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It may be hard to imagine but the 20 or so pupils in the French lesson are bursting to ask their teacher a question. After all, languages are boring and that is why so many pupils have given them up.
Their keenness could have something to do with the identity of the teacher - the French international footballer Bacary Sagna.
The Arsenal right-back is taking part in an innovative project to liven up language teaching for thousands of children: pupils spend 45 minutes in the classroom, followed by 45 minutes trying to outfox Sagna on the football field.
It would be hard to imagine any circumstances in which the phrase "it's a game of two halves" could be more apt.
Welcome to the world of Arsenal's "double club".
Arsenal has among the largest array of international talent of any club in the league - with its first-team squad speaking about 16 different languages between them.
Their striker Cesc Fabregas is helping pupils with their Spanish and the manager, Arsene Wenger, is producing a DVD on learning German.
Julie Stoker, a language teacher working full-time with Arsenal developing the materials to be used in the classroom, says the scheme offers one of the best chances of halting the decline in languages take-up at GCSE.
In 2000, 83 per cent of pupils took a GCSE in a modern foreign language.
Last year, largely as a result of the Government's decision to make the subject voluntary for 14 to 16-year-olds, only 47 per cent did.
"That's a huge problem at the moment," she said.
"Here we can harness their love of the game of football to develop a love of languages."
The "double club" formula has been snapped up by 74 secondary schools in the South-east and reaches 1,800 pupils.
The schools, which offer six-week courses to 11 to 14-year-olds, are mainly in London - Camden and Islington in particular - but include some in Kent.
At the end of the six-week course, pupils will be invited to play on the hallowed turf of the club's Emirates stadium in a schools' football competition - with a difference.
The refereeing will be in French and the players will be expected to use a foreign language as they shout instructions at each other during the game.
Haverstock Hill comprehensive in Camden, north London, is one of the first schools to pioneer the scheme - and Sagna is taking to his new role as a French teacher like a duck to water.
"I'm very happy to teach them to speak French," he said after a lesson.
"Today I will help them. Tomorrow they will be able to speak it for themselves. Also, my English is not very good and it is a good way for me to learn to mix with them."
The lesson - for 11- and 12-year-olds who have only started learning French this term - largely consisted of holding up cards of the various Arsenal players with the pupils shouting back their numbers and their country of origin in French.
Each pupil has been given a lesson booklet with football-related language exercises - such as creating your own "dream team" in a foreign language.
Older pupils will be asked why they have picked them.
Asa Gregory, 11, said: "I've never met a player or had one standing in front of me. We have lots of fun learning and we play football."
Other Premier League clubs are currently being approached to adopt similar schemes.
- INDEPENDENT
