Controlling a primary school class can be testing for teachers at the best of times.

So spare a thought for those at the English Martyrs’ Catholic School in Birmingham where the 414 pupils speak an incredible 31 languages between them.

As this picture shows, children at the school who speak English as their first language are in a tiny minority. Figures obtained by the Birmingham Mail revealed that more than 120 languages spoken across the city's schools.

Despite being a Catholic school, the majority of pupils at English Martyrs hail from a Pakistani background, with Urdu/Mirpuri the most common dialect spoken by youngsters in the home.

All teaching staff specialise in teaching English as an additional language and the school also uses translators.

He said: 'We have had many children who have come in with no English whatsoever, and the first thing we do is pair them with other children, as that is the best way for the language to be introduced to them.

'We also use pictures, books and the internet.

'But I find a child having a friend and a confidante is the easiest way for them to pick up words and language which is most important for their day-to-day life at school.'

This can include talking to the teachers and knowing the word for 'sir', 'miss', 'please' and 'thank you', through to words for objects and nouns.

Latest Government figures show pupils who speak English as their first language are now in the minority at more than a quarter of Birmingham schools.

Department for Education records showed a majority of students at 117 of the city's 430 primary and secondary schools listed a different language as their mother tongue.

English Martyrs, which recently celebrated its centenary, has moved from having a mainly Irish Catholic roll from the 1950s and 60s through to a majority of pupils from a Pakistani background today.

She 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.

'Parents really care for their children, they want them to do better and for that reason our results are very, very high.'

【新闻快讯】课堂上的相互交流应该是日常教学的一部分，不过这对于英国伯明翰一所天主教英文小学来说可能有点难。因为该校的学生们多来自不同的国家，形同“联合国”，所讲的语言也多达31种，包括波兰语、罗马尼亚语、泰米尔语以及阿拉伯语等等。只有少数学生的语言为英语。

这所学校共有414名学生，不过学生们的母语却多达31种。其中具有巴基斯坦背景的学生所占的比例，学生们使用最多的语言为乌尔都语。

尽管90%的学生在SAT（学术能力评估测试）考试中英语都取得了比较不错的成绩，但是学生们的不同文化和语言背景，仍然给该校的老师带来了较大的压力和挑战。老师们平时使用英语授课，为了应对一些情况，该校还是聘请了一些翻译，同时也建立了“一帮一”的体系，当有新生入学时，通常由和该学校讲相同语言的学生来帮忙。

该市所有的学校中，学生们共讲120种语言。伯明翰的官方数据还指出，大概只有四分之一的学生的母语为英语。伯明翰全市430所中小学中，有117所学校的大多数都不以英语为母语。