Job Discussion Forums

[peacenik]

Hi all, I'm mostly a newbie, though I've been reading for a while and posted some time ago when I was considering Thailand.

I'm now considering Spain and I'm wondering if there are any members here who live in Spain who have a kid or kids.

My wife and I and our 11-year old son are considering Spain, specifically Barcelona, I am working on my TESOL certificate, which I'll have before we go, my wife will likely do a TEFL program in Spain so that she can teach part time as well, and our son will need to attend a school.

My wife and I are not fluent in Spanish, though we've had some instruction and are very interested in the whole family learning while we're there.

So, I'd be very grateful for information and advice on anything useful concerning this idea of ours.

Some questions include:

Is it even possible to make enough money to afford to do this?

What's the best way to make enough money?

What kind of school options are there for our son?

Are there any common conflict issues between Spanish kids and American kids?

What about this law that tightened up in Jan. 08 that says you can only spend 90 days in the country and then have to leave the entire EU for 60 days? Would that just be a logistical nightmare for us, not to mention a considerable financial drain from all the travel?

I'm sure there's other information I should know, but I'll stop there for now.

Thanks in advance for any assistance anyone cares to offer!

[spiral78]

Wow.

Well, first of all, unless you have citizenship from an EU member country in addition to your US citizenship (which I presume you have due to the location noted on your post)...you will not be eligible for legal work permits for Spain.

You could read thru some earlier threads on this topic for more info.

Further, two newbie level teachers living together can make enough money to make ends meet - but most definitely not to pay for child care, schooling, and etc. Not in Europe...

I think if Spanish language is a draw for you, you might consider someplace in Latin America where you can get a legal work permit.

Wages are not high at the newbie level anywhere except in some parts of Asia...

YOu can't expect to save up, pay back debts at home, pay for any major expense (car, flat, etc)...

[peacenik]

Thanks, spiral78. Frankly, I was kinda thinking that there would be some pretty serious problems with this idea of ours.

As for this:

[jr1965]

Hi,
I�m an American married to a Spanish guy. We have a 12 year old daughter and moved to Madrid when she was 8. We lived there for 3 years. For the time being, we�re back in California (where I am from), but we�ve definitely lived the day to day with kids in a large Spanish city so perhaps I can answer some of your questions.

My wife and I and our 11-year old son are considering Spain, specifically Barcelona, I am working on my TESOL certificate, which I'll have before we go, my wife will likely do a TEFL program in Spain so that she can teach part time as well, and our son will need to attend a school.
Do either of you have an EU passport or Spanish residency? Without these, you will not be able to work legally in Spain, unless you are sponsored by the school you teach at (which is unlikely for many Americans). Will you be able to find some kind of work anyway? Probably, but it most likely will not pay enough to support you and your wife (who will be doing a TEFL course while you�re there) and to pay for your son�s schooling, rent, food, etc. � unless, of course, you bring some money with you.

Which makes me wonder: How will you find a place to live in Barcelona? Do you have someone who can help you there, especially given that you do not speak Spanish well?

My wife and I are not fluent in Spanish, though we've had some instruction and are very interested in the whole family learning while we're there.

So, I'd be very grateful for information and advice on anything useful concerning this idea of ours.

Some questions include:

Is it even possible to make enough money to afford to do this? See my comment above.

What's the best way to make enough money?
The reality is that teaching English in Spain (particularly for newbies) isn�t really a great way to make money. Obviously, people who are better established, have residency or a legal work permit, advanced degrees, connections, and fluency in Spanish (and perhaps a 3rd lang) do stand a chance at doing well in this field.

What kind of school options are there for our son?
There are lots of options (esp in cities like Madrid and Barcelona), but the best are going to cost you a minimum of 500 - 700 euros a month. (We had our daughter in one of these schools.) Public schools are a possibility, perhaps, but in Madrid anyway, like most everywhere in the world, they are very hit or miss. Keep in mind, too, that in a public school your son�s instruction and all of your interaction with teachers and administration will be in Spanish. Will you be able to deal with that?

If your son doesn�t speak any Spanish, I would strongly urge you to enroll him in some kind of bilingual (English-Spanish) school where he will be able to fall back on his native lang a bit at first to help him deal with everything (new teachers, kids, learning environment, curriculum, etc). However, at the middle-school level, even in a bilingual school, certain courses are going to be taught only in Spanish (e.g., mathematics, lengua, social studies). Be prepared for the fact that in these classes his performance will drop at first (and perhaps for a while) until his language skills improve (which will take a while). How will you help him cope with that?

Are there any common conflict issues between Spanish kids and American kids?
Not really. In general, Spanish kids are lovely. However, your son may be singled out as different if he is in a school environment where he cannot communicate, especially at first. You know how kids can be, right? It�s the same everywhere.

What about this law that tightened up in Jan. 08 that says you can only spend 90 days in the country and then have to leave the entire EU for 60 days? Would that just be a logistical nightmare for us, not to mention a considerable financial drain from all the travel?
Sounds like it to me. And how would this work with your son�s schooling? He couldn�t just miss school for several weeks�

I'm sure there's other information I should know, but I'll stop there for now. Another important thing to think about: what will you do for health insurance?

Thanks in advance for any assistance anyone cares to offer!
Well, Peacenik, I feel like I�ve asked some hard questions and perhaps even discouraged you here. Apologies if it sounds this way. I�m just trying to paint a realistic picture of what moving to and living in a large Spanish city will be like for you, and more importantly, for your son. It could be a wonderful, life-changing experience, but you will not be on vacation. You know what I mean? Take care and good luck.

JR

[peacenik]

Thanks, JR.

I wasn't at all thinking of it being like a vacation, but the challenges and barriers, especially this: