English second language to 40% of pupils in London

[Cumar-Labasuul]

More than 40 per cent of state school children in London speak English as a second language, research shows.

In total, 233 languages are spoken in the capital's schools by 450,000 pupils, with Bengali, Urdu and Somali the most widely spoken behind English.

The percentage of children who are bilingual has increased in 10 years, from 33 per cent in 1998 to 41 per cent in 2008.

The report, published by the Institute of Education and CILT, the National Centre for Languages, shows 59 per cent of pupils speak English as a first language. Panjabi, Gujarati, Arabic, Turkish, Tamil, Yoruba and French are also in the top 10.

Teresa Tinsley, director of communications for CILT, said: "All the major languages of the world are represented in London, including most of those with more than 10million speakers worldwide, yet most of us would be hard-pressed to name more than a few dozen. Headteachers know schools are like football teams, they are very multicultural."

Almost all the languages heard in schools have more speakers now than 10 years ago.

There are 12 languages spoken by more than 10,000 pupils, compared with eight in 1998. Gujarati, Panjabi, Greek and Chinese are the only four languages to have declined while the numbers of pupils speaking Somali has increased the most, from 8,000 to 27,000, making it the third most widely spoken language among London schoolchildren.
In Tower Hamlets almost 75 per cent of schoolchildren speak English as a second language - the highest percentage of any borough. More than 28,000 pupils speak EU languages other than French, Portuguese and Spanish, while more than 19,000 speak Arabic.

Ms Tinsley said the large number of languages spoken could benefit the economy and boost tourism.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... -pupils.do

[Cumar-Labasuul]

Looking at the top 3 (1. Bengali, 2. Urdu, 3. Somali) this just goes to show that there were a major increase in the number of somali immigrants to the UK in the last decade, mostly from EU countries. But the Bengali and Urdu case just shows that they don't integrate into society that well, especially bengali community in tower hamlets.

[BlackVelvet]

Looking at the top 3 (1. Bengali, 2. Urdu, 3. Somali) this just goes to show that there were a major increase in the number of somali immigrants to the UK in the last decade, mostly from EU countries. But the Bengali and Urdu case just shows that they don't integrate into society that well, especially bengali community in tower hamlets.

Isn't your first language your mother tongue?

I think you are being unfair to the Bengalis.

[Cumar-Labasuul]

Looking at the top 3 (1. Bengali, 2. Urdu, 3. Somali) this just goes to show that there were a major increase in the number of somali immigrants to the UK in the last decade, mostly from EU countries. But the Bengali and Urdu case just shows that they don't integrate into society that well, especially bengali community in tower hamlets.

Isn't your first language your mother tongue?

I think you are being unfair to the Bengalis.

Depends how you look at it e.g. majority of bengali pupils are third generation so I would assume that their first language would be english, likewise my first language is english, even though I wasn't born in the UK, but I spent my whole life here.
But seriously, the older bengali, mostly the women, they cannot speak a word of english, even though they have lived here longer than both of us put together. I think this is too with their lifestyle, for instance I have bengali neighbours and I have only seen the mother once and that was when they moved in.

[abdikarim86]

Bristol is full of "dutch" people and quite few "scandinavians" too

but isn't this exxagerating a bit?
I mean mother tongue and first language is different,

somali might be a mother tongue but english
is the first language to most somali kids around here.

[BlackVelvet]

You lot are different then.

When I get that question in forms I always put Somali as my first language. Because technically speaking I'm sure my first word was 'Hooyo' or ' Aabo' pretty sure it wasn't English.

[abdikarim86]

You lot are different then.

When I get that question in forms I always put Somali as my first language. Because technically speaking I'm sure my first word was 'Hooyo' or ' Aabo' pretty sure it wasn't English.

first language means the language you are most fluent in

the language you're most fluent in is usually your mother tongue
but with people moving around more, it's not always the case anymore.

[Spursman]

first language somali second english iyo arabic waa sidaas

[BlackVelvet]

Abdi aha now Cumar's argument makes sense if you define it like that.

[*Nobleman*]

More like these kid are SAL- somali as an additional language. Shit.... Its basically a battle to get the youngers in my family to speak more somali and would def argue their first language is english.

[ArcadeFire]

Kuwaas almost always import their wives from back home, never take them to college, not even enough English for the supermarket Have you noticed the men do the shopping alone, or the wife trails behind him with the bags?

[Navy9]

BV,

Even more specific definition can be made: mother language, native language, first language. In my case, my mother language is Somali, native language is Arabic and first language is English!

[Hyperactive]

i guess first language is what academically you express your self.
in my case recently, i developed when im in trouble and both parents present, i turn to my dad speak my broken somali to soften the situation and then turn and translate it to my mother.

i dont have fist language at all.

[ciyaal_warta]

first language is the language that u speak whn u angry and u wana curse pple out

[Hyperactive]

first language is the language that u speak whn u angry and u wana curse pple out

then it's badawi ko7, like this : يلعن إبليسك، شنوووو هذا

i dont even get upset, no one takes me serious.lol