Yesterday I volunteered with my daughters school. There was one little boy who seemed very withdrawn and almost a bit sad. I thought he might be Spanish because of his name.
During the picnic I said something to my dd in Spanish, not really thinking. I can only speak a little but it's very much part of our family life as my dad was Peruvian so a lot of the little expressions of love that I use are Spanish. This little boys eyes lit up and he came over and started chatting away in very fast Andalusian. I had to admit that I didn't speak very much and also I felt it might not be appropriate to the other kids.
I feel so sad that he feels such a disconnect to the English language. When other kids speak to him he looks like he either understanding or isn't interested. I don't know what the answer is as it's a very multicultural (hate that phrase) area and I'm sure they have things in place to help kids. Now I think about it I remember seeing his mum begging the head for her ds to be put in the class with the other Spanish kids but the head said something about it not helping them to learn English. I have no experience of education so I don't know how it works.
Funnily enough, two kids have just arrived from another country on the other side of the world and they seem to be fitting in quite well, even though they don't speak hardly any English. I guess it's child dependent.