# moving and the language



## karenangell (Feb 6, 2011)

Just wanted to put another matter to people on this forum. For those who have already made the brave move and have settled or unsettled! How difficult is it to pick up the language. When we go my son will be seven and i do feel that could be a very tricky age. Part of me thinks should i not do it as is it fair on him. Then the other part thinks if I dont go and give it a go ill always look back and think didnt go for it and take the risk. My husband and i are only in our mid forties not too old to start a new life well almost not too old lol. Our knowledge is ok but when i say ok, we think it is until we go to spain and end up thinking we are muy mal in spanish!! its so fast!. We have learnt basics is it just a case of emersing ourselves and picking the lovely language up. I have a friend who i currently work with whos polish she didnt speak a word when she came here four years ago now she only just speaking bit better thats taken her four years I think when you are older it is more difficult. Would my son be ok generally speaking maybe in two to three years hel be ok i spose thats something if we went we would have to see. Also is it really that much warmer all year round as only been to southern and north east spain barcelona, tarragona, in the december and february month and also the summer was in malage it was boiling. Is the weather ever as dull as england?? Sori for all the questions


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

karenangell said:


> Just wanted to put another matter to people on this forum. For those who have already made the brave move and have settled or unsettled! How difficult is it to pick up the language. When we go my son will be seven and i do feel that could be a very tricky age. Part of me thinks should i not do it as is it fair on him. Then the other part thinks if I dont go and give it a go ill always look back and think didnt go for it and take the risk. My husband and i are only in our mid forties not too old to start a new life well almost not too old lol. Our knowledge is ok but when i say ok, we think it is until we go to spain and end up thinking we are muy mal in spanish!! its so fast!. We have learnt basics is it just a case of emersing ourselves and picking the lovely language up. I have a friend who i currently work with whos polish she didnt speak a word when she came here four years ago now she only just speaking bit better thats taken her four years I think when you are older it is more difficult. Would my son be ok generally speaking maybe in two to three years hel be ok i spose thats something if we went we would have to see. Also is it really that much warmer all year round as only been to southern and north east spain barcelona, tarragona, in the december and february month and also the summer was in malage it was boiling. Is the weather ever as dull as england?? Sori for all the questions


From what I have read and heard ... your son will be your translator within 12 months ... kids pick up the language very quickly.

As for you ... believe me, it IS quite possible to live in Spain without knowing much Spanish at all .. I know people who do it. However, you will often feel like an idiot in shops etc and you will miss out on a lot of the countries culture etc.

Theres lots of teachers around, lots of town halls do mass lessons.

The weather. Its been sunny and nice recently, but quite cold by our standards ... 12 degrees today


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

karenangell said:


> Just wanted to put another matter to people on this forum. For those who have already made the brave move and have settled or unsettled! How difficult is it to pick up the language. When we go my son will be seven and i do feel that could be a very tricky age. Part of me thinks should i not do it as is it fair on him. Then the other part thinks if I dont go and give it a go ill always look back and think didnt go for it and take the risk. My husband and i are only in our mid forties not too old to start a new life well almost not too old lol. Our knowledge is ok but when i say ok, we think it is until we go to spain and end up thinking we are muy mal in spanish!! its so fast!. We have learnt basics is it just a case of emersing ourselves and picking the lovely language up. I have a friend who i currently work with whos polish she didnt speak a word when she came here four years ago now she only just speaking bit better thats taken her four years I think when you are older it is more difficult. Would my son be ok generally speaking maybe in two to three years hel be ok i spose thats something if we went we would have to see. Also is it really that much warmer all year round as only been to southern and north east spain barcelona, tarragona, in the december and february month and also the summer was in malage it was boiling. Is the weather ever as dull as england?? Sori for all the questions


my girls were 7 & 4 when we came here - now 17 & nearly 14 & more Spanish than English....none of us knew a word of Spanish when we came here - & they have the added complication of having to study in Valenciano, too 

They of course simply absorbed it - they have never had any problems at all, right from day one

I started lessons within a few weeks of getting here - 4.5 hours a week + lots of self-study & trying to speak Spanish (badly at first of course) at every opportunity & kept the lessons up for a year, by which time I could pretty much hold my own - later I had some private lessons just to sort the tenses out in my head

I spent as much time as possible with my Spanish neighbours who were very patient, & 'helped' my girls with their homework - I learned a LOT of Spanish (& Valenciano) that way!!

9 years on I am reputedly the busiest teacher of Spanish to foreigners in the town - I've been teaching for about 5 years now.... 

yes, the weather DOES get as dull as in England, though it doesn't last long - atm we're on yellow alert for high winds & heavy rain over the next 24 hours - it was just starting to rain when I got in from work half an hour ago




btw - I was a fair few years past 40 when we came here


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> btw - I was a fair few years past 40 when we came here


But the big question is...

...if you were still the same age as you were when you moved, would you move there now, in this environment?

If so why? If not why not?



PS You can't hide how old you are by making it a tiny typesize


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

karenangell said:


> Just wanted to put another matter to people on this forum. For those who have already made the brave move and have settled or unsettled! How difficult is it to pick up the language. When we go my son will be seven and i do feel that could be a very tricky age. Part of me thinks should i not do it as is it fair on him. Then the other part thinks if I dont go and give it a go ill always look back and think didnt go for it and take the risk. My husband and i are only in our mid forties not too old to start a new life well almost not too old lol. Our knowledge is ok but when i say ok, we think it is until we go to spain and end up thinking we are muy mal in spanish!! its so fast!. We have learnt basics is it just a case of emersing ourselves and picking the lovely language up. I have a friend who i currently work with whos polish she didnt speak a word when she came here four years ago now she only just speaking bit better thats taken her four years I think when you are older it is more difficult. Would my son be ok generally speaking maybe in two to three years hel be ok i spose thats something if we went we would have to see. Also is it really that much warmer all year round as only been to southern and north east spain barcelona, tarragona, in the december and february month and also the summer was in malage it was boiling. Is the weather ever as dull as england?? Sori for all the questions


Your son will have good times and bad times - guaranteed! But, if he has no other learning problems and a supportive family he will almost certainly be fine by his second year of full time living in Spain.
Adults do find it more difficult usually. If you speak other languages that usually helps, but if you really want to learn then you've got to dedicate time to it. That means studying every day, or almost every day, and even so it will probably be a couple of years before you're expressing what you really want to say. Take advantage of the resources that you have round you as well; the people, the telly, internet, brochures, flyers, the radio... You're get tired and fed up, but you ave to keep plugging away at it.
Also it depends on what you want to do with the language. If you want to work in an office or just chat with the neighbours.
I think you said before that you weren't looking for work, didn't you?


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

karenangell said:


> How difficult is it to pick up the language.


That depends on so many things, not least of which how good you are at learning and what you ultimately hope to achieve.

As xabiachica expresses really well, if you want to become orally fluent in Spanish, there's no other real way apart from being there with Spanish speakers and speaking to them on a regular basis. In time you will become reasonably fluent, that may take 6 months, a year, 2 years or longer.

However, oral fluency does not automatically mean you be able to read and write grammatically correct Spanish - for that you will need Spanish lessons and in my experience quite a lot of them! 

I wouldn't say Spanish was a particularly difficult language to learn for an English speaker (at least not compared to say Chinese or Russian) but that's not to say it's easy either as Spanish grammar can quite literally be back to front to the way it would be constructed in English sometimes.

Duolingo is quite a nifty little site for getting a good grounding in Spanish and it's quite fun to use as well as being free. It's not perfect by any means but it's hard to beat for free.


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## karenangell (Feb 6, 2011)

zenkarma said:


> That depends on so many things, not least of which how good you are at learning and what you ultimately hope to achieve.
> 
> As xabiachica expresses really well, if you want to become orally fluent in Spanish, there's no other real way apart from being there with Spanish speakers and speaking to them on a regular basis. In time you will become reasonably fluent, that may take 6 months, a year, 2 years or longer.
> 
> ...


 thank you everyone for your comments thats makes me feel alot better. I know learning another language is difficult i just about speak english lol!! but that gives me a good insight into what we all have to do muchissimo gracias todos hope thats right probably not


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

zenkarma said:


> But the big question is...
> 
> ...if you were still the same age as you were when you moved, would you move there now, in this environment?
> 
> ...




in the situation we were in at the time, with an income from outside Spain via my husband , perhaps - although I'd certainly do MUCH more research than we did then, & I suspect that in fact we might not when it came down to it

in the situation we're in NOW, when *I* need to work to support myself & two teenagers (my husband died last year) - absolutely not!!


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## casanunda (Jan 7, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> 9 years on I am reputedly the busiest teacher of Spanish to foreigners in the town - I've been teaching for about 5 years now....


I suspect I've got too few posts to make PMs yet. Would you be kind enough to PM me so that we can contact you when we move in to sort out lessons?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

casanunda said:


> I suspect I've got too few posts to make PMs yet. Would you be kind enough to PM me so that we can contact you when we move in to sort out lessons?


you have enough posts now - when the system next updates your PM facility will kick in

when are you coming here?


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## casanunda (Jan 7, 2013)

We should be in and settled by mid/late April.


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> in the situation we were in at the time, with an income from outside Spain via my husband , perhaps - although I'd certainly do MUCH more research than we did then, & I suspect that in fact we might not when it came down to it
> 
> in the situation we're in NOW, when *I* need to work to support myself & two teenagers (my husband died last year) - absolutely not!!


I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your husband, that must have been a very difficult time for you.

And thank you for your honesty, I didn't mean to pry, I was genuinely interested in your reasons as I've come to hold your opinions on here in high regard as the voice of sense and practicality.

It's also reassuring to many I think that you're now well established in Spain enjoying your time there and making the most out of life in difficult times.

Very much a shining example for us all and proof positive that if you're prepared to work hard enough you can build an enjoyable life in Spain.


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## LolaH (Feb 27, 2013)

My brother moved over when he was 6/7 he's going to be 11 in April, by the end of his first year he was forgetting most of his english - kids are like sponges - my mum now sounds Spanish but with a londoner twang. As long as you can spend time with your son and support him he'll be fine - he won't know what's hit him, but he will enjoy it so much, the weather, the sea and the food, especially the culture, spending sundays on the beach(if you're near it) having lunch etc;

The weather for me is great i love it - i still refuse to believe it rains on xmas though!


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

One thing you will have to aware of (and you may have picked up from the replies) is that although your children will pick up the language they will struggle with the writing and grammar. Also they will get their English from you - so they could end up knowing two languages badly or two languages well - only you will know.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Calas felices said:


> One thing you will have to aware of (and you may have picked up from the replies) is that although your children will pick up the language they will struggle with the writing and grammar. Also they will get their English from you - so they could end up knowing two languages badly or two languages well - only you will know.


I don't understand why you think they'll struggle with the writing & the grammar :confused2:

it's ALL about the grammar here & they'll learn more grammar than any British adult I've ever met , & certainly more than they teach in the UK nowadays - in Spanish & in English....... so if they are starting young enough (under 10ish) they'll be absolutely fine

and writing in Spanish is certainly way more straightforward than English


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

LolaH said:


> My brother moved over when he was 6/7 he's going to be 11 in April, by the end of his first year he was forgetting most of his english - kids are like sponges - my mum now sounds Spanish but with a londoner twang. As long as you can spend time with your son and support him he'll be fine - he won't know what's hit him, but he will enjoy it so much, the weather, the sea and the food, especially the culture, spending sundays on the beach(if you're near it) having lunch etc;
> 
> The weather for me is great i love it - i still refuse to believe it rains on xmas though!


we've had 10 xmas days here now - it has NEVER rained on Dec 25th....

the 24th & 26th, maybe.....


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

I think you will find that there are others who disagree with you (from personal experience).


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Calas felices said:


> I think you will find that there are others who disagree with you (from personal experience).


I'm sure there will be - but that's MY personal experience as a teacher of English, Spanish & Maths, with two girls who have been the Spanish education system for 9 years


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Calas felices said:


> One thing you will have to aware of (and you may have picked up from the replies) is that although your children will pick up the language they will struggle with the writing and grammar. Also they will get their English from you - so they could end up knowing two languages badly or two languages well - only you will know.


I don't understand why you think they will struggle with the writing and grammar of Spanish? 
The writing is phonetic so it's dead easy compared with English. 
The grammar is studied, analysed and pulled to pieces ad nauseum in "lengua" at school, far more than is necessary to speak and write the language at native level. Grammar is the bulk of "lengua" classes in state schools. Perhaps your experience is in private schools?
It is true that the level of English may suffer and therefore the more serious input for English (apart from tv/ music/ reading books/ magazines) is usually up to the parents. I used to buy books which are used to supplement the UK curriculum from WH Smiths according to the Key Stage.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I don't understand why you think they will struggle with the writing and grammar of Spanish?
> The writing is phonetic so it's dead easy compared with English.
> The grammar is studied, analysed and pulled to pieces ad nauseum in "lengua" at school, far more than is necessary to speak and write the language at native level. Grammar is the bulk of "lengua" classes in state schools. Perhaps your experience is in private schools?
> It is true that the level of English may suffer and therefore the more serious input for English (apart from tv/ music/ reading books/ magazines) is usually up to the parents. I used to buy books which are used to supplement the UK curriculum from WH Smiths according to the Key Stage.


yes, what is most likely to suffer will be English vocabulary & comprehension

I give English lessons to a couple of primary age English children who have been here for most of their lives, but will be returning to the UK at the end of this school year

their parents asked me to make sure that they were 'up to speed' with their written English, so that the transition is easier

I gave them both standard reading & spelling tests (in English of course) , and discovered that they both apperared to have reading ages at least a year or two beyond their actual ages - so I initially thought that they wouldn't need any classes from me

however, when I started some comprehension exercises with them it was clear that their English vocab & comprehension was at least a year _behind _where it would be - so we're working on that - they could read the words & spell them , but didn't know what they meant!

their understanding of grammar is WAY beyond primary level, once I translate the terms into Spanish - so they will have no trouble there at all


and they can even use apostrophes correctly


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## akidadude (Mar 3, 2013)

i think children has a very good memory and grasping knowledge .....so he will not have any diificulty


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2013)

I discovered that I am a slow learner in 2000 by studying for 1 hour, 5 days a week for 4 months in a language school in País Vasco and I could't really communicate well afterwards. And so, I opted for a 7 week intensive Summer course at the Monterey Institute for International Studies in California, a school for Simultaneous Interpreters and Translators. I returned to Spain in 2003 and my new friends all commented on how well I spoke Spanish.

In the school there was much discussion on who could become a professional in these fields. The professors' consensus was that early introduction of a second language to a child was the key... they pointed out that all the good Simultaneous Interpreters they knew had an early introduction of their second language. I suspect your fears will be quickly allayed when you see how quickly your son learns his new language.

Climate / weather: it is changing here just as it is changing everywhere on the planet. Spain is in the process of desertification, with Galica, Asturias and Cantabria having been mostly spared. A map demonstrating Spain's current state is attached.

And, thanks to Zenkarma for the link to Duolingo. My Spanish spouse wishes to learn English and I found this free service to be an excellent starting place.


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