The town where pupils speak 150 different languages

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The town where pupils speak 150 different languages

Schools in just one town are having to cope with pupils who speak 150 different languages, a survey has found.

They range from the Ghanaian dialect of Akan, through the African language of Chichewa and the ancient Aztec tongue of Nahuatl to the Indian language of Telugu.

This is as well as the more common foreign languages of Urdu, Punjabi and Polish.

The survey in Reading, Berkshire, shows how schools are being put under mounting pressure by the rising levels of pupils who do not speak English as their first language.

In a bid to ease the burden, Reading Borough Council, is offering discounted English lessons for both children and adults.

The *aim is to get children, whose command of English is often much better, to help their families learn it.

Lesley Reilly, head of adult learning at the authority, said: ‘Our aim is to involve stakeholders in community groups across the town to encourage people to join the English classes.

'Our *target is to reach more men, unemployed people, learners recently arrived in Reading and parents of primary pupils.’

The classes are being run as part of English for Speakers of Other Languages, a government initiative to encourage people to integrate in the community.

The Government described the number of languages and dialects spoken by pupils in Reading as 'extraordinary' and conceded that it would place schools under extra pressure.

The figures suggest that language barriers are making it increasingly difficult for teachers to communicate with their pupils.

It was revealed in 2005 that pupils at Woodside High School in Tottenham, north London, spoke as many as 58 languages, with many arriving at the comprehensive unable to speak any English.

Pupils at a primary school in the West Midlands were found to speak 33 different languages in 2003.

Conservative MP Philip Davies said: 'It's very worrying and Labour's lax immigration policies are a huge factor in this.

'It is also a result of political correctness. We haven't really made people integrate properly into British society.’


People can make comments after articles on the internet. The majority after this one were similar to the following:
  • The answer is not more English lessons, it's cut immigration now! Talk about backwards logic - this country seems to specialise in that nowadays....
  • Immigrant children who can not speak English properly should have English lessons paid for by their parents. If the parents are claiming benefit, the benefit should be reduced to pay for the English lessons.
  • The time taken to teach these children basic English takes the teacher's time away from British children who want to learn, they will be held back and therefore fail to progress, thus becoming bored and disillusioned. This was happening in areas of London ten years ago, we experienced it with our older children's school, the problem is that the immigrant children move on to accommodation in other areas, then a new lot comes in, and the process begins again, so it never goes away. As others have said, spoken and written English should be a criteria for entry to this country. It is a basic skill which should be learnt before starting school.
    This is one of the reasons why so many people have removed their children from the state system, and are educating them privately, who can *blame them.
  • Its plain and simple if foreigners want to come and live in Britain then they should embrace our culture and go and learn English. Too much emphasis is put on the British to live in a multicultural society through the choice of the people who govern the country.
    The government have got it wrong again and they are putting the needs of others before their own society. English is spoken all over the world and is the most common language. If all foreigners staying in Britain learned English, it would be better for society as a whole. I think the government needs to take a good look at this and stop pandering to people who may never have even paid taxes here.

So I decided to add a comment of my own:

I agree that immigrants should learn the language of their adopted country as well as integrate into the culture and way of life. Here in Spain there are around a million English people - the vast majority think that they still live in England but with much better weather.

They don't bother to learn Spanish, only associate with other English people and continue living the English lifestyle. They come here for a better quality of life but all they do is complain, just like they do at home. En masse, they can completely destroy the character of a town.

From what I see, new arrivals make much more effort to integrate than the English do when they are abroad.

What's the situation like in Spain? Is immigration a burden on the education system? Do you know any foreign families? Have they integrated into Spanish society?

See *aim v target

Spotlight on vocabulary:

*to blame

to say or think that someone or something did something wrong or is responsible for something bad happening
  • Don't blame me if you are late. I told you to hurry up an hour ago.
  • She blamed her teacher for her bad results in the exam. (blame sb for sth)
  • She blamed her bad results on her teacher. (blame sth on sb)
  • The government is to blame for the high unemployment rate. (they are the reason for such a high rate)
  • I can't blame you for leaving early. (= I understand why) The party was no fun at all.
  • I don't blame you for getting angry - he behaved dreadfully. (I understand why)
Blame is also an uncountable noun.
  • He tried to put the blame for the mistake on his colleague. (but it was really his fault)
  • I'll take the blame if anything goes wrong. (I'll say it was my fault)

 





 

Source: You Tube (theatre2film) Key Words: Hayworth Blame Mame

Put the Blame on Mame - Rita Hayworth

When they had the earthquake in San Francisco 
Back in nineteen-six 
They said that Mother Nature 
Was up to her old tricks 
That's the story that went around 
But here's the real low-down 
Put the blame on Mame, boys 
Put the blame on Mame 
One night she started to shim and shake 
That brought on the Frisco quake 
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys 
Put the blame on Mame 

They once had a shootin' up in the Klondike 
When they got Dan McGrew 
Folks were putting the blame on 
The lady known as Lou 
That's the story that went around 
But here's the real low-down 
Put the blame on Mame, boys 
Put the blame on Mame 
Mame did a dance called the hoochy-coo 
That's the thing that slew McGrew 
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys 
Put the blame on Mame

When you were a child, did you ever get the blame for something you didn't do? 

Have you ever put the blame on someone else? 

Who is to blame for some of society's problems?

Try this Kahoot about vocabulary from the text.

Comments

Marta said…
I'm tired to listen people putting the blame for the shortage on the immigration.When there's no public services for everybody (housing, nurserys,...), people usually think that immigrants snatch them.
Nobody thinks in a different way by blaming the real guilty: politicians who administer the public services.
Nowadays, politics in Europe try to reduce the social welfare state. In Spain we could check the worsening of the public health and the education system, day after day.
We have to protest against this process and not against people who have much more needs as we have.
Sunday, 28 February, 2010
Graham said…
I'm TIRED OF LISTENING TO people putting the blame for SHORTAGES on IMMIGRATION. When there's no public services for everybody (housing, NURSERIES,...), people usually think that immigrants snatch (=GRAB) them.
Nobody thinks in a different way by blaming THOSE WHO ARE REALLY GUILTY: politicians who administer PUBLIC services.

Nowadays, POLITICIANS in Europe ARE TRYING to reduce the social welfare state. In Spain we CAN OBSERVE the worsening of the public health and education SYSTEMS, day after day.

We have to protest against this DETERIORATION and not against people who have MANY MORE NEEDS THAN we have.


I am also sure that many of those who blame immigrants for society's ills, are quite happy to hire them for cheap labour.

In the UK, Polish plumbers have a goo reputation because they are much more reliable and cheaper than their British counterparts.

I think non-native youngsters often leave the education system with a better level of English than the average British child.

Having said all that, I do think that there has to be some sort of controls applied to immigration. We can't just have an open door policy.

But I agree with you that immigrants are an easy target to put the blame on.
Monday, 01 March, 2010
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