Welcome to your first languages lesson. Over the next few weeks you will find out how many languages are already around you — at home, in this room, around the school and on the signs you pass on the road — and you will try saying words in some of them.

How many languages can this class already say a word in, even a little? Put your hand up for every language you can say one word of, including ones from home. We will count them together!

We will go along each row together on the board. Listen carefully, then say each greeting back as a class. After the first row, tell us which two sounded almost the same. Then we meet the next greetings the same way, a little faster.

A short spoken clip will play. Options will appear on the board. We listen twice with hands down the first time. On the second play, point or put your hand up when we ask which language you heard.

You each get a bingo card. Cards are all different, so not everyone has every greeting. Listen for the greeting and cross off the one that matches the sounds you hear, not only the English meaning. Worked example: if you hear Bonjour and it is on your card, cross off Bonjour. When every greeting on your card is crossed off, stand and shout Bingo! Then we can play a second round if you want.

After today you can:

• Name how many languages this class already holds, using our tally from the start
• Listen to a short greeting and take a careful guess at which language it is
• Notice that people greet each other in more than one way, and that Irish place-name signs deliberately speak twice

Next time we look at the languages already waiting around the school.