# want to move to cyprus any advice appreciated



## alannixon (Oct 11, 2008)

hi everybody
i am looking to move to cyprus probably next may with my partner and my 14 year old daughter. i wonder if anybody has any experience of driving instructors in the paphos area, i am a driving instructor in the uk, i would like to start my own business over there i will be having a fact finding trip before i jump in but would really like to know of any possible pitfalls, also has anybody any idea what driving indtructors are charging for 1 hour tuition. any help would be grateful. thank you alan


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

alannixon said:


> hi everybody
> i am looking to move to cyprus probably next may with my partner and my 14 year old daughter. i wonder if anybody has any experience of driving instructors in the paphos area, i am a driving instructor in the uk, i would like to start my own business over there i will be having a fact finding trip before i jump in but would really like to know of any possible pitfalls, also has anybody any idea what driving indtructors are charging for 1 hour tuition. any help would be grateful. thank you alan


Have you seen the standard of driving in Cyprus? Are you sure you want to do this! (just joking)


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

BabsM said:


> Have you seen the standard of driving in Cyprus? Are you sure you want to do this! (just joking)


An armoured car would a good idea. Nice and safe in that


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## monte korfi (Sep 14, 2008)

alannixon said:


> hi everybody
> i am looking to move to cyprus probably next may with my partner and my 14 year old daughter. i wonder if anybody has any experience of driving instructors in the paphos area, i am a driving instructor in the uk, i would like to start my own business over there i will be having a fact finding trip before i jump in but would really like to know of any possible pitfalls, also has anybody any idea what driving indtructors are charging for 1 hour tuition. any help would be grateful. thank you alan


I was taxing my car at the Road Transport Depot in Limassol and talking to an English lady driving instructor who told me that you are not allowed to start up a driving school unless you speak fluent Greek (or rather the Cypriot version of Greek!)


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## alannixon (Oct 11, 2008)

monte korfi said:


> I was taxing my car at the Road Transport Depot in Limassol and talking to an English lady driving instructor who told me that you are not allowed to start up a driving school unless you speak fluent Greek (or rather the Cypriot version of Greek!)


thank you for your response, looks like night scool for me.


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## monte korfi (Sep 14, 2008)

They teach Greek in schools, Cypriots speak their own version!! In fact my neighbour a Greek Cypriot went to Greece on holiday and could not understand the language........ its not easy.


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## monte korfi (Sep 14, 2008)

It did say in the papers this week that 700,000 cars will soon be on the roads out here, one for every man, woman and child on the island! Our neighbour has a son who is mentally disabled, he cannot read or write and only speaks a few words. She has taught him to "drive" and off he goes with his father in the passenger seat every day to work, no licence, no insurance and he is not the only one! 

Cars dont need airbags, the children on their laps will suffice, one woman actually saw a small child lying across the dashboard of a L2OO double cab as it merrily went on its way into Limassol. Crash helmets are compulsory as long as you hang them on your handlebars or your arm and the death toll has to be seen to be believed.

We did have an "ordinary" car but quickly traded it in for a double cab L200 so they can see us coming, we can see them coming and we are bigger than they are. 

I think my father had the right idea, he drove tanks during the war.....
Dorothy


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## alannixon (Oct 11, 2008)

monte korfi said:


> It did say in the papers this week that 700,000 cars will soon be on the roads out here, one for every man, woman and child on the island! Our neighbour has a son who is mentally disabled, he cannot read or write and only speaks a few words. She has taught him to "drive" and off he goes with his father in the passenger seat every day to work, no licence, no insurance and he is not the only one!
> 
> Cars dont need airbags, the children on their laps will suffice, one woman actually saw a small child lying across the dashboard of a L2OO double cab as it merrily went on its way into Limassol. Crash helmets are compulsory as long as you hang them on your handlebars or your arm and the death toll has to be seen to be believed.
> 
> ...


so bad idea or good idea???


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

alannixon said:


> so bad idea or good idea???


Look, rather than start up your own school, why not see if you can get a job teaching driving over here and see what you think. You may love it or hate instructing over here!

Ok realism time... Yes, the driving standards are horrendous! Yes, the rules of the road here are flagrantly broken! But hey there are far less cars on the road and driving is more laid back. I find driving here to be a pleasure...even in Nicosia.... so much better than England.


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## alannixon (Oct 11, 2008)

BabsM said:


> Look, rather than start up your own school, why not see if you can get a job teaching driving over here and see what you think. You may love it or hate instructing over here!
> 
> Ok realism time... Yes, the driving standards are horrendous! Yes, the rules of the road here are flagrantly broken! But hey there are far less cars on the road and driving is more laid back. I find driving here to be a pleasure...even in Nicosia.... so much better than England.


thank you the first positive response, do you have to speak the language to teach? and do you know of any driving schools that i could make contact with? thanks for the reply. alan


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

alannixon said:


> thank you the first positive response, do you have to speak the language to teach? and do you know of any driving schools that i could make contact with? thanks for the reply. alan


I don't know of any personally but I will have an ask around and get back to you.

English is widely spoken as a second language in Cyprus but if you only intend to teach British or English speakers then you would limit your potential clientelle. If you can learn to speak Greek, even mainland greek then it will increase your options.


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## alannixon (Oct 11, 2008)

BabsM said:


> I don't know of any personally but I will have an ask around and get back to you.
> 
> English is widely spoken as a second language in Cyprus but if you only intend to teach British or English speakers then you would limit your potential clientelle. If you can learn to speak Greek, even mainland greek then it will increase your options.


thanks, i heard that you had to speak the lingo to instruct over there could you please confirm this, thank you, alan


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

alannixon said:


> thank you the first positive response, do you have to speak the language to teach? and do you know of any driving schools that i could make contact with? thanks for the reply. alan


You may not need the language to teach if your clients are ex-pats, but you will need the colourful dialect to deal with the police, traffic wardens and other drivers over the many bumps, scrapes and crashes that you will be involved in. I've been driving in Cyprus for three years (I commute on the main highway every day) and I have NEVER had a day go by when some idiot doesn't cut me up, undertake, mount the hardshoulder, disintigrate before me through a crash barrier, weave in front of me because they're asleep/drunk/on the phone/have toddler sitting on their lap/are doing their mascara in the rear view mirror/are eating their lunch/are lighting a cigarette/are reading the morning paper/have just spilled their coffee on their lap/are reading a map. The driving in Cyprus is horrendous and the accident rate and fatality rate second only to Portugal. Hardly a day goes by without another tragic accident being reported on the news - the main problem is an inherent selfishness which makes the average car driver act as if he/she has the sole right to the road. They tail gate at breakneck speeds within inches of each other for mile after mile. They also seem genuinely surprised when there is another multiple pile up (which happens every other week in my experience). I certainly wouldn't wish a career on the roads here on anyone. Good luck...


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## monte korfi (Sep 14, 2008)

I took my Advanced test with the M4 motorway police (and passed!). It took me nearly a year to get up courage to actually get behind the wheel out here. My husband was one of the top 20 HGV1 instructors in the UK before retiring and they frightened him to death. Since his stroke I now have to do all the driving and you certainly need eyes in the back of your head and everywhere else out here....

The Heritage School is situated on the very fast Troodos road and you are supposed to go pass the school to the next righthand turning, go a short distance to a newly constructed slip road and come back onto the lefthand side of the Troodos Road. Do they do it taking the kids to school? No. They turn right into the school and recently nearly killed my next door neighbour and her passenger as she broadsided a car turning across the road into the school. The latest trick now for people wanting a short cut to the village of Polodia is to cross the double white lines and actually turn right up the slip road that cars are coming down on!!! Oh you have to see it to believe it. When I am out morning or lunch time I take great care when approaching the school in case the car in front is going to decide to turn right, if they do I have a very loud car horn and I keep my hand on it until I can get underway again, alas it falls on deaf ears.
The school totally ignores the problem and will not do anything about this inherent danger probably until there is a multiple pile up and someone is killed.
Monte


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## Aase (Jul 8, 2007)

As a parent at the Heritage school in Limassol, I feel compelled to write a reply to the last post. I am one of the parents who risk mine and my children's lives every day by turning right into the school. I do this purely because it is the safest way to get to the school. To turn right where you are supposed to, i.e. further up the Troodos Road, is much more dangerous as it is just by a bend and you cannot see if there are cars coming towards you. Then, after having turned off the road you have to go on a dirt track which is only safe if you have a 4 X 4 before you turn back onto the Troodos Road, turning off the road again a few hundred metres further down. 

The school sends frequent reminders but parents are not going to stop making an illegal right as there is no acceptable alternative. Whether the school is doing anything or not, I have no idea but I suspect they are not. There is a long discussion on this on another forum and hopefully parent pressure will force the school to come up with a safe solution. 

With regards to driving in general, I must say that it's not as bad as I thought it would be and having driven in London for years has certainly prepared me well for Cypriot drivers!


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Aase said:


> The school sends frequent reminders but parents are not going to stop making an illegal right as there is no acceptable alternative.


But if you cause an accident by making this illegal manoevre, aren't you going to be in some really serious trouble?


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> But if you cause an accident by making this illegal manoevre, aren't you going to be in some really serious trouble?


If you get caught maybe, but in Cyprus the conventional rules of the road (eg stopping at red lights, driving on the correct side of the road, obeying traffic signs) are blatantly ignored. As far as I can see little is done about it unless you have an accident. Every now or then the police will have a blitz on an offence but it has little long term impact. Almost every day there are fatal accidents somewhere on the island often involving 'loss of control' of the vehicle. 

If it were me taking my kids to school i think I would try to find another way of getting into the school, perhaps by approaching the school from another direction.


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## gloucester_geezer (May 5, 2008)

alannixon said:


> thank you the first positive response, do you have to speak the language to teach? and do you know of any driving schools that i could make contact with? thanks for the reply. alan


Hi Alan,
Not quite the same but I used to be a driving instructor in Cyprus when I was there with the RAF. I used to teach people from the bases, wives, kids etc... Very different from what you are planning to do of course, but the standard of the test is much lower than England, or it was in the 94-96 timeframe anyway, so it is much easier to get pupils through the test. If you have to learn the language then evening class will not get you to the required level quickly enough. Greek is a difficult language, I do speak some but nowhere near fluent and can't imagine ever being able to. So unless you are someone that has a natural flair for languages, and if the requirement for teaching in Cyprus is fluent language, I would re-consider. Paul


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## johnsymonds (Sep 3, 2008)

alannixon said:


> thank you the first positive response, do you have to speak the language to teach? and do you know of any driving schools that i could make contact with? thanks for the reply. alan


Yes you need to speak Greek to get any job which involves "official" positions where you are likely to come into contact with Cypriot people as customers, despite the fact that most speak English OK, particularly the young. Give the night school idea a try if you wish but there is an excellent FREE course on the internet www.kypros.org greek. I suggest you try that before spending any money on what is an extremely hard language to learn.

Also, have you thought of the impact on your 14 yr old. Local state schools are all Greek - she would be pitched in at the deep end. Alternatively, you will need to pay for private education which is not cheap.

Tough decisions ahead - Good Luck


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