Malta was an English colony for 200 years and this has left its mark on the Maltese people. For the Maltese, English is the second language and nearly all of the Maltese population can at least converse in the language. In fact, when visiting Malta, many tourists comment that most Maltese hardly speak in their native tongue but are constantly hearing locals speaking in English! Maltese students start learning English from the very beginning of their primary school years alongside learning Maltese. Much emphasis is placed on speaking in English at most Maltese state and private schools. Thus, most Maltese not only have a very good command of the language, but can also speak it like a native! Learning English in Malta is thus near enough learning English in England. One positive point to note is that most Maltese speak English which is grammatically and idiomatically correct as we learn standard British English, whereas most of the British population speak slang!