TORONTO — Amna’s first language was Urdu. Her friend Talyah’s was Arabic.

But the other day in the corner of a classroom, they spoke English in between giggles, while spilling marbles into a funnel.

The girls are students at Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy — a school in the Thorncliffe Park neighborhood of Toronto that was built just for kindergarten children from the nearby apartment buildings.

The school has 630 students, all between the ages of 4 and 6, and most are the children of immigrants. This makes up 24 classes of kindergartners.

They arrive speaking 40 languages but very little English, reflecting the motto of Toronto, “Diversity Our Strength.” So teachers wear cords around their necks with little laminated pictures giving basic instructions.