SURVEY OF PUPILS’ SECOND LANGUAGE

It may be a surprise to many readers that across the Tranby Prep and Senior schools we have twenty-three languages spoken to varying degrees at home, in addition to English. These languages are:

Afrikaans Greek Portuguese Urdu

Arabic Italian Pashto Yoruba

Bengali Lithuanian Russian

Bulgarian Norwegian Shona

Chinese Panjabi Spanish

Dutch Persian Tamil

French Polish Turkish

This wonderful range of languages greatly enriches our Tranby community and provides a wealth of opportunities to learn from and appreciate different cultures, values and experiences. Some of our pupils have written a short text about their own particular language, below.

Sebastian, Year 7 - Spanish

My name is Sebastian and at my home I speak Spanish to my parents and wider family who are in South and North America. Spanish is spoken in every single country in South America except Brazil and all Central American countries speak Spanish except Belize where they speak English even though more than half of its population speaks Spanish instead. Spanish is also spoken in Equatorial Guinea in Africa. Over 500 million people across the globe speak Spanish.

Here are some facts about the Spanish language:

•Lots of South American countries speak Spanish because the person who discovered America was from Spain and was known as Christopher Columbus

•Spanish is a Romance Language derived from Vulgar Latin

•Spanish has inverted question or exclamation marks at the beginning of the sentences

•Spanish has some unique words that can’t be translated, like other languages

Although I do know some Spanish I am aware it is average. I have chosen Spanish as my language at Tranby as I would love to fully understand what both sides of my family speak since most of them don’t know much English.

Sheema, Year 13 – Urdu

At home I speak Urdu, which is the national language of Pakistan. There are four main provinces in Pakistan which all have their own languages in addition to Urdu: my family come from Punjab so I can also speak some Punjabi, but I am much more confident with Urdu. Urdu is a mix of Sanskrit, Hindi, Arabic and Persian, and it is spoken by over 170 million people. The reason that I am fluent in Urdu is because my grandma lives with me, and to communicate with her I need to speak Urdu on a daily basis. This also allows me to have conversations with my relatives when we visit Pakistan. Conversational Urdu has many similarities with Hindi due to their shared origins, meaning that in the past I have been able to talk to people that speak Hindi, and I am able to understand Bollywood movies. There are differences between Urdu and English, such as the fact that Urdu is written in the Persian-Arabic script and it is read from right to left, but due to British-colonialism, Urdu has also picked up English words. Similarly, there are English words which have been taken from Urdu, such as jungle, veranda, loot, khaki and many more. Speaking a second language has led me to develop my overall linguistic skills and knowing Urdu has not only allowed me to appreciate my own culture, but other similar cultures that are all connected by language.

Aya, Pre-Sixth – Norwegian

Norwegian is my first language; I speak it at home and with my mum’s side of the family. Norwegian has three extra letters in their alphabet: æ, ø and å but is still considered one of the easiest languages for native English speakers to learn because vocabulary is easy to pick up and the grammar follows a similar structure to English grammar. An interesting fact about Norway is that there are two official languages: Norwegian and Sámi. Not only that but there are also two different versions of Norwegian: Bokmål and Nynorsk. Bokmål is used by the vast majority, but all school children still have to learn both, national broadcaster NRK publish news in both versions of the language, and all public authorities are required to offer forms and other documentation in both variants.

Meesha, Year 12 – Pashto

At home I speak a language called Pashto which is the language some of us speak in Pakistan. Usually those who speak Pashto are Pathaan meaning that we are relatives of people in Afghanistan. The language of Pathaans and some Afghanis is Pashto and because I am from the north of Pakistan this is what I speak at home and with family friends. I have found that it isn’t as common as Pakistanis speaking Urdu, as that is the official language of Pakistan, and because of this I have made many close friends due to our unusual common language. Being bilingual is a very good skill to have as I have found that it allows me to comprehend languages better than those who aren’t familiar with knowing other languages.

Tomek, Year 10 – Polish

I speak Polish at home and when I'm with or calling relatives. Polish is the official language of Poland and no other countries, though there are several million people who speak it outside of Poland, too. Most of those are in Eastern Europe, though there are also many in the UK. In fact, according to the 2011 census, Polish is the most spoken language in England and Wales outside of English and Welsh. In total, it is the first language of about 45 million people, though over 50 million are fluent. The Polish alphabet contains 32 letters and doesn't have the letters Q, V or X. Some letters which are in English are pronounced differently. For example, W in Polish is pronounced like V in English and Polish Rs are rolled. Also, C is pronounced with a sort of 'ts' sound which doesn't exist in English. Despite learning it before English, I still somewhat struggle with grammar and spelling. That being said, I can easily have a conversation in Polish with someone about most topics.

Luca, Year 9 - Italian

At home my mum and I speak Italian. Italian is the only language spoken in Italy but is also spoken in other countries nearby. It is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 million people, Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, and Vatican City. I speak Italian fairly well and I usually know what I want to say but have trouble getting it out. I keep in contact with overseas family via text and more commonly FaceTime. When I have time I usually FaceTime roughly once every two weeks.

Tahmid, Year 10 - Bengali

At home I speak a language called Bengali. It is usually spoken in Bangladesh. It is spoken by more than 210 million people as a first or second language. The Indian national anthem was first written in Bengali. Bengali nouns are not assigned a gender. There are two literary styles in Bengali - Shadu and Chlito. I am not fully fluent at Bengali but I understand most of it, I speak it with my mum, dad, both of my grandparents and my aunt. Most weekends I talk to my grandparents who live in Bangladesh. We usually use WhatsApp to talk.

Eva, Year 8 – Dutch

At home I speak a Language called Dutch. It is commonly spoken in Belgium, Holland and Netherlands. I am from Belgium so my variation of Dutch is slightly different to others. However, Dutch is only spoken on one side of Belgium, the other side actually speaks French. Dutch is originally a West Germanic language and there are 28 million Dutch speakers worldwide. Several Dutch words actually made it into English such as anchovy, hoist, skipper and buoy. Dutch has also incorporated many foreign words. I am bilingual and I find it to be amazing. All of my family speak Dutch so at home and when I am visiting the family I don’t speak English at all. I love being able to speak another language and I find that it really helps me with learning other languages too.

Joyce, Year 13 – Arabic

My family and I are from Egypt, meaning I speak Arabic at home. It is spoken in the Middle East and North African region, and has around 20 different dialects, although the Egyptian dialect is probably the most understood amongst Arabs. It is estimated that around 313 million people speak Arabic, being the fifth most popular language in the world. Arabic had a lot of influence on other languages, so it’s always interesting to hear Arabic based words when hearing different languages. Whenever I speak to my family members back in Egypt on the phone, I speak to them in Arabic, so that I can advance upon my vocab and understanding. There are many differences between Arabic and English, the main one being a completely different alphabet, and the fact that English writes from left to right, whereas in Arabic we write from right to left. There are also many letters that exist in the Arabic alphabet, for which there is no equivalent in the English, meaning it’s a very interesting language to read and understand. Being bilingual has been useful in being able to stay in touch with my family and has also increased my appreciation for our Middle Eastern and North African culture and tradition.

Rishan, Year 13 - Tamil

At home, I speak Tamil. It is an official language spoken in Tamil Nadu, India, as well as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore, among other places. The Indian government formally recognized it as a classical language in October 2004. Tamil people belong to south India and speak the Tamil language, the first Indian language. It is the only language in Indian history to achieve this rank. Along with Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Chinese, and Arabic, Tamil is one of the world's seven classical languages. I understand Tamil fluently. However, I struggle when speaking it to family and friends. My mother speaks Tamil to me, and I reply in English but the conversation with my dad is completely in English. I talk to family in Sri Lanka and Canada once a week and have short conversations with them in Tamil. I can speak the basics to the point where I am having a normal conversation, but I sometimes struggle to pronounce the words.

Oluwajomiloju (Jomi), Year 7 - Yoruba

The language Yoruba is spoken by people from Nigeria in the western parts of Africa with over 40 million speakers today Over the years, Yoruba has had different writing systems. In the 17th century, the influence of Muslims meant the introduction of Ajami script. But today, the Latin alphabet is used for the writing. However, it is modified according to the requirements of the Yoruba language. Along with religion and spirituality, mythology, folktales, and philosophy are also very famous among the speakers and most of the culture is based around these folk tales. The Yoruba put a lot of importance on the naming of a child. They think that people spend their lives according to the name they are given so a lot of thought must be put into the matter before naming a child. They also think that twins have natural birth names. The language is also divided into five major dialect groups meaning that pronunciations may differ for different people. Above all you can learn more about the language as different resources range from books to magazines.

Cristina, Year 12 - Afrikaans

I am South African and at home I speak Afrikaans with my family and friends. Afrikaans is a West Germanic language native to South Africa and Namibia. Around 13.5% of the South African population speak Afrikaans as a first language, making it the third most common native language spoken in the country. It is estimated that worldwide, around 8.4 million people speak Afrikaans as their mother tongue. I am nearly 100% fluent in it, but when I’ve been in England for a while, it takes me a couple weeks of being at home and talking with my family to regain my confidence and my fluency. I believe I am very fortunate to be able to speak two languages and it is a great privilege.

Padra, Year 7 - Persian

At home I speak Persian. Persian is spoken in Iran, where my parents were born. The language has almost 70 million native speakers and another 50 million speak it as a second language. The word ‘Iran’ means origin and popularity. The language originated in the south west of Iran and another word for Persian is ‘Farsi’. Persian has been around for 1600 to 1700 years. I can speak fluent Persian but I can’t read it. Every summer I go to Iran and I communicate with my other related family members. I also speak online with them twice a week by WhatsApp.

Yasmin, Year 7 - Turkish

I speak a little bit of Turkish at home because my mum is originally from Turkey. She speaks Turkish, Tatarian and English. Turkish is spoken by 74 million people who live in Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye. Spelling in Turkish is straightforward as once you have learnt the way the letters are pronounced words are written exactly as they are spelt. I Skype my Turkish grandparents nearly every day and speak to them once a week. I know around 100 Turkish words and phrases as we go to Turkey every year. We visit my mum’s hometown, Eskişehir, every few years to see my relatives. My grandparents, Anane and Dede, are here now so I am practising my Turkish every day.