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In Focus
The Languages of Learning
Dublin schools exemplify a melting pot of cultures
By: Kate Seegraves
In a city that borrowed its name from a country across the Atlantic, it’s only fitting Dublin’s schools are a melting pot of various cultures and languages.
English as a Second Language
According to the Dublin City Schools’ English as a Second Language (ESL) Department, English language learners in the district totaled around 1,200 students (out of approximately 14,000) at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. These students ranged from kindergarten through 12th grade, came from 60 countries, including the United States, and spoke more than 50 different languages. Besides English, the most frequently spoken languages in the district are Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Korean and Chinese.
Some countries of origin include multiple languages: for example, ESL students from India may speak one or more of a dozen languages and dialects. Students from other countries who have strong English skills and who don’t participate in the ESL program are not included in this list.
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COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
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LANGUAGES SPOKEN
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Argentina
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Spanish
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Azerbaijan
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Russian
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Bangladesh
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Bangla/Bengali
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Brazil
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Portuguese
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Bulgaria
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Bulgarian
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Canada
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Arabic, Chinese, French, Tamil, Tegulu
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Chile
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Spanish
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China
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Chinese
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Colombia
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Spanish
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Congo
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French
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Cuba
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Spanish
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Dominican Republic
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Spanish
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Ecuador
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Spanish
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Egypt
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Arabic
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El Salvador
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Spanish
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Finland
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Finnish
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France
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French, Tamil
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Georgia
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Georgian
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Germany
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German
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Great Britain
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British
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Honduras
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Spanish
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India
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Bangla/Bengali, Gujarti, Hindi, Kanada, Konkani, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Tevi, Urdu
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Indonesia
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Bahasa
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Iran
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Farsi
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Iraq
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Arabic, Kurdish
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Japan
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Japanese
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Jordan
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Arabic
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Kazakstan
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Russian
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Kenya
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Korean, Somali, Swahili
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Korea
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Korea
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Laos
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Laotian
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Libya
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Arabic
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Lithuania
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Lithuanian
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Mexico
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Spanish
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Morocco
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Arabic
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Nepal
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Napalese
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Pakistan
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Urdu
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Palestine
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Arabic
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Peru
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Spanish
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Philippines
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Tagalog, Filipino
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Portugal
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Portuguese
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Puerto Rico
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Spanish
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Russia
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Russian
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Saudi Arabia
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Arabic
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Serbia
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Serbian
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Sierra Leone
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Krio
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Somalia
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Somali
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Sri Lanka
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Sinhala, Tagalog, Tamil
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Sudan
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Arabic
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Sweden
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Swedish
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Syria
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Arablic
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Taiwan
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Chinese, Taiwanese
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Thailand
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Thai
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Turkey
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Farsi, Kurdish, Turkish
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Ukraine
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Russian
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United Kingdom
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Spanish, Turkish
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United States
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Arabic, Bengali, Cambodian, Cantonese, Chindese, Farsi, Foulani, French, Greek Gujarati, Hindi, Hapanese, Korean, Kurdish, Malayalam, Marathi, Mayatey, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Togo, Urdu, Vietnamese
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Uzbetistan
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Russian
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Venezuela
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Spanish
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Vietnam
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Vietnamese
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Culture Clubs
Dublin’s Coffman, Jerome and Scioto High Schools each have multiple culture and language clubs with many student participants. These include:
German Club
Japanese Club
French Club
Spanish Club
Multicultural Alliance
Multicultural Club
View other In Focus articles
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