move to another country for children to improve their language skills

[imolina]

If you had the chance, would you move to another country for a year so your children could improve on another language?

I am from Colombia, but live in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) , my husband is Indian. Children are 3 and 6 y.o and speak English at school and in regular basis as this is the most spoken language here, they learn mandatory Arabic at school (actually they don’t learn much) and speak Spanish with me. I would really like them to learn proper Spanish, but I don’t know if that is feasible as they only speak Spanish to me, there are not many Spanish speaker kids here and the few ones prefer to speak in English.

Anyways, we are planning to move back to Canada (we are Canadian citizens) in around 5 years once we FIRE, but before I was thinking that maybe I should move one year with them to a Spanish Speaking country so they can improve their Spanish. Colombia is not an option as their academic year is different and you don’t see foreigners in the local schools, foreigners/expats go to international English schools which will defeat the purpose.
So, I was thinking Spain would be an option, as we can apply for non-lucrative visa for 1 year , the children can enroll for free in the local schools (only Spanish), and hopefully be more fluent, of course the problem is that the Spanish from Spain is different from Latin America, but it is Spanish. Also, I like Spain a lot since I always wanted to live in Europe temporary, also Spain is perfect to travel through Europe during the school breaks. My husband would probably stay in the UAE and travel to visit us from time to time. Any country in Latin America would be too far for my husband to come to see us.

Do you think it is a good idea?. Any thoughts?

[expatartist]

Hi Imolina, that sounds like it could be beneficial for your children to be immersed in Spanish while they can still pick it up easily. They'll already have a good foundation thanks to you. But instead of moving for a whole year and not seeing much of their dad, why not go for summer or winter (cheaper, fewer tourists, colder) holidays instead? That way you could also choose different cities: Seville one year, Madrid or Barcelona the next.

[imolina]

yes, we could travel during the breaks, but they cannot be enrolled in the school and be immersed in the language with other children/

[expatartist]

True, but there are many summer camps in Spain, focused on learning Spanish. It wouldn't be quite the same cultural immersion as living there for a year. But would help keep your children's and your relationship with your husband and life more consistent throughout those 5 years. I hope you don't find this assumption offensive, but I've worked in international education for a decade and see the strains the back-and-forth lifestyle can put on relationships. As it did on mine.

[formerlydivorcedmom]

One thing to consider is that while your children speak Spanish with you, it is likely that they do not know how to read or write it.  This will make it quite difficult for them (at least your oldest) to enroll in a school that is taught solely in Spanish.  I have a friend who lived in Italy for a long time; her children were fluent in speaking both English and Italian, but when they moved back to Canada they suffered in school because they could barely read in English.

If you choose to do summer programs/long visits for now, are there schools or programs in Canada that would help you to increase your children's fluency in Spanish (instead of French) when you get there?  Expat groups? 

[FireHiker]

Does your intended destination in Canada have any schools with Spanish immersion programs? I'm in Southern California and there are several around where we are. Personally though, if I had the opportunity to live in a Spanish speaking country for a year, I'd do it. We have friends who are Dutch who lived here for a couple years. They've moved back to Europe now but their kids are fluent in English now.

[Hula Hoop]

My kids are bilingual in Italian and English.  I speak English with them, we live in Italy and they go to Italian public school.  I can totally understand what you are saying about putting the kids in Spanish school for a while to improve their Spanish.  I've had similar thoughts about improving my kids' English.  My kids both speak English very well, the older one reads a ton in English but writing is a problem. 

Anyway, other options you might consider -especially with a language as common as Spanish - is sending the kids to Spanish school in the UAE or other country.  I know that there are Italian schools throughout the world (even in Spain) so surely there must be Spanish or Spanish language schools in non-Spanish speaking countries.

Another option would be to take the kids to Colombia to visit family and friends during summers (assuming that you don't work in a traditional job) and maybe having them do some summer classes while there.  Or sending your kids for a high school exchange in a Spanish speaking country when they are older.

[imolina]

unfortunately, there are not Spanish schools here, even in Canada, there none that I am aware of. Sending them in the future for exchange it will mean to pay a lot of money, and if we are FIREd we wont be able to afford it. I work full time currently so I cannot spend long periods of time travelling, only for 4 short weeks. That's why the plan to move to Spain for a year once I RE, I am planning to retire sooner, DH will continue working on his business in UAE.

[NextTime]

I really think a 3 and 6 year-old need their daddy much more than the language at this point. And they are already learning Spanish through you. Besides, you said you are going to FIRE to Canada in 5 years. Is it safe to assume you still have family in Colombia that you can visit? I think 2 month summer breaks in Colombia throughout their childhood would probably do them more good than a year in Spain. And hiring a private tutor while you are there shouldn't be all that expensive.

Btw, my wife is also from Colombia. Viva los Cafeteros!

[Dicey]

You're willing to split up your family so your kids can be acquire another language that they may or may not use? Seriously? This might be a good time to examine your motives.

[Hula Hoop]

You're willing to split up your family so your kids can be acquire another language that they may or may not use? Seriously? This might be a good time to examine your motives.

I agree that family should come first in this situation and the kids having their dad around is much more important than them acquiring Spanish.

[chouchouu]

I think it's a great idea however you should also consider regular holidays in a Spanish speaking country so they can keep it up. When you move back to Canada I'd also try and engage with Spanish speaking communities.

My mum used to send us back to Thailand every summer which really helped our language skills and my sister later went there on exchange. I went to Japan as well and I think exchange is a good idea. We went with ief bit I would suggest going with rotary as they were much more organised and their students had a better experience.

[Plugging Along]

Do you where in Canada you plan to move back to? My kids are in a Spanish immersion school in Canada.  It is considered an alternative program and is only offere at three schools In elementary.   We unfortunately will most likely be taking them out of the program next year but we lived the fact they could speak Spanish so well, even though we don’t. 

To try and keep their Spanish up, we will try to Spanish speaking countries even for a week or two in the summers.  We will be going to,Colombia this summer.  I think even that will help. 

[imolina]

You're willing to split up your family so your kids can be acquire another language that they may or may not use? Seriously? This might be a good time to examine your motives.

I agree that family should come first in this situation and the kids having their dad around is much more important than them acquiring Spanish.

Actually, we are planning to retire in Canada in about 5 years, but my husband may stay back in UAE for a few years more to close some business, so we are not planning to split the family just to learn the language!. Being in Spain, would actually be closer to him to see us than living in Canada.

[imolina]

Do you where in Canada you plan to move back to? My kids are in a Spanish immersion school in Canada.  It is considered an alternative program and is only offere at three schools In elementary.   We unfortunately will most likely be taking them out of the program next year but we lived the fact they could speak Spanish so well, even though we don’t. 

To try and keep their Spanish up, we will try to Spanish speaking countries even for a week or two in the summers.  We will be going to,Colombia this summer.  I think even that will help.

I think they have Spanish immersion schools in Alberta, but we are planning to go to Ontario.

[imolina]

I really think a 3 and 6 year-old need their daddy much more than the language at this point. And they are already learning Spanish through you. Besides, you said you are going to FIRE to Canada in 5 years. Is it safe to assume you still have family in Colombia that you can visit? I think 2 month summer breaks in Colombia throughout their childhood would probably do them more good than a year in Spain. And hiring a private tutor while you are there shouldn't be all that expensive.

Btw, my wife is also from Colombia. Viva los Cafeteros!

That's a good plan. I think once I am retired from work in a couple of years, I will take them there for the summer break and enroll them in a summer school. Hopefully, that would help.

[Plugging Along]

Do you where in Canada you plan to move back to? My kids are in a Spanish immersion school in Canada.  It is considered an alternative program and is only offere at three schools In elementary.   We unfortunately will most likely be taking them out of the program next year but we lived the fact they could speak Spanish so well, even though we don’t. 

To try and keep their Spanish up, we will try to Spanish speaking countries even for a week or two in the summers.  We will be going to,Colombia this summer.  I think even that will help.

Yes, we are in Alberta. 
I think they have Spanish immersion schools in Alberta, but we are planning to go to Ontario.

[MayDay]

Not every culture worries about parents being geographically separated.

I think it sounds like a great idea. If I didn't have a kid with special needs, I'd consider it for my kids. I hope my DD will look at studying abroad in high school, or living with my sister (who lives in Mexico) for a summer, or year. I don't think extended vacations are the same asliving somewhere.

[NextTime]

Not every culture worries about parents being geographically separated.

True. But Colombians (or should I say most), and most Hispanic cultures, are VERY family oriented. Watching them say goodbye after a visit is like being at a funeral.

[Tweet]

I am Brazilian, grew up in NJ, currently live in Idaho with my 2 yr old daughter and my American husband.
I am currently 32, and have lived in the states since I was 5. I think what some people are not understanding is that language is as much of my culture and as important to me as it is being able to be physically close to my family back in Brazil. I think it would be an injustice to my child for her not to be able to communicate with our own family as she grows up, even if she only sees them once a year.
It has been difficult to be her only resource for her growing up bilingual with English being her obvious dominant language, but wanting her to be fully capable in Portuguese as well.
Seeing as how I grew up with full immersion Portuguese in my own home and a strong Brazilian community in the area, I still struggled with writing it because I had no formal training. Speaking and reading came much easier. Given that perspective, I’m aiming to give my child a better foundation than my parents could in that aspect, since they were doing all they could as immigrants financially at the time.
My plan is to return to Brazil every year, at least for one month to help with language immersion. This will be our second year bringing her. Last year we went for 2 weeks, and this week we will go for 3 weeks. Due to work schedules, my husband will not be coming with us. Will it be hard to be away for that long? Absolutely. But I feel like it is my duty as her mother to show her our culture, and I hope she won’t ever feel a stranger in what I consider to be her home as well. Some people may think that this is unfair to my husband, but I couldn’t disagree more. We’ve opted for two other family vacations to Costa Rica and Europe that he chose to use his time on this year. His parents and brother live 5 miles from us, and are an integral part of our day to day lives. Why should my family in Brazil (immediate family too, not just distant relatives) not be as much a part of our lives as we can financially handle with the travels. And trust me, videoing with WhatsApp is a also a daily occurrence in our household.

In my ideal world, I would love to live there for a year down the road, but I’m not sure how possible that will be for our family.
So, to the original poster-this sounds like a great compromise. Living in a Spanish speaking country, being closer to your husband as he finishes his business anyway, and hopefully solidifying the language in your kids. I’m jealous! I’m having to really focus on mastering what was my native language to now teach my own child. It’s hard, but worth it! It’s amazing to me how she can understand both languages already.

Best of luck!

[Hula Hoop]

I feel the same about English with my kids growing up in a majority Italian environment.  I can't imagine speaking Italian with my kids and from birth it's been all English from me all the time.  I also make sure that they read and watch TV in English as much as possible. 

That being said, I still can't imagine separating the kids from either me or my husband for long periods of time in order to improve their English skills.  in fact, we went back to my home city for 3 weeks a few months ago without my husband as he had to work and my kids missed him terribly even though he read them bedtime stories via skype every evening.  In fact, just today my younger one mentioned again how much she had missed her dad during our three weeks without him.  At one point I was hospitalized for over a month and the kids had a really hard time with that too.  Not sure if we're just a really 'close' family though - for us family really does come first and we spend most of our free time together.  I guess some other families and other cultures might operate differently.

[Mgmny]

I used to really be on the bandwagon for multi-lingual children (immersion schools, camps, summer breaks in foreign language camps). I even went to Concordia Language Village in Minnesota USA when I was younger to learn Spanish in total immersion, but.... I've since changed my mind. There is little to no benefit to being bi/multilingual anymore.

If you want your kids to speak a language due to cultural reasons, go for it, but I think that is probably a selfish move that will hinder their "normal" primary education (reading, writing, math, history, science, art, music). I would absolutely NOT move to another country just so my kids can learn a language for cultural reasons if you value their primary education. Technology will VERY soon be/already at a please with real-time translation making human translators and bi-lingual business negotiations obsolete. Some older people have a hard time believing this (same with self-driving cars, but that's a different rant), but your children will be able to pop in earbuds and speak to anyone in their current language, and the recipient will hear it in their language of choice in REAL TIME. Augmented reality (download Google Goggles on your phone) can already translate menus, street signs, or anything written in many phonecian based alphabets, some character languages, and they are working on adding more character languages soon. If you don't want to take pictures of the menu, just pop on a pair of augmented reality goggles and literally every written language will be translated into your language of choice IN REAL TIME. This is not a far off distant future. It will be here very soon, less than 10 years for sure (Google Glass was a bit bleeding edge, but it will be back in some variation).

There is simply no real/business-world reason to teach your children a foreign language whatsoever. I think parents who send their kids to these immersion schools are totally within their rights to do so, and they very well may value the cultural component of their education higher than their primary education, and i do not judge them for doing it. But, in my experience, they say, "Yes, little Timmy is in Chinese immersion school - being able to speak Chinese will open SO MANY doors for him when he's older." False. Do not send your kid to immersion school for this reason. It is a lie.

Also, heaven forbid you send your kid to an immersion school/move countries for like 3-5 years and no more. You might as well have just taken those 3 years, pulled your kids out of school and gone on vacation. They won't have a solid grasp on the immersion school language, and they will have fallen behind in the primary subjects as well. This has been well-studied, and is the truth. Immersion school students test worse than primary language schools up until something like grade 6 or 7. If you switch schools before they make up that gap, you kid is going to be behind in school.

The one exception to this is if your children's primary language is not English, Chinese, Spanish, Hindi or Arabic. Then, I would encourage you to move so they learn one of these languages vs a small non-business language. However, by the sounds of it, you are covered in this area.

I hope I'm not coming across too agressively, i just feel really passionate about this topic. I don't want kids going to these immersion schools for any reason other than valuing cultural acceptance over primary education.

[PoutineLover]

I completely disagree that learning a second language has no benefit. Maybe I'm biased, but I'm Canadian and my parents made sure that I learned French, which opens tons of doors here, and I have a working knowledge of Italian and some Spanish as well, which has come in handy while traveling, but beyond that it helps your brain process other information, the same way learning music trains your brain in a certain way as well. There are documented benefits to learning more languages as a child, and I would encourage anyone who has the chance to give their kids that advantage.
That being said, moving to another country and separating the family is a step too far for me. I'd get a tutor if I could afford it, or do month long immersion trips, but I think a year apart is too much personally. An au pair might be a good compromise, or finding a spanish community where you live if it's possible.

[Mgmny]

I completely disagree that learning a second language has no benefit. Maybe I'm biased, but I'm Canadian and my parents made sure that I learned French, which opens tons of doors here.

I would never argue against learning a language that is local to where you live. Obviously in Canada, French is useful. If you move to Barcelona, learning Catalan would be good too.

[Hula Hoop]

Mgmny - I disagree. Your perspective is that of someone who speaks English which is the de facto international lingua franca.  If you lived where I do in Italy you'd see things differently.  Almost no one outside of Italy speaks Italian.  English (or other foreign languages) are necessary for almost any job and for travel.

My kids are 6 and 9 and bilingual Italian-English and they are already feeling the benefits.  They go to Italian public school where English is a compulsory subject.  The other kids are all struggling but they already speak fluent English so it's no problem.  Pretty much all professional jobs here require English competency but very few Italians speak English with any fluency.  Most of my Itaiian friends (some of their professions are architect, public servant, photographer, doctor, hotel owner, police officer and lawyer) are struggling to improve their English.  It's not only useful for their jobs (communicating with clients, speaking at international conferences, publishing papers in journals, reading the latest literature in their field etc.), but most of them love to travel and once you leave Italy you pretty much have to speak English to communicate.

Yes maybe they'll invent ear buds that translate languages perfectly.  But would you rather do business with the person who speaks fluent English (or other foreign language) or the one who has to put in the ear buds in order to communicate?

[Mgmny]

Mgmny - I disagree. Your perspective is that of someone who speaks English which is the de facto international lingua franca.  If you lived where I do in Italy you'd see things differently.  Almost no one outside of Italy speaks Italian.  English (or other foreign languages) are necessary for almost any job and for travel.

My kids are 6 and 9 and bilingual Italian-English and they are already feeling the benefits.  They go to Italian public school where English is a compulsory subject.  The other kids are all struggling but they already speak fluent English so it's no problem.  Pretty much all professional jobs here require English competency but very few Italians speak English with any fluency.  Most of my Itaiian friends (some of their professions are architect, public servant, photographer, doctor, hotel owner, police officer and lawyer) are struggling to improve their English.  It's not only useful for their jobs (communicating with clients, speaking at international conferences, publishing papers in journals, reading the latest literature in their field etc.), but most of them love to travel and once you leave Italy you pretty much have to speak English to communicate.

Yes maybe they'll invent ear buds that translate languages perfectly.  But would you rather do business with the person who speaks fluent English (or other foreign language) or the one who has to put in the ear buds in order to communicate?

I think you might agree with me a bit... I mentioned above that learning whatever your local language is would be beneficial, AND I gave the exception that if your immersion school was for English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, or Arabic. You're right insomuch that I am coming from an English as a first language perspective.

[MrThatsDifferent]

I don’t see anything wrong with your plan, if that works for your family. I would consider hiring a Spanish teacher to tutor your kids once or twice a week with a focus on reading and writing. You’ll be able to do that anywhere and worse case there are plenty of ways to do that online now.

[Dicey]

I keep hoping the OP will fix the typo in the subject line. I have trouble taking the topic seriously any more.

[Solvent]

Yeah, my wife has different heritage to me and we definitely plan to move to her family's country for at least a year for language immersion for our little human. I haven't really thought yet about how I'll tackle the difficulty of different academic years (if anyone has suggestions... fire away). We're thinking in maybe 3-4 years' time, but you know, best-laid plans... Our daughter would be only just starting school at this point.

This is a language where finding a tutor is not realistic, but for larger global languages I guess that could be an option for others.

On the remarks about separating family, expat families often have to make hard choices by virtue of the lives they lead. There are tradeoffs-a-plenty. In my workplace it is not unusual for colleagues to be working apart from their families, often for very extended periods. I wouldn't want to do it, but I'm just noting it's not unusual in certain circles, depending on a lot of factors (line of work, place of expatriation, where is home, what language is available in local international schools...).

[malacca]

If you had the chance, would you move to another country for a year so your children could improve on another language?

I am from Colombia, but live in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) , my husband is Indian. Children are 3 and 6 y.o and speak English at school and in regular basis as this is the most spoken language here, they learn mandatory Arabic at school (actually they don’t learn much) and speak Spanish with me. I would really like them to learn proper Spanish, but I don’t know if that is feasible as they only speak Spanish to me, there are not many Spanish speaker kids here and the few ones prefer to speak in English.

Anyways, we are planning to move back to Canada (we are Canadian citizens) in around 5 years once we FIRE, but before I was thinking that maybe I should move one year with them to a Spanish Speaking country so they can improve their Spanish. Colombia is not an option as their academic year is different and you don’t see foreigners in the local schools, foreigners/expats go to international English schools which will defeat the purpose.
So, I was thinking Spain would be an option, as we can apply for non-lucrative visa for 1 year , the children can enroll for free in the local schools (only Spanish), and hopefully be more fluent, of course the problem is that the Spanish from Spain is different from Latin America, but it is Spanish. Also, I like Spain a lot since I always wanted to live in Europe temporary, also Spain is perfect to travel through Europe during the school breaks. My husband would probably stay in the UAE and travel to visit us from time to time. Any country in Latin America would be too far for my husband to come to see us.

Do you think it is a good idea?. Any thoughts?

I have friends that went to Spain so their kids could learn Spanish. Great experience. We also will be making our way to Spain soon (kids learning Mandarin at the moment).

Spain has a non-working visa that is easy to obtain. With it you can put your kids in public schools - for free.

Also, learning Spain Spanish is best. I found that in Latin America each country looks down at the accent from the others. But if you have a Spain accent you are universally looked up to.

See you in Spain in 2019!

[Dicey]

Also, learning Spain Spanish is best. I found that in Latin America each country looks down at the accent from the others. But if you have a Spain accent you are universally looked up to.

I can hardly find the words to express my outrage at this comment. I'll have to settle for a stunned, "Wow!"

I'm sure others will be more eloquent than I am able to be at present.

[malacca]

Mgmny

When it was time to put my daughter in school we visited the local elementary school. This school was supposedly the best in the entire state. My daughter was 4 at the time and could read and write in two languages. The kindergarten kids were learning ABCs and colors. We immediately thought  - what will our daughter do in class? Just sit around and be bored. And they wouldn't let her in anyway because she was still 4. She would have had to wait another year.

We had a summer home in another state and heard about the Chinese Immersion schools there. We enquired and 2 months later she started Chinese kindergarten at 4. She new zero Chinese. She never looked back.

One thing about Chinese Immersion (that isn't necessarily true with Spanish Immersion) is that it is a big filter. It filters out the kids that are not prepared or have slug parents that don't prepare them well. The kids in Chinese Immersion in our school district test higher on EVERY subject - including English - than their English class counterparts (they are in the same school - just the teacher is Chinese). Keep in mind the Chinese Immersion kids do not study English until the third grade. None, zero, nothing. Yet, they score higher in English comprehension tests. By middle school the divide is very apparent. In middled school the Chinese Immersion students take the regular school classes (in English) for 1/2 of their classes. The middle school teachers all comment on how much better the Chinese Immersion students are - even the English department teachers. Chinese Immersion students performance is far better than the English section in grades and test scores.

After a few years of Chinese Immersion we moved. The immersion school near our new home was both Chinese and Spanish. My daughter entered the a dual Spanish / Chinese program. Half of the day was in Chinese and half in Spanish. My daughter was top of her Chinese class from day one as she had a more intense program at her previous school. But she started with zero Spanish at the new school. It was in the middle of the second grade and the other kids had had 2.5 to 3.5 years of Spanish immersion. But after 1/2 year she was in the top 20% of the class. Why? First her English skills were far above average. This helps with close languages like Spanish. But the primary reason is that the Spanish Immersion class was not very competitive. The parents in the Spanish class were not as dedicated (on average) as the parents with kids in Chinese Immersion. I volunteered in the Spanish class often and noticed some kids were poor readers (in any language). I also noticed that the kids that excelled in Spanish had great English reading skill as well.

A couple if things I have learned over the years living internationally.
1) Your second (or third) language will never surpass your primary language. So if your primary language is English and the your depth isn't that good your foreign language skills will be the same or less.

2) Language is about brain development - not memorizing a language. Chinese is a great second language as it increases your visual memory as written Chinese is basically a bunch of pictures. Spanish is also great as it is a latin based language and adds depth to English (as well as French and German).

Now all immersion schools are not equal. Some have great academic programs and some not. My daughter's Chinese Immersion schools both use Singapore math and worked at a faster pace than English counterparts.

Anyway, enough of my rant. Don't blame language immersion for your life difficulties. Maybe your school wasn't that good. 

[malacca]

One more thing.

My cousin speaks Spanish. He didn't attend Spanish Immersion. Instead he had Spanish speaking live-in help from birth. So he learned Spanish naturally.

He now works in his Dad's company in the midwest. And the only reason he does is that he speaks Spanish. Virtually all of the workers are Latinos.

[MrThatsDifferent]

If you had the chance, would you move to another country for a year so your children could improve on another language?

I am from Colombia, but live in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) , my husband is Indian. Children are 3 and 6 y.o and speak English at school and in regular basis as this is the most spoken language here, they learn mandatory Arabic at school (actually they don’t learn much) and speak Spanish with me. I would really like them to learn proper Spanish, but I don’t know if that is feasible as they only speak Spanish to me, there are not many Spanish speaker kids here and the few ones prefer to speak in English.

Anyways, we are planning to move back to Canada (we are Canadian citizens) in around 5 years once we FIRE, but before I was thinking that maybe I should move one year with them to a Spanish Speaking country so they can improve their Spanish. Colombia is not an option as their academic year is different and you don’t see foreigners in the local schools, foreigners/expats go to international English schools which will defeat the purpose.
So, I was thinking Spain would be an option, as we can apply for non-lucrative visa for 1 year , the children can enroll for free in the local schools (only Spanish), and hopefully be more fluent, of course the problem is that the Spanish from Spain is different from Latin America, but it is Spanish. Also, I like Spain a lot since I always wanted to live in Europe temporary, also Spain is perfect to travel through Europe during the school breaks. My husband would probably stay in the UAE and travel to visit us from time to time. Any country in Latin America would be too far for my husband to come to see us.

Do you think it is a good idea?. Any thoughts?

I have friends that went to Spain so their kids could learn Spanish. Great experience. We also will be making our way to Spain soon (kids learning Mandarin at the moment).

Spain has a non-working visa that is easy to obtain. With it you can put your kids in public schools - for free.

Also, learning Spain Spanish is best. I found that in Latin America each country looks down at the accent from the others. But if you have a Spain accent you are universally looked up to.

See you in Spain in 2019!

Yeah, but you have to pay taxes on worldwide income/assets right?

[expatartist]

Yeah, but you have to pay taxes on worldwide income/assets right?

One of the challenges of residency in the EU. Interested to hear how FI people are managing this.

[imolina]

If you had the chance, would you move to another country for a year so your children could improve on another language?

I am from Colombia, but live in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) , my husband is Indian. Children are 3 and 6 y.o and speak English at school and in regular basis as this is the most spoken language here, they learn mandatory Arabic at school (actually they don’t learn much) and speak Spanish with me. I would really like them to learn proper Spanish, but I don’t know if that is feasible as they only speak Spanish to me, there are not many Spanish speaker kids here and the few ones prefer to speak in English.

Anyways, we are planning to move back to Canada (we are Canadian citizens) in around 5 years once we FIRE, but before I was thinking that maybe I should move one year with them to a Spanish Speaking country so they can improve their Spanish. Colombia is not an option as their academic year is different and you don’t see foreigners in the local schools, foreigners/expats go to international English schools which will defeat the purpose.
So, I was thinking Spain would be an option, as we can apply for non-lucrative visa for 1 year , the children can enroll for free in the local schools (only Spanish), and hopefully be more fluent, of course the problem is that the Spanish from Spain is different from Latin America, but it is Spanish. Also, I like Spain a lot since I always wanted to live in Europe temporary, also Spain is perfect to travel through Europe during the school breaks. My husband would probably stay in the UAE and travel to visit us from time to time. Any country in Latin America would be too far for my husband to come to see us.

Do you think it is a good idea?. Any thoughts?

I have friends that went to Spain so their kids could learn Spanish. Great experience. We also will be making our way to Spain soon (kids learning Mandarin at the moment).

Spain has a non-working visa that is easy to obtain. With it you can put your kids in public schools - for free.

Also, learning Spain Spanish is best. I found that in Latin America each country looks down at the accent from the others. But if you have a Spain accent you are universally looked up to.

See you in Spain in 2019!

Yeah, but you have to pay taxes on worldwide income/assets right?

you pay if you live there for more than a year. If you go for a school year September-June, then you don't have to.

[imolina]

If you had the chance, would you move to another country for a year so your children could improve on another language?

I am from Colombia, but live in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) , my husband is Indian. Children are 3 and 6 y.o and speak English at school and in regular basis as this is the most spoken language here, they learn mandatory Arabic at school (actually they don’t learn much) and speak Spanish with me. I would really like them to learn proper Spanish, but I don’t know if that is feasible as they only speak Spanish to me, there are not many Spanish speaker kids here and the few ones prefer to speak in English.

Anyways, we are planning to move back to Canada (we are Canadian citizens) in around 5 years once we FIRE, but before I was thinking that maybe I should move one year with them to a Spanish Speaking country so they can improve their Spanish. Colombia is not an option as their academic year is different and you don’t see foreigners in the local schools, foreigners/expats go to international English schools which will defeat the purpose.
So, I was thinking Spain would be an option, as we can apply for non-lucrative visa for 1 year , the children can enroll for free in the local schools (only Spanish), and hopefully be more fluent, of course the problem is that the Spanish from Spain is different from Latin America, but it is Spanish. Also, I like Spain a lot since I always wanted to live in Europe temporary, also Spain is perfect to travel through Europe during the school breaks. My husband would probably stay in the UAE and travel to visit us from time to time. Any country in Latin America would be too far for my husband to come to see us.

Do you think it is a good idea?. Any thoughts?

I have friends that went to Spain so their kids could learn Spanish. Great experience. We also will be making our way to Spain soon (kids learning Mandarin at the moment).

Spain has a non-working visa that is easy to obtain. With it you can put your kids in public schools - for free.

Also, learning Spain Spanish is best. I found that in Latin America each country looks down at the accent from the others. But if you have a Spain accent you are universally looked up to.

See you in Spain in 2019!

If you go please let us know your experience, I would be interested to hear it. Have you checked this blog https://wagonersabroad.com/?

[pbkmaine]

Why not try a vacation language school in Spain first to see how much that helps?

[Hula Hoop]

If you had the chance, would you move to another country for a year so your children could improve on another language?

I am from Colombia, but live in the UAE (Abu Dhabi) , my husband is Indian. Children are 3 and 6 y.o and speak English at school and in regular basis as this is the most spoken language here, they learn mandatory Arabic at school (actually they don’t learn much) and speak Spanish with me. I would really like them to learn proper Spanish, but I don’t know if that is feasible as they only speak Spanish to me, there are not many Spanish speaker kids here and the few ones prefer to speak in English.

Anyways, we are planning to move back to Canada (we are Canadian citizens) in around 5 years once we FIRE, but before I was thinking that maybe I should move one year with them to a Spanish Speaking country so they can improve their Spanish. Colombia is not an option as their academic year is different and you don’t see foreigners in the local schools, foreigners/expats go to international English schools which will defeat the purpose.
So, I was thinking Spain would be an option, as we can apply for non-lucrative visa for 1 year , the children can enroll for free in the local schools (only Spanish), and hopefully be more fluent, of course the problem is that the Spanish from Spain is different from Latin America, but it is Spanish. Also, I like Spain a lot since I always wanted to live in Europe temporary, also Spain is perfect to travel through Europe during the school breaks. My husband would probably stay in the UAE and travel to visit us from time to time. Any country in Latin America would be too far for my husband to come to see us.

Do you think it is a good idea?. Any thoughts?

I have friends that went to Spain so their kids could learn Spanish. Great experience. We also will be making our way to Spain soon (kids learning Mandarin at the moment).

Spain has a non-working visa that is easy to obtain. With it you can put your kids in public schools - for free.

Also, learning Spain Spanish is best. I found that in Latin America each country looks down at the accent from the others. But if you have a Spain accent you are universally looked up to.

See you in Spain in 2019!

Yeah, but you have to pay taxes on worldwide income/assets right?

you pay if you live there for more than a year. If you go for a school year September-June, then you don't have to.

That's surprising re. Spain.  Here in Italy, you have to pay Italian taxes (ie you're considered a tax resident) if you are physically present here for more than 180 days per year.  I'm surprised that Spain is so different in their tax laws.

[Northern gal]

I noticed no one mentioned stability of the children’s friendships. Maybe because you don’t plan on staying where you are anyway. Still I think it should be a consideration. Being uprooted every year would probably impact your children more than learning a language.

My parents forced me into all kinds of programs / holidays etc to stay fluent in what used to be my primary language (we moved when I was 3). It helped me into a few jobs while in Europe. Here, in Australia, it is useless. I don’t use it, don’t hang out with the emigrant community here, etc.

I second that accents can really impact how your language skills are perceived. That warm and fuzzy “one of us” feeling won’t happen if the accent is perceived as “strange”.

[imolina]

Actually that is my main concern, kids being moved to 2 different countries 2 years in a row, that is why I wanted to ask in case someone has a similar experience. In UAE, 80% of people are expatriates, so people come and go, my children’s friends today may move next year so they are used to losing friends a lot, but I think once they grow up it will become harder.

Once I retire,  I think we are just going to try to spend long periods in Spanish speaking countries during the summer and I will tutor them myself to learn to write and read Spanish at a good level ( I hope it won’t be that hard).

[Dicey]

OP, thanks for correcting that typo. Reading to as originally written was painful, if pronounced phonetically.

[MrMoneySaver]

You're willing to split up your family so your kids can be acquire another language that they may or may not use? Seriously? This might be a good time to examine your motives.

Totally agree.