to get over the language barrier that's quite a

ġdid u trid taqbeż il-barriera tal-lingwa, dik hija

big barrier to get through as well as having to then settle into a new culture.

ostaklu kbir mhux ħażin biex tgħaddi minnha kif ukoll trid imbagħad toqgħod f’kultura ġdida.

But if English is widely spoken there, then that makes at least

Imma jekk l-Ingliż huwa mitkellem ħafna hemmhekk, allura dan jagħmel mill-inqas

one part of it quite easy for you.

parti waħda pjuttost faċli għalik.

You mentioned there were some differences.

Semmejt li kien hemm xi differenzi.

There were some cultural differences.

Kien hemm xi differenzi kulturali.

What are the major cultural differences that you've noticed between between

X'inhuma d-differenzi kulturali ewlenin li ndunajt bejn

where you are in Malta and the UK?

fejn int f'Malta u r-Renju Unit?

What was hard to adjust to and what was quite nice?

X'kien diffiċli biex taġġusta u x'kien pjuttost sabiħ?

Maybe I'll start with the quite nice things, or the easy things first, because

Forsi ser nibda bl-affarijiet pjuttost sbieħ, jew l-affarijiet faċli l-ewwel, għax

maybe it's easier to pinpoint them.

forsi huwa aktar faċli li jiġu identifikati.

But there are so many just very basic things about life in Malta and the way

Imma hemm daqstant affarijiet bażiċi ħafna dwar il-ħajja f’Malta u l-mod

that Maltese society is structured that make it very easy for an English speaker

kif is-soċjetà Maltija hija strutturata li jagħmluha faċli ħafna għal min jitkellem bl-Ingliż

and a Brit to exist in; ranging from the very practical but helpful thing

u Brittaniku biex jeżisti fihom; li jvarjaw mill-ħaġa prattika ħafna iżda utli

that you don't have to learn another language even through to things like,

li m'għandekx għalfejn titgħallem lingwa oħra anke sa affarijiet bħal,

you know, the plugs are the same.

taf, il-plakek huma l-istess.

People in Malta drive on the same side of the road.

Nies f’Malta jsuqu fuq l-istess naħa tat-triq.

There are the tiny things that a non-Brit might not necessarily notice.

Hemm l-affarijiet ċkejkna li mhux Brittaniku jista 'mhux neċessarjament jinnota.

But things like the buttons for the road crossings come from the UK, right?

Imma affarijiet bħall-buttuni għall-qsim tat-toroq ġejjin mir-Renju Unit, hux?

They're exactly the same as the ones that you probably press if you're

Huma eżattament l-istess bħal dawk li inti probabilment tagħfas jekk qed

taking your kids to school in the morning; the post boxes looks the same.

tieħu lit-tfal tiegħek l-iskola filgħodu; il-kaxxi postali jidhru l-istess.

The phone boxes look the same.

Il-kaxxi tat-telefon jidhru l-istess.

Because of the fact that the cars drive on the same side of the road, lots

Minħabba l-fatt li l-karozzi jsuqu fuq l-istess naħa tat-triq, ħafna

of, for example, lots of the rubbish trucks are just ones that have kind of

, per eżempju, lottijiet ta 'trakkijiet taż-żibel huma biss dawk li tip ta'

got past their sell-by date in the UK.

qabżu d-data tal-bejgħ tagħhom fir-Renju Unit.

I was walking the other day and I saw a rubbish truck that said

Kont għaddej il-ġurnata l-oħra u rajt trakk taż-żibel li kien jgħid

Bromley Council on and, you know, that's a council from the UK.

Bromley Council fuq u, taf, dak hu kunsill mir-Renju Unit.

So, that's probably a rubbish truck that has, like, gone to however many

Allura, dan huwa probabbilment trakk taż-żibel li, bħal, marret għal ħafna mijiet ta

hundred thousand miles, got past its useful service in the UK and

' elf mil, għadda mis-servizz utli tiegħu fir-Renju Unit u

is now being shipped off to Malta.

issa qed jintbagħat lejn Malta.

There's lots of these very strange kind of slightly familiar things about

Hemm ħafna minn dawn it-tip strambi ħafna ta 'affarijiet kemmxejn familjari dwar

life in Malta that can be comforting to a certain extent to Brits.

il-ħajja f'Malta li jistgħu jkunu ta' faraġ sa ċertu punt għall-Ingliżi.

And that's also why it's a big holiday destination for people

U għalhekk hija wkoll destinazzjoni tal-vaganzi kbira għan-nies

from the UK, because you kind of get on your plane, arrive here and

mir-Renju Unit, għax int tip titla 'fuq l-ajruplan tiegħek, tasal hawn u

kind of slip very comfortably into life in Britain, just a bit hotter.

tip tiżloq komdu ħafna fil-ħajja fil-Gran Brittanja, ftit aktar sħuna.

You can have your pint of beer and your full English breakfast, and there's

Tista 'tieħu pinta birra tiegħek u kolazzjon Ingliż sħiħ tiegħek, u hemm

even pubs that serve Sunday roast.

anke pubs li jservu mixwi tal-Ħadd.

So, there are lots and lots of British people here.

Allura, hawn ħafna u ħafna nies Brittaniċi.

Fewer in the past few years but it's always been a very popular destination

Inqas fl-aħħar ftit snin iżda dejjem kienet destinazzjoni popolari ħafna

for people coming from the UK.

għan-nies li ġejjin mir-Renju Unit.

In terms of the harder things, I mean, kind of bad saying it perhaps, but

F'dak li għandu x'jaqsam ma' l-affarijiet aktar diffiċli, ngħid, xi ħaġa ħażina ngħiduha forsi, imma

because there are so many foreigners in Malta, the working population of people

minħabba li hawn ħafna barranin f'Malta, il-popolazzjoni ta' nies li jaħdmu

in Malta is, there's only slightly more Maltese people than foreigners.

f'Malta hija, hemm biss ftit aktar nies Maltin milli barranin.

So, it's so expat-driven and there are so many areas that are dominated by

Allura, tant huwa mmexxi mill-espatrijati u hemm tant oqsma li huma ddominati minn

foreigners that most of my kind of friends and friendship group are non-Maltese.

barranin li ħafna mit-tip ta’ ħbieb u grupp ta’ ħbiberija tiegħi mhumiex Maltin.

And, so you have this slightly peculiar scenario where kind of not Maltese

U, allura għandek dan ix-xenarju kemmxejn partikolari fejn tip ta’

culture, but I will say the culture of people who live in Malta is influenced so

kultura mhux Maltija, imma ngħid li l-kultura tan-nies li jgħixu Malta hija influwenzata tant

heavily by people from other countries.

minn nies minn pajjiżi oħra.

So, we have lots of friends from Spain, lots of friends from Latin America,

Allura, għandna ħafna ħbieb minn Spanja, ħafna ħbieb mill-Amerika Latina,

friends from Germany, from Russia, from the UK; lots of Swedish friends as well.

ħbieb mill-Ġermanja, mir-Russja, mir-Renju Unit; ħafna ħbieb Żvediżi wkoll.

So, you have this kind of strange cultural melting pot where for lots of

Għalhekk, għandek dan it-tip ta’ melting pot kulturali stramb fejn għal ħafna

people actually kind of jumping head on into Maltese society and culture, unless

nies fil-fatt jaqbeż rasu fuq is-soċjetà u l-kultura Maltija, sakemm ma

you're working in a Maltese-speaking company, can be quite difficult.

tkunx qed taħdem f’kumpanija li titkellem bil-Malti, jista’ jkun pjuttost diffiċli.

So, we always sort of existed more in the expat world, I would say, rather

Għalhekk, dejjem konna iktar eżistejna fid-dinja tal-espatrijati, ngħid jien, aktar

than in necessarily the Maltese world.

milli neċessarjament fid-dinja Maltija.

You mentioned before we started recording that Malta is also, has another big draw.

Semmejt qabel bdejna nirrekordjaw li Malta wkoll, għandha draw kbir ieħor.

It's not just a draw for people in the UK to come and find some sun, finally,

Mhuwiex biss tlugħ għan-nies fir-Renju Unit li jiġu u jsibu ftit xemx, finalment,

but also a draw in terms of learning English, that there's a big draw for

iżda wkoll tlugħ f'termini ta 'tagħlim tal-Ingliż, li hemm tlugħ kbir għal

people who want to learn English, either having that choice of coming

nies li jridu jitgħallmu l-Ingliż, jew ikollhom dik l-għażla li jiġu

and immersing themselves in life in the UK, in Ireland, or indeed, Malta.

u tgħaddas. infushom fil-ħajja fir-Renju Unit, fl-Irlanda, jew tabilħaqq, Malta.

So, I'm guessing that was quite useful for you as an English teacher, coming

Għalhekk, qed naħseb li kien pjuttost utli għalik bħala għalliem tal-Ingliż, li ġejt

to a place where there are lots of people gathering to learn English.

f'post fejn hemm ħafna nies jinġabru biex jitgħallmu l-Ingliż.

It was useful, it really came as a surprise to me.

Kien utli, tassew ġie bħala sorpriża għalija.

I didn't realise before that it was such a popular destination for

Ma kontx indunajt qabel li kienet destinazzjoni tant popolari għan-

people coming to learn English.

nies li jiġu biex jitgħallmu l-Ingliż.

Yes, I mean, there are lots of different categories of people who

Iva, ngħid, hemm ħafna kategoriji differenti ta’ nies li

come to Malta to learn English.

jiġu Malta biex jitgħallmu l-Ingliż.

During the summer, there are lots of teenagers from France and Italy and

Matul is-sajf, hemm ħafna adoloxxenti minn Franza u l-Italja u

Spain who I guess have managed to persuade their parents to not send them

Spanja li naħseb li rnexxielhom jipperswadu lill-ġenituri tagħhom biex ma jibagħtuhomx

to Dundee or Blackpool or somewhere like that, but have actually said,

Dundee jew Blackpool jew xi mkien bħal dak, iżda fil-fatt qalu,

"Send me to Malta where I can go to the beach and perhaps attend a few

"Ibgħatni Malta fejn nista'. mur il-bajja u forsi nattendi għal ftit

English lessons if my schedule allows."

lezzjonijiet tal-Ingliż jekk l-iskeda tiegħi tippermetti."

There are lots of people from East Asia as well, lots of people from

Hemm ħafna nies mill-Asja tal-Lvant ukoll, ħafna nies mill

Japan and Korea who come for extended periods, often because their companies

-Ġappun u l-Korea li jiġu għal perjodi estiżi, ħafna drabi minħabba li l-kumpaniji tagħhom

are paying for them to come here.

qed iħallsu biex jiġu hawn.

And it's a lot more affordable than going to London or, or

U huwa ħafna aktar affordabbli milli tmur Londra jew, jew

even Dublin or places like that.

saħansitra Dublin jew postijiet bħal dawn.

And recently there's also a lot of people from Latin America.

U dan l-aħħar hemm ukoll ħafna nies mill-Amerika Latina.

We have a lot of Latin American friends who came in this way.

Għandna ħafna ħbieb tal-Amerika Latina li ġew b'dan il-mod.

Because they are able to come and get a kind of student visa and because

Minħabba li huma kapaċi jiġu u jieħdu tip ta’ viża għall-istudenti u minħabba li

the Maltese economy is doing quite well at the moment, it's very easy

l-ekonomija Maltija sejra pjuttost tajjeb bħalissa, huwa faċli ħafna

to kind of transfer that visa into a working visa and essentially have a

li tittrasferixxi dik il-viża f’viża tax-xogħol u essenzjalment ikollhom

new kind of working life in the EU.

tip ġdid ta’ ħajja tax-xogħol fil- UE.

Fantastic.

Fantastiku.

Did you ever consider like opening up a school or do you provide like

Qatt ikkunsidrajt li tiftaħ skola jew tipprovdi bħal

face-to-face workshops over there?

workshops wiċċ imb wiċċ hemmhekk?

I did not really, there are lots and lots of English schools here.

Jien ma tantx, hawn ħafna u ħafna skejjel tal-Ingliż.

I'm sure lots of them doing a very good job, but I don't do any kind of

Jien ċert li ħafna minnhom jagħmlu xogħol tajjeb ħafna, imma jien ma nagħmel l-ebda tip ta'

face-to-face stuff or anything like that.

ħwejjeġ wiċċ imb'wiċċ jew xi ħaġa bħal dik.

There have been people who've come to Malta, kind of listened to the

Kien hemm nies li ġew Malta, xi tip semgħu l-

podcast, who've told me about their experience and I'm actually arranging

podcast, li qaluli bl-esperjenza tagħhom u fil-fatt qed nirranġa

to meet one at the moment, but I don't do any kind of face-to-face

biex niltaqa' ma' wiehed bhalissa, imma ma naghmilx xi tip ta' skola wiċċ imb'wiċċ

school or anything like that, no.

jew xi ħaġa bħal dik, le.

How do you find the internet connection where you are?

Kif issib il-konnessjoni tal-internet fejn int?

Because you are virtually a digital nomad.

Għax inti virtwalment nomad diġitali.

You're able to work remotely as long as you're online, but how do you find

Int kapaċi taħdem mill-bogħod sakemm tkun online, imma kif issib

like the internet and the power supply?

bħall-internet u l-provvista tal-enerġija?

Do you ever have to deal with like power cuts or anything like

Qatt ikollok tiffaċċja qtugħ ta' enerġija bħal din jew xi ħaġa bħal

that or problems with making your podcast where you're living?

dik jew problemi biex tagħmel il-podcast tiegħek fejn qed tgħix?

There are power cuts, yeah.

Hemm qtugħ tad-dawl, yeah.

It does seem strange for there to be kind of nationwide power cuts.

Jidher stramba li jkun hemm tip ta 'qtugħ tad-dawl fuq il-pajjiż kollu.

But there are sometimes power cuts.

Iżda kultant ikun hemm qtugħ ta 'enerġija.

The whole country, power goes out.

Il-pajjiż kollu, il-poter joħroġ.

I have to say, not so frequently, but that does happen.

Ikolli ngħid, mhux daqshekk spiss, iżda dan jiġri.

The main issue is that there is a sort of ongoing construction boom.

Il-kwistjoni ewlenija hija li hemm tip ta 'boom tal-kostruzzjoni li għaddej.

There are practically no laws relating to sounds levels.

Prattikament m'hemm l-ebda liġijiet relatati mal-livelli tal-ħsejjes.

The law is anyone can kind of take a drill and do whatever they want at any

Il-liġi hija li kulħadd jista 'tip ta' jieħu drill u jagħmel dak kollu li jrid fi kwalunkwe

time of the day, which is problematic for someone whose career relies on them

ħin tal-ġurnata, li hija problematika għal xi ħadd li l-karriera tiegħu tiddependi fuq li

being able to record good-quality sound.

jkun kapaċi jirreġistra ħoss ta 'kwalità tajba.

And actually there was a period after I had a child, where there was construction

U fil-fatt kien hemm perjodu wara li kelli tifel, fejn kien hemm kostruzzjoni

happening during the day, a child who was crying like children do, in the mornings

jiġri matul il-ġurnata, tifel li kien jibki bħalma jagħmlu t-tfal, filgħodu

and the evenings, and I would have to wait until, you know, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock in

u filgħaxija, u kont ikolli nistenna sakemm, taf, 1 o 'arloġġ, 2:00 ta'

the morning to be able to record anything.

filgħodu biex tkun tista 'tirreġistra xejn.

So, there's probably, I can't remember the episode numbers, but there's

Allura, probabbilment, ma nistax niftakar in-numri tal-episodju, imma

probably, I don't know, between episode number 80 and 120, where people think

probabbilment hemm, ma nafx, bejn l-episodju numru 80 u 120, fejn in-nies jaħsbu

that I sound a little bit croaky then, it's because that was being

li jien inħoss xi ftit croaky allura, huwa għaliex dak kien qed jiġi

recorded at 2 o'clock in the morning.

rreġistrat fi 2:00 ta’ filgħodu.

I now have an even more complicated situation where the crying child is a

Issa għandi sitwazzjoni saħansitra aktar ikkumplikata fejn it-tifel li qed jibki huwa xi

bit older and doesn't cry in the evening, but there's the construction, and I also

ftit akbar u ma jibkix filgħaxija, imma hemm il-kostruzzjoni, u ngħix ukoll

live very close to quite a rowdy pub.

qrib ħafna ta’ pub mhux ħażin.

So, during the day if there's construction, it's all cancelled.

Allura, matul il-ġurnata jekk ikun hemm kostruzzjoni, huwa kollu kkanċellat.

In the evening, that's cancelled because there are people drinking

Filgħaxija, dan jitħassar għax hemm nies jixorbu

beer and singing 'Sweet Caroline' and doing all that kind of stuff.

l-birra u jkantaw ‘Sweet Caroline’ u jagħmlu dak it-tip ta’ ħwejjeġ kollha.

So, I would have to wait till very late in the evening.

Għalhekk, ikolli nistenna sa tard ħafna filgħaxija.

Luckily, the construction is not going at this very moment in time, So I'm okay.

Fortunatament, il-kostruzzjoni mhix sejra f'dan il-mument stess, Allura jien okay.

It's just so frustrating, isn't it?

Huwa daqshekk frustranti, hux?

I get so cross.

I nikseb hekk cross.

I've had this for years.

Jien kelli dan għal snin.

I used to do voiceover work for companies in America.

Kont nagħmel xogħol ta’ voiceover għal kumpaniji fl-Amerika.

I'd be recording over here and then sending everything over.

Inkun qed nirreġistra hawn u mbagħad nibgħat kollox.

And at that time when I was doing that, I lived in pretty much in central

U dak iż-żmien meta kont qed nagħmel dan, kont ngħix kważi fiċ-ċentru

London and I had the same thing.

ta’ Londra u kelli l-istess ħaġa.

It was just constant noise.

Kien biss storbju kostanti.

And at that point, what I would do was I would literally record in my wardrobe.

U f'dak il-punt, dak li kont nagħmel kien litteralment nirreġistra fil-gwardarobba tiegħi.

So, I, you know, completely coat the wardrobe in clothing because

Allura, jien, tafu, niksi kompletament il-gwardarobba fil-ħwejjeġ għax

obviously the soft surfaces absorb the sound so it doesn't bounce.

ovvjament l-uċuħ rotob jassorbu l-ħoss sabiex ma jmurx.

And so I put clothes down on the base of the wardrobe and made sure

U għalhekk poġġejt il-ħwejjeġ fuq il-bażi tal-gwardarobba u żgurajt li

everything was hanging around so that there was no hard surfaces.

kollox kien imdendel madwar sabiex ma jkunx hemm uċuħ iebsin.

And then I'd open the wardrobe doors, but have a huge duvet

U mbagħad niftaħ il-bibien tal-gwardarobba, imma jkolli duvet enormi

over the top and down the back.

fuq in-naħa ta’ fuq u fuq wara.

So, I was just in this cave of cloth and it was very hot.

Allura, kont biss f'dan l-għar tad-drapp u kien jaħraq ħafna.

And it was very dark and I'd be in there getting hotter and hotter and there'd

U kien dlam ħafna u kont inkun hemmhekk dejjem aktar sħun u jkun hemm

be less and less oxygen, just trying to escape that, that constant noise that

inqas u inqas ossiġnu, nipprova biss jaħrab minn dak, dak l-istorbju kostanti li

you don't realise until you're recording something, you don't realise how noisy

ma tirrealizzax sakemm tkun qed tirreġistra xi ħaġa, inti ma ma tirrealizzax kemm

a general kind of town or city can be.

jista 'jkun storbjuż tip ġenerali ta' belt jew belt.

And then I moved out to the country and I thought,

U mbagħad mort il-pajjiż u ħsibt,

"Oh, thank goodness me.

"Oh, grazzi t-tjubija.

I'm just, I'm just going to be able to record whenever I like."

Jien biss, se nkun nista' nirreġistra kull meta nixtieq."

But then we have the problem with very noisy birds.

Imma mbagħad għandna l-problema bl-għasafar storbjużi ħafna.

Oh no.

Oh le.

I mean, the sound of birds in the background of your recording is

Jiġifieri, il-ħoss tal-għasafar fl-isfond tar-reġistrazzjoni tiegħek mhuwiex

not as bad as a pneumatic drill.

ħażin daqs drill pnewmatiku.

But, again, you know, you think the country is always so peaceful, but

Imma, għal darb'oħra, tafu, taħseb li l-pajjiż huwa dejjem daqshekk paċifiku, imma

when you think about it, actually, no, it's very noisy even in the country.

meta taħseb dwarha, fil-fatt, le, huwa storbjuż ħafna anke fil-pajjiż.

I think your best bet is to completely soundproof a room.

Naħseb li l-aħjar għażla tiegħek hija li kamra kompletament tiflaħ mill-ħoss.

As much as it's expensive, it will make such a difference to your working

Kemm huwa għali, se tagħmel tali differenza għall

life, I think to just soundproof the entire space, shut the door

-ħajja tax-xogħol tiegħek, naħseb li biss tiflaħ l-ispazju kollu, tagħlaq il-bieb

and then all that noise is gone.

u mbagħad dak il-ħoss kollu jkun marret.

I think that would be my next step if I ever get the chance.

Naħseb li dak ikun il-pass li jmiss tiegħi jekk qatt ikolli ċ-ċans.

Yeah, my problem here is that I've got floor to ceiling windows.

Iva, il-problema tiegħi hawnhekk hija li għandi twieqi mill-art sas-saqaf.

Right.

Which would be very attractive for anyone else but not attractive for someone who's

Dritt. Li jkun attraenti ħafna għal xi ħadd ieħor iżda mhux attraenti għal xi ħadd li qed

trying to block out sound from outside.

jipprova jimblokka l-ħoss minn barra.

Yeah, I have it where I record now.

Iva, għandi fejn nirreġistra issa.

I'm in a glorified shed.

Jien f'barrakka glorifikata.

So, it's the studio in the bottom of the garden.

Allura, huwa l-istudjo fil-qiegħ tal-ġnien.

But it's a flat roofed, wooden structure with bifold doors.

Iżda hija struttura tal-injam b'saqaf ċatt b'bibien bifold.

So, it's full glass on one side.

Allura, huwa ħġieġ sħiħ fuq naħa waħda.

And what I didn't take into account when we were planning to

U dak li ma qistx meta konna qed nippjanaw li

do this, because we were like,

nagħmlu dan, għax konna,

"Do we do a brick building?

"Aħna nagħmlu bini tal-briks?

Do we do a wooden building?

Nagħmlu bini tal-injam?

Well, you know, it'd be cheaper to just do a wooden building."

Tajjeb, taf, ikun irħas li tagħmel sempliċiment? bini tal-injam."

I forgot about sound and rain.

Insejt il-ħoss u x-xita.

And so whenever it rains, it hits the flat roof and it comes against

U allura kull meta tagħmel ix-xita, tolqot is-saqaf ċatt u tiġi kontra

the windows and it's just this noise, this cacophony of noise.

t-twieqi u huwa biss dan l-istorbju, din il-kakofonija tal-istorbju.

And I can't record anything.

U ma nista’ nirreġistra xejn.

Even the slightest little shower, I have to stop recording

Anke l-iċken doċċa żgħira, għandi nieqaf nirrekordja

because it's so noisy in here.

għax hawn ħafna storbjużi.

My purpose built studio is not fit for purpose.

L-istudju tiegħi mibni apposta mhuwiex tajjeb għall-iskop.

That is frustrating.

Dan huwa frustranti.

Yeah, so you've obviously made the move.

Iva, allura ovvjament għamilt il-mossa.

You've been there for seven years and now you're about to embark on another move.

Ilek hemm seba’ snin u issa waslet biex tibda mossa oħra.

You're about to pick up and go and put a stake in another country.

Int se taqbad u tmur tpoġġi sehem f'pajjiż ieħor.

So, where are you going?

Allura, fejn sejjer?

I'm actually moving to Sweden, to Gothenburg in Sweden.

Fil-fatt qed immur l-Isvezja, Gothenburg fl-Isvezja.

Wow, that's going to be very different.

Ara naqra, dak se jkun differenti ħafna.

In a few months from today.

Fi ftit xhur mil-lum.

That's going to be a very different experience to Malta.

Dik se tkun esperjenza differenti ħafna għal Malta.

I'm guessing that they don't have English as an official language over there.

Qed naħseb li m'għandhomx l-Ingliż bħala lingwa uffiċjali hemmhekk.

No, they don't.

They do have Finnish I just found that out, but I'm

Le, ma jagħmlux dan.

Għandhom il-Finlandiż. Għadni kif sibt dan, imma

learning Swedish at the moment.

bħalissa qed nitgħallem l-Iżvediż.

Okay.

Okay.

With some great Swedish podcasts and I found some good Swedish

B'xi podcasts Svediżi kbar u sibt xi

resources, but it's a new experience for me kind of starting to learn

riżorsi Svediżi tajbin, iżda hija esperjenza ġdida għalija tip ta' kif nibda nitgħallem

a language again from scratch.

lingwa mill-bidu nett.

Yeah.

Iva. Minn, tafu, żero assolut, imma s'issa ħadt gost ħafna.

From, you know, absolute zero, but I've really enjoyed it so far.

It's been a lot of fun.

Kien pjaċevoli ħafna.

I'm also doing it with my wife and trying to get my oldest son to kind of watch

Qed nagħmilha wkoll ma’ marti u nipprova nġib lil ibni l-kbir biex jara

some cartoons in Swedish and get him to kind of enjoy the learning process.

xi cartoons bl-Iżvediż u nġibu jgawdi l-proċess tat-tagħlim.

If anyone has any tips on how to do that, then I am very, very open to them, but

Jekk xi ħadd għandu xi suġġerimenti dwar kif tagħmel dan, allura jien miftuħ ħafna, ħafna għalihom, imma

I will be doing that in a few months.

se nagħmel dan fi ftit xhur.

So, I've possibly got the opportunity to move abroad this year, and when

Allura, possibbilment sibt l-opportunità li noqgħod barra minn Malta din is-sena, u meta

I think about moving abroad, I feel like I'm a little bit of a tortoise.

naħseb dwar li noqgħod barra, inħoss li jien ftit fekruna.

I initially think it's a good idea, but then I slowly kind of back away from it

Inizjalment naħseb li hija idea tajba, iżda mbagħad bil-mod il-mod nerġa' lura minnha

when I think about all the difficulties that I may encounter — the unknowns.

meta naħseb dwar id-diffikultajiet kollha li nista' niltaqa 'ma' l-affarijiet mhux magħrufa.

So, if anyone listening is considering making a move to a different country

Għalhekk, jekk xi ħadd jisma’ qed jikkunsidra li jagħmel pass lejn pajjiż differenti

and completely different culture.

u kultura kompletament differenti.

What would you advise or what kind of tips would you give them in order to

X'tik parir jew x'tip ta' pariri tagħtihom sabiex

embrace and make that experience easier?

iħaddnu u jagħmlu dik l-esperjenza aktar faċli?

Well, I think if someone is considering doing it in almost

Ukoll, naħseb li jekk xi ħadd qed jikkunsidra li jagħmel dan fi kważi

every case — just do it!

kull każ - agħmel dan!

I've done this quite a few times, less permanently.

Għamilt dan pjuttost ftit drabi, inqas b'mod permanenti.

So, I lived in different places as part of my university.

Allura, għext f'postijiet differenti bħala parti mill-università tiegħi.

I lived in China for quite a while and every time I've done these sort of,

Jien għext fiċ-Ċina għal żmien mhux ħażin u kull darba li għamilt dawn it-tip ta’,

you know, mini adventures or larger adventures, I've never regretted doing it.

tafu, avventuri żgħar jew avventuri akbar, qatt ma ddispjaċini li għamilt dan.

I'm 36.

Għandi 36.

So, it's not particularly old, but I think of kind of my life so far in, you

Allura, mhuwiex partikolarment antik, imma naħseb ta 'tip ta' ħajti s'issa fi, tafu

know, six to seven-year-like adventures.

, avventuri ta 'sitta sa seba' snin.

And they've all involved being in different places and kind of starting

U kollha involvew li jkunu f'postijiet differenti u tip ta' bidu

afresh, which probably seems daunting for lots of people, and I think it

mill-ġdid, li probabbilment jidher skoraġġanti għal ħafna nies, u naħseb li jeħtieġ

takes a certain type of person who embraces that rather than someone who

ċertu tip ta' persuna li tħaddan dan aktar milli xi ħadd li

prefers stability and kind of creating a little nest in a particular place.

jippreferi l-istabbiltà u tip ta 'ħolqien ta' ftit. bejta f’post partikolari.

I'm definitely in the category of people who like this kind of stuff,

Żgur li jien fil-kategorija ta’ nies li jħobbu dan it-tip ta’ affarijiet,

who like kind of starting afresh and going on these new adventures.

li jħobbu jibdew mill-ġdid u jmorru għal dawn l-avventuri ġodda.

So, in terms of my advice, after the advice being just do it.

Allura, f'termini tal-parir tiegħi, wara li l-parir ikun biss agħmel dan.

I heard a really good expression, this must be going back 15 years, to someone

Smajt espressjoni tassew tajba, din trid tkun qed tmur lura 15-il sena, lil xi ħadd

who had been living in China for quite a while and I think I was having a bad day

li kien ilu jgħix fiċ-Ċina għal żmien mhux ħażin u naħseb li kont qed ikolli ġurnata ħażina

or something where everything goes wrong and she referred to it as a bad China day.

jew xi ħaġa fejn kollox imur ħażin u rreferiet għaliha bħala ħażina. Jum iċ-Ċina.

Where just like everything combines to kind of put you in a bad mood,

Fejn bħalma kollox jgħaqqad biex ipoġġik fil-burdata ħażina,

whether it's like the bus goes wrong or whatever it might be, the

kemm jekk qisu l-karozza tal-linja tmur ħażin jew tkun xi tkun, il-

peculiarities of where you are, all unite to kind of fight against you.

partikolaritajiet ta 'fejn int, kollha jingħaqdu biex tip ta' ġlieda kontrik.

And I have this joke with my wife that we have bad Malta days, and I'm sure we'll

U għandi din iċ-ċajta ma’ marti li għandna ġranet ħżiena ta’ Malta, u żgur li se jkollna

have bad Sweden days and so on, but as long as you're kind of thinking of it

jiem ħżiena ta’ l-Isvezja u l-bqija, imma sakemm int tip taħsibha

as an adventure, something that you're kind of going on and you're thinking,

bħala avventura, xi ħaġa li inti qed tip ta' għaddej u qed taħseb,

"If I wasn't doing this, I'd be kind of continuing my life as it was before."

"Jekk ma kontx nagħmel dan, inkun tip ta' nkompli ħajti kif kienet qabel."

I think that has certainly helped me get over those periods where, you know,

Naħseb li ċertament għenni ngħaddi minn dawk il-perjodi fejn, taf,

you're not necessarily so happy or things aren't going quite so well for you.

int mhux bilfors daqshekk kuntent jew l-affarijiet mhux sejrin daqshekk tajjeb għalik.

Of course, there are the sort of, I guess they're like table stakes

Naturalment, hemm it-tip ta ', I raden dawn qed bħal table stakes

type bits of advice, like, you know, learn a language and make sure

tip bits ta' pariri, bħal, taf, titgħallem lingwa u kun żgur

that you've got all your adequate insurance and all that kind of thing.

li inti ħadthom ltqajna l-assigurazzjoni kollha adegwata tiegħek u dak it-tip kollu ta 'ħaġa.

But in terms of preparing myself mentally for these things, I think just not going

Imma f’dak li għandu x’jaqsam mal-preparazzjoni lili nnifsi mentalment għal dawn l-affarijiet, naħseb li ma nidħolx

into it thinking it's all going to be completely marvellous, but understanding

fiha naħseb li kollox se jkun kompletament tal-għaġeb, imma nifhem

that some days will be rubbish, but it's all part of the adventure and especially

li xi ġranet se jkunu żibel, imma dan kollu huwa parti mill-avventura u speċjalment

I think if you're doing it with kids I think trying to kind of get them involved

naħseb jekk int” qed nagħmilha mat-tfal naħseb li nipprova nidħolhom involuti

in the adventure side of things as much as possible I think that's a positive, yeah.

fin-naħa ta' l-avventura ta' l-affarijiet kemm jista' jkun, naħseb li huwa pożittiv, iva.

I say this not having moved to Sweden yet, so we'll see, we'll see how that goes.

Jien ngħid li dan għadu ma mortx l-Isvezja, allura naraw, naraw kif imur.

I always say to my son, who is a little bit averse to trying new foods,

Dejjem ngħid lil ibni, li huwa xi ftit oppost li jipprova ikel ġdid,

he's got quite a limited diet really, what he will accept as safe food.

huwa għandu dieta pjuttost limitata verament, dak li se jaċċetta bħala ikel sikur.

I always say to him,

Jien dejjem ngħidlu,

"Look, if you don't try it, you never know.

"Ara, jekk ma tipprovahiex, qatt ma tkun taf.

You'll just end up eating the same thing every single day and you might try

Tispiċċa tiekol l-istess ħaġa kuljum u tista' tipprova

this new vegetable and really like it.

din il-ħaxixa ġdida u togħġobha tassew.

Just like ice cream.

Bħal ġelat. .

Can you imagine if you'd never tried ice cream?"

Tista' timmaġina kieku qatt ma ppruvajt il-ġelat?"

And he'll go,

U jmur,

"But I like ice cream."

I'm like,

"Imma jien inħobb il-ġelat."

Jien qisni, "Eżattament.

"Exactly.

Can you imagine if you looked at ice cream and said, that looks

Tista 'timmaġina jekk ħares lejn il-ġelat u tgħid, li jidher

yucky and decided not to try it?"

yucky u ddeċidejt li ma tipprovahx?"

So, I think that's good advice.

Allura, naħseb li huwa parir tajjeb.

There are always options.

Dejjem hemm għażliet.

You can always go back.

Dejjem tista’ tmur lura.

You can always return to the way life was before, but unless you try, you

Dejjem tista’ terġa’ lura għall-mod kif kienet il-ħajja qabel, imma sakemm ma tipprovax,

never know what amazing adventures or fantastic people that you'll

qatt ma tkun taf liema avventuri tal-għaġeb jew nies meraviljużi li tiltaqa’ magħhom

meet and that you'll experience.

u li ser tesperjenza.

So, yeah, just get out there and do it!

Allura, iva, oħroġ hemmhekk u agħmel dan!

Don't be a tortoise.

Tkunx fekruna.

Don't hide your head.

It's always fun.

Taħbix rasek.

Huwa dejjem pjaċevoli.

It's always fun.

Huwa dejjem pjaċevoli.

Yeah.

Iva.

Yeah, fantastic.

Iva, meraviljuż.

Well, I do hope that your move goes smoothly and that you integrate into

Tajjeb, nittama li l-mixja tiegħek tmur bla xkiel u li tintegra fis

society quite easily and that the language learning progresses and you

-soċjetà pjuttost faċilment u li t-tagħlim tal-lingwa jimxi 'l quddiem u tħossok

feel confident and comfortable quite quickly, but all the best of luck with it.

kunfidenti u komdu pjuttost malajr, iżda l-aħjar xortih magħha.

And thank you so much for sharing all your experiences and knowledge with us.

U grazzi ħafna talli qsamt magħna l-esperjenzi u l-għarfien kollu tiegħek.

For my listeners, where can they find you?

Għas-semmiegħa tiegħi, fejn jistgħu jsibuk?

Well, everything I do is on my website, which is leonardoenglish.com.

Ukoll, dak kollu li nagħmel jinsab fuq il-websajt tiegħi, li hija leonardoenglish.com.

Leonardo like Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo bħal Leonardo da Vinci.

And if you're a podcast listener, you might like to listen to the

U jekk int semmiegħ tal-podcasts, tista’ tixtieq tisma’ l-

podcast we make, which is called English Learning for Curious Minds.

podcast li nagħmlu, li jissejjaħ English Learning for Curious Minds.

And if you want to hear Anna in a podcast that we've made, it's

U jekk trid tisma’ lil Anna f’podcast li għamilna, jismu

called Pioneers of the Continuum.

Pioneers of the Continuum.

So, there we go.

Allura, hemm immorru.

Yeah.

Iva.

And we just recently recorded another conversation, didn't we, for your podcast

U dan l-aħħar irreġistrajna konverżazzjoni oħra, hux hekk, għall-podcast tiegħek

where I am revealing some, some of my insights into being a podcaster and a

fejn qed niżvela xi wħud, xi wħud mill-għarfien tiegħi dwar kif inkun podcaster u

YouTuber and general content creator.

YouTuber u kreatur tal-kontenut ġenerali.

So, I will put links to everything that you've mentioned

Għalhekk, se npoġġi links għal dak kollu li semmejt

down below in the show notes.

hawn taħt fin-noti tal-ispettaklu.

Thanks again for joining us, Alastair, and very best of luck with everything.

Grazzi għal darb'oħra talli ngħaqadt magħna, Alastair, u l-aqwa xortih ma' kollox.

Thanks so much, Anna.

Grazzi ħafna, Anna.