Living in Torrevieja - Page 2

There are plenty of activities for youngsters here .

That's apart from the ones the schools will provide .

Hope this helps .

Thank 

In Torrevieja itself they are all Spanish schools but with many mixed nationalities attending. Some of the classes are held in Spanish and some in English. It depends on the subject being taught (this is a relatively new concept by the Valencian government). It is a good idea to try to get some spanish lessons for kids before they start so they are not completely lost as it can pretty overwhelming for some kids to suddenly be somewhere not only where they no one but they also cannot communicate nor understand anything. I know some kids that have found it very hard to adjust because they didn't have any Spanish and others that have picked it up relatively quickly. Depends on the child really. The private English school is further south in a different area. I can't remember what it's called though. Students of mixed nationalities but all the subjects are taught in English. 

Do you mean Spaniards that speak English or British people? If you mean fellow Brits, there are hundreds either in town or the surrounding areas. A lot of Spaniards speak English because they have to for their job and most Brits expect to be able to communicate in English even though they are in Spain. Not all Spaniards do or only have a basic level but in general you can certainly get by with just English, but it is infinitely better to speak Spanish also as it is simply more polite and generally you can achieve more. I've been here for 20 years and speak Spanish fluently and receive quite different treament in many places than only English speakers do. There are English baras ansd ashops, clubs and assocaiaiotns and all sort of places and evets that are aimed primarily at the British residents, so there is never a pronlem findong Engslih speakers anyhwer wegther thewy are actual British or aome othe natioanlity that speaks Englsuh.

Thanks, I’m Irish and I do intend to learn Spanish, just a bit worried in case it takes too long and I find it difficult to communicate! Thank you for replying 🙂

Thank you, I do intend for the whole family to learn Spanish, my kids are bilingual so I’m hoping another language might come a bit easier for them (easier than me anyway!). Thanks for replying 🙂

You have to be realistic and realise it takes quite a long time to learn it as an actual language as opposed to phrase book spanish which is quite different. I teach Spanish and everyone is different. Some people are quicker learners than others and I'm not going to pretend it's easy as it's not but learning another language never is. You need to work at a pace that suits you so you feel that you are progressing and not forgetting everything or getting bogged down by it. It really is worth learning. It makes such a difference to be able to understand people rather than have no idea what they are saying.

Hi. Not sure exactly what you mean by Torrevieja as many Brits seem to extend this to cover places like Punta Prima etc. If you are referring to the actual town then there a number of schools. TBH any secondary school level child without Spanish will not cope. Primary school age 10 is about the limit otherwise you will need to consider private English speaking schools.  It will take a child at primary level at least 2 years until they will have enough to cope

 Spanish schools require alot of homework to bd completed daily and without an adult to help this can be difficult ( at primary level) so you would need Spanish too. My son went to school in torrevieja but started when 10 and his mum was a fluent Spanish speaker. There were some English there but very few and all left eventually. This is in the centre of town. No English speaking staff were officially available so I guess it was difficult for parents. If you want more English spoken then you probably need to live in areas where other Brits live rather than the actual town as that is more Spanish 

Thanks for replying, very helpful. I haven’t discounted private schools, I’m just trying to figure out all options. Would you have a rough estimate on the cost of school books/supplies?

I cant remember exactly for primaria what price of books were but  for ESO 1 ( first year secondary) they were approx 200 euros.  After that ,you are encouraged to not mark or write in books so that at the end of the year you give to the school swap system which is obviously much cheaper. No uniforms required which is good. Schools here are much less formal than uk. Teachers do not dress formally and seem very young but I have found them to be really excellent. Bullying and stuff also seem less problematic and kids of different sexes mix quite effortlessly. The biggest problem is the system is quite conservative. Lots and lots of homework followed by tests. Rote learning is the be and end all. Days are different 8.00 to 2.00. No half term holidays but nearly 10 weeks in Summer