High's and Low's of the Diamond Jubilee!?

[Mancie]

[quote=jaysay;996602] there's a article on one of the papers this morning which has a photo of a classroom full of kids where 31 different languages are used as the kids first language and most of were born in this country. quote]

A "photo" of a classroom full of kids who's first language is not English .. first queery is how can anyone gauge the language of people from a photo?...and are you telling us this class (taking in mind the UK limit of 35 pupils in any classroom) has 31 pupils with different languages! .. were do you dig this rubbish up from?

[Claytoner40]

It was 31 languages in the school. Is this another topic that is going to turn to the right

[shillelagh]

the tv programmes ive managed to catch .. part of the flotilla (tho i did have the sound turned down after half an hr), the concert and the bit on tuesday when sitting in xray at blackburn hospital ..were very good .. could have done with mr dimbleby there to do the commentary ...

[US Angel]

You know the sad thing is I just got my US citizenship and one of the first things on the documents is you must have and be able to speak English
what do the two ladies that go for the final test with me have

BLOODY INTEPRETERS

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Personally, I think it is a ploy to get would - be citizens to part with their money to buy the booklet and then sit the test(I didn't check to see if there were fees involved, but I am cynical enough to suppose that there are).
I took the test and got all of the questions right......and only one of them was a calculated guess.
I do not really see their relevance to life in the UK.....it would be much more relevant to make sure these people had a good grasp of the English language, a job, somewhere to live, and the means to support themselves for at least two years without a recourse to benefits. But then that is too much to expect...isn't it??

It isn't anywhere else in the world Margaret, its only the good old UK where you can walk in and hold your hand out and have it crossed with gold, not even silver, no questions asked, try getting into the States or Australia even and see what they say, and it won't be welcome

[maxthecollie]

I've failed my Britishness test, does that mean I can claim for everything?

[cmonstanley]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Pity they don't have to do the same if they come to live in this country Eric

agreed

[cmonstanley]

i enjoyed the jubilee party party,now for the football,and then the olympics what a brilliant summer ..

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by cmonstanley

i enjoyed the jubilee party party,now for the football,and then the olympics what a brilliant summer ..

Football I though football would have been the furthest from your mind this summer what with the Jocks not taking part even in the group stages and with all the problems a Ibrox, the only thing worse is being a Rovers Fan

[Margaret Pilkington]

[quote=Mancie;996668]

Originally Posted by jaysay

there's a article on one of the papers this morning which has a photo of a classroom full of kids where 31 different languages are used as the kids first language and most of were born in this country. quote]

A "photo" of a classroom full of kids who's first language is not English .. first queery is how can anyone gauge the language of people from a photo?...and are you telling us this class (taking in mind the UK limit of 35 pupils in any classroom) has 31 pupils with different languages! .. were do you dig this rubbish up from?

The photo was labelled with the language that was the mother tongue of that child.

[jaysay]

[quote=Margaret Pilkington;996705]

Originally Posted by Mancie

The photo was labelled with the language that was the mother tongue of that child.

Ah so you saw it too Margaret, I've actually been on line to try and find it but drawn a blank

[Margaret Pilkington]

I can't find it either...was going to post a link.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Found it now.
Tried to post a link and it just gave the Mail online website rather than the picture and the exact page, but then Mancie wouldn't want to sully himself, by looking at a Mail online picture/story.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Found it now.
Tried to post a link and it just gave the Mail online website rather than the picture and the exact page, but then Mancie wouldn't want to sully himself, by looking at a Mail online picture/story.

From The primary school where 31 languages are spoken (and they're brilliant at English!) - Parentdish The emphasis in bold is mine.

A primary school has been praised for improving its results – despite the challenge of its pupils speaking an incredible 31 languages between them.

Only a small minority of the 414 pupils at English Martyrs' Catholic School in Sparkhill, Birmingham speak English as their first language.

But this rich diversity has improved its SATS results: last year 91 per cent of pupils achieved the benchmark level four or above in English, and 89 per cent in maths; an achievement the new head Evelyn Harper says is down to the value the pupils' home cultures put on learning.

Languages spoken at the school are: Afrikaans, Arabic (Iraqi), Arabic (Lingala), Arabic (Sudanese), Arabic (Yemeni), Bengali (Bangla), Bengali (Sylheti), Czech, Dutch, English, Gaelic, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Hindko, Jamaican Patois, Kachi, Lingala, Mirpuri, Nepalese, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Somali, Spanish, Sudanese, Swiss French, Tamil, Urdu and Yoruba.

The majority come from a Pakistani background and the most common first languages spoken are Urdu and Mirpuri.

To deal with the range of languages spoken, teachers are all trained to teach English as an additional language.

The school sometimes uses translators, as well as a 'buddy' system where new students are paired with one already at the school who has the same mother tongue and can help them to start picking up English words.

Head Ms Harper said: "I only came here seven weeks ago, but already I can't believe the respect that parents and children show teachers and the teaching profession that maybe isn't there from white indigenous cultures.

And here is a link to the Daily Mail article

The primary school where pupils speak 31 different languages - and one class has just a single British pupil | Mail Online

The picture shows one class where many languages are spoken. The 31 language count applies to the whole school.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I tried to put that link up purely to illustrate what John had posted.....and failed miserably.
Thanks for managing to do it Sue.