Gozo v Malta

yes, Gozo is the world centre for satanism - we slaughter goats every Wednesday, and Maltese on special occasions.

However other english people there told me of restaurants having one menu for locals, one for british, one for italian etc and the prices differ depending on how much they like that nationality.

yep, they have a pile of different menus for each nation in the world - oh, come on, just think about it for a moment

Not all nationalities but there are of course main ones that visit the island such as british, maltese and italian.

Merely voicing what I was told by numerous residents and visitors on the island and wondering if anyone has ever had this problem.

I've seen numerous british people on this forum claiming that they get charged different prices to everyone else in Malta for things ranging from a banana to meals to utilities so it's not really that far fetched. Although like I said, we found everything very reasonable so maybe the British are just in favour haha.

Satanists (even foreign ones) get half price bananas on Tuesdays

iamharibo wrote:

I've seen numerous british people on this forum claiming that they get charged different prices to everyone else in Malta for .... utilities .

nope, residents pay one price for utilities, non-residents another, nothing to do with nationality.

Aricle in the Times of Malta about Maltese being charged less than British (in this case) at some retailers.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi … r-tourists

We can all do our bit, only buy from places that display prices.

Tim

Excatly Tim - why would anyone buy from a shop that doesn't display prices

Yea it's asking for trouble really, and if someone wants to charge you 3eur for a banana just say no- you don't have to pay it! Was just wondering about others experiences of gozo really. I loved it personally but a lot of people we spoke to seemed to have had problems

I've had one day in Gozo so far - our very first stop was at a cafe and they overcharged us for coffee and water - could have been an accident. Upset my wife for the whole day unfortunately. Of course, we've been overcharged in Malta many times :-(
Going back to Gozo in a couple of weeks for a weekend - will be watching out...but that does rather take away from the laid-back, relaxed atmosphere that is supposed to be so special about the place.

thats really horrible, for somewhere that must rely on expats and tourists quite a bit (malta AND gozo) it is a shame that they do that sort of thing.

hopefully your second experience will be better! do you know what area you're going to yet? We went to Xlendi and Marsalforn (I probably spelt that incorrectly!)  and had no problems.

What sort of things did you get over charged for in Malta? I've seen a lot of people talking about that sort of thing but never had it myself- although maybe I have and even their pumped up rates are cheaper than London!!

Staying in Xlendi - will visit everywhere though as we have a car and it's, er, small!. We are going with some Maltese friends...I'll just let them order everything

In Malta it's mainly been things at the markets soon after we arrived - now we've learned the hard way we are more wary of such things.

Though something we've run into a couple of times recently is high prices for a scoop of ice cream, or rather the size of the scoop. I can't say it was aimed at non-Maltese specifically but the paranoia takes hold after you've been fleeced a couple of times.

Tim

If you residing in Malta, it will take you just couple of weeks to learn from where to buy your food and you will see how much prices are competitive compared to other european countries...
Good Luck

Hi guys

Malta vs Gozo schools I have been through the forum and have seen a few posts about public and english speaking schools, but nothing concrete in terms of is there a public school on Gozo that definately offers english teaching classes. Does anyone have any contact with families (primary schools) in Gozo that may be able to offer help?

There are no school in Gozo that teach primarily in English, however... If there is an English speaking child in the class, the teacher must teach in English. Your child will be expected to learn the language or they will be left out of subjects taught in Maltese. The subjects taught in Maltese are Maltese, Religion and Social Studies. My daughter caught on to the language fast because of her relatives and friends, but she had an English friend in her school that was always left out of classes. She was allowed to do homework or read during these lessons. Because of it, her parents left. I had another friend who left for the same reason. This is the case for early school. As for middle school…Your child needs to constantly remind the teachers to teach in English. As I posted in an early post…my son was shy so he was completely ignored.

It’s been 2 months since my daughter started middle school and I’m not impressed!!! She has had free lessons due to absent teachers at LEAST 5 times a week…EVERY week!!! I was warned about this but didn’t believe it. This is my only complaint so far, but to me…it’s a biggie.

There is one family I know who live on Gozo but send there kids to San Andrea in Malta. This can be very exhausting because of the commute but they believe it’s worth it. San Andrea provides transportation (additional cost) to and from the ferry. There is also a girls and boys middle school conservatory in Gozo you may want to look into. An exam needs to be taken to get in and I believe you can only enter at the starting age (11 or 12).  I tried to get my son in but I was a year too late. I heard they were both good schools.

georgeingozo wrote:

yes, Gozo is the world centre for satanism - we slaughter goats every Wednesday, and Maltese on special occasions.

You're too Funny George!!!

@mgrima68 "Your child will be expected to learn the language or they will be left out of subjects taught in Maltese. The subjects taught in Maltese are Maltese, Religion and Social Studies. My daughter caught on to the language fast because of her relatives and friends, but she had an English friend in her school that was always left out of classes. She was allowed to do homework or read during these lessons. Because of it, her parents left. "

expected really? I wasn't. But I guess that just meant that nobody gave a crap lol. Why did her parents leave tho? I really didn't get that. I did my my homework during those subjects and really I can't say I lost out much...I mean social studies? Useless. But ok I guess for general knowledge. Religion? Lol. Well I am not Catholic so wouldn't have taken that anyway. Maltese? Well useful sure. But at that time I was still learning English so didn't concentrate on that at all.

"As for middle school…Your child needs to constantly remind the teachers to teach in English. As I posted in an early post…my son was shy so he was completely ignored." Unfortunately that is so true. I had to remind teachers all the time in secondary school, in 6th form and of course...University. Of course there were teachers who remembered me and didn't need reminding, but there were those that didn't and did need it. I am pretty sure all private schools teach in English though. But well private. Expensive probably.

Isn't a pass in social studies is a must if you want to go to Maltese Uni ?

Religious studies is a misnomer - its Catholic indoctrination

Myrkur wrote:

@mgrima68 "Your child will be expected to learn the language or they will be left out of subjects taught in Maltese. The subjects taught in Maltese are Maltese, Religion and Social Studies. My daughter caught on to the language fast because of her relatives and friends, but she had an English friend in her school that was always left out of classes. She was allowed to do homework or read during these lessons. Because of it, her parents left. "

expected really? I wasn't. But I guess that just meant that nobody gave a crap lol. Why did her parents leave tho? I really didn't get that. I did my my homework during those subjects and really I can't say I lost out much...I mean social studies? Useless. But ok I guess for general knowledge. Religion? Lol. Well I am not Catholic so wouldn't have taken that anyway. Maltese? Well useful sure. But at that time I was still learning English so didn't concentrate on that at all.



"As for middle school…Your child needs to constantly remind the teachers to teach in English. As I posted in an early post…my son was shy so he was completely ignored." Unfortunately that is so true. I had to remind teachers all the time in secondary school, in 6th form and of course...University. Of course there were teachers who remembered me and didn't need reminding, but there were those that didn't and did need it. I am pretty sure all private schools teach in English though. But well private. Expensive probably.

They left because they felt their children were wasting their time at school. Three subjects...important or not...is alot time for a kid to sit out. They also werent Catholic and it bothered them that Religion was taught so much.

It's nice to hear you made it to University. It gives me hope for my daughter. My son didnt make it to 6th form because he failed Maltese...sad because he passed 4 imprortant subjects with high marks. Luckily, MCAST in Malta offered a program he's interested in or I dont know what he'd be doing with himself.

georgeingozo wrote:

Isn't a pass in social studies is a must if you want to go to Maltese Uni ?

Religious studies is a misnomer - its Catholic indoctrination

I really don't think that it is. But you can look the requirements up on the Uni website. I mean it would be required for some kind of sociology-course type of thing i am sure. But basically every course has its own requirements.

@mgrima68. I see. re your son...are you Maltese? I mean your nickname says grima..if you are then yes you do need to get the Maltese o'level. However I am not so I did not need to pass Maltese to be able to go to Junior College. The minimum to get in is 6 o'levels and I think english, maths and maltese are a must. I had german instead of maltese so I was fine.
I was really glad that I didn't have to sit for maltese...my friends used to tell me they had to learn like 50 poems by heart or something

Myrkur wrote:

@mgrima68. I see. re your son...are you Maltese? I mean your nickname says grima..if you are then yes you do need to get the Maltese o'level. However I am not so I did not need to pass Maltese to be able to go to Junior College. The minimum to get in is 6 o'levels and I think english, maths and maltese are a must. I had german instead of maltese so I was fine.
I was really glad that I didn't have to sit for maltese...my friends used to tell me they had to learn like 50 poems by heart or something

I'm Amercian...hubby is Maltese. I think if your children are in the school system for more than 4 years, they have to sit for Malteses. My son started school here when he was 10 so they felt he should of picked it up...We sent him to an English private school the first two years which probably didnt help him in his Maltese.I think they should make exceptions or an easier exam for kids in my son's situation. The exam is hard for the Maltese so it has to be really hard for others. My son wasnt dedicated to it though...he absolutly hated it. He didnt want to do the
re-sits because he got a U on his exam and didnt want to deal with it anymore.But it's OK...He's loving MCAST. He's in the Aviation Tech program so he's chosen a good path.

Ah I see..well if his father is Maltese...that does kind of make him Maltese so he should know the language. However I have no Maltese in my blood and I went to a Maltese secondary school for 5 years but didn't have to take it. But as usual everything is different for everyone. For instance there was another foreign girl in my school but she actually had o transfer to another school because apparently the teachers didn't speak english for her...that was very strange as they did for me!