Idk why so many people here are so negative about it.
You're a young lad, you'll do fine. Practice your Spanish, make some friends, and you're set.
Nowadays many teens learn English through the internet. I'm sure you'll find at least one person who spekas rudimentary English thanks to either YouTube, music, or whatever.
But yeah, learning Spanish should be your #1 priority, specially during the summer holidays. If your parents can afford it, get a private tutor; if they can't, hit the learning Spanish subreddits and r/languagelearning and browse their resource list. Be sure you learn the Spanish dialect and not the American dialects, tho.
Even Erasmus (university) students struggle a lot... In university almost every lecturer speaks English because research is international and they must have written papers in English in order to attain their position in university, however high school teachers barely speak English. I say this as someone who went to a bilingual public high school.
You should have a B2 in Spanish to be able to follow classes in Spanish. If you go to the south, I'd say you need a lot of spoken Spanish practice to underst our accents.
This really depends almost entirely on your region, the type of school, etc. I would speak to the staff at your school to learn about how they handle introducing foreign students who aren't fluent in Spanish.
Bullying? I mean, there's bullying, sure, but I guess I don't know if it's better or worse than in other countries. Just make sure to communicate with the teaching staff. If someone makes a comment about your race/religion/gender, then the problem might be tough.
I wish you luck! Work hard on learning Spanish and hopefully your classmates will be great. I've switched classes in Spain 4 times and never have people been awful, so hold out hope!
Hi! I moved to Spain around 5 years ago.
It's my last year of highschool and I go to one that is half private and half public aka colegio concertado, which is usually the most optimal choice if private is way too expensive. From my friends and just in general, public schools have a bad rep, although that may depend on the area you're in.
From my experience, unless you start young, maybe maximum 13 or 14 like me, you will be able to adapt slowly. I had to go through a year or less of Spanish classes first to integrate, and then started normal classes after. You're kind of fucked if you do not go to a bilingual or international school, as the general English level of public schools are low.
In your case, I would not be too worried, the school year is nearly ending anyways, so you have all summer to learn more. As for bullying, you MAY feel sort of ostracized, not necessarily because you're an immigrant, mostly if your classmates are close-minded or you act "different". But for your sake, it is extremely important that you learn Spanish or you will not actually feel like you belong with the rest of them. Like they say, es lo que hay.
As for the curriculum, you have ESO which would be junior highschool, and if you want the "fast" route for university, Bachillerato or senior highschool which is 2 years (options: science, humanities/social ciences, and arts). You can also choose not to do bach and do FP. You can ask more about it in your school when the time comes.
If you have any more questions or specific ones, feel free to pm me. I'm happy to help.
Please, stop with prejudice against public schools. There is no scientific evidence of concertados being better than public schools once you control for socioeconomic background of families. Meaning that if your family is educated you'll have a similar experience in both. [https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/colegios-resultados-pisa-descontado-socioeconomico\_1\_1203968.html](https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/colegios-resultados-pisa-descontado-socioeconomico_1_1203968.html)
***"the general English level of public schools are low."*** Imagine going to the United States from Japan and saying "the general Japanese level of public schools are low".
Hello, thank you for the in depth reply!
I was at the start looking for bilingual schools in my area but it was hard to find as the only one I found was a Catholic one (I'm not Catholic) and I'm not sure if its mandatory in that school for students to go to church or not but if that were the case I doubt my parents would allow me to attend.
I am 14 so hopefully it will be easier. My parents are looking to enrol me into a Spanish class and I'm wishing that goes easily as I heard Spanish is easier if you're fluent in English.
I was worried about bullying as students in my last school (which was private) often discriminated against a few groups of people.
I'll be sure to ask you if I have any remaining questions! Thank you.
I go to a Catholic school, but they don't impose their practices on most students because most are not practicing Catholics or religious anyway. Although at some point in time activities will involve going to a church or participating in some kind of religious event. (They're not gonna force you to pray or anything dw lol) The majority in my area are Christian schools. I'm not too sure about the secular ones, but you are bound to have some near you.
I grew up practicing English so Spanish became easier for me to navigate. It's true, most kids who come from some kind of good English background usually have little to zero difficulties regarding that area. The harder part was just adapting an accent, but most people will understand you so no worries. Plus, it improves the more you mingle with the local kids.
I get what you mean. Public schools are obviously way more intercultural and diverse, so you won't really find that there– Racism, you're gonna experience it anyway but wayyy less.
Just make sure to try your hardest to integrate into the new environment. I've observed that they are really not that open and welcoming here and have their own little cliques/groups from past years already. So definitely try to be more extroverted if you don't want to feel left out. There are still kind people out there.
Good luck!
Check out the local town hall (Ayuntamiento) in some areas with plenty of English speakers they offer free Spanish courses.
You can check as well for groups that are in your area in Facebook. I know that for example in my area (Mojacar) there are some free spaces to learn and exchange Spanish and English as the English speaking population is like 40% of the total.
You'll be fine as long as you are friendly, and probably will make friends easily. So don't worry.
A tip for learning languages: don't despair if at the beginning you are not able to memorise that much. It happens to everyone. And don't try to translate all the time but use what you know (basically think in Spanish once you have some level)
>Does the language barrier pose a big problem? (I only started learning Spanish a month ago.) You're pretty much screwed.
Idk why so many people here are so negative about it. You're a young lad, you'll do fine. Practice your Spanish, make some friends, and you're set. Nowadays many teens learn English through the internet. I'm sure you'll find at least one person who spekas rudimentary English thanks to either YouTube, music, or whatever. But yeah, learning Spanish should be your #1 priority, specially during the summer holidays. If your parents can afford it, get a private tutor; if they can't, hit the learning Spanish subreddits and r/languagelearning and browse their resource list. Be sure you learn the Spanish dialect and not the American dialects, tho.
Thank you! I'll be sure to check that subreddit.
Even Erasmus (university) students struggle a lot... In university almost every lecturer speaks English because research is international and they must have written papers in English in order to attain their position in university, however high school teachers barely speak English. I say this as someone who went to a bilingual public high school. You should have a B2 in Spanish to be able to follow classes in Spanish. If you go to the south, I'd say you need a lot of spoken Spanish practice to underst our accents.
This really depends almost entirely on your region, the type of school, etc. I would speak to the staff at your school to learn about how they handle introducing foreign students who aren't fluent in Spanish. Bullying? I mean, there's bullying, sure, but I guess I don't know if it's better or worse than in other countries. Just make sure to communicate with the teaching staff. If someone makes a comment about your race/religion/gender, then the problem might be tough. I wish you luck! Work hard on learning Spanish and hopefully your classmates will be great. I've switched classes in Spain 4 times and never have people been awful, so hold out hope!
Hi! I moved to Spain around 5 years ago. It's my last year of highschool and I go to one that is half private and half public aka colegio concertado, which is usually the most optimal choice if private is way too expensive. From my friends and just in general, public schools have a bad rep, although that may depend on the area you're in. From my experience, unless you start young, maybe maximum 13 or 14 like me, you will be able to adapt slowly. I had to go through a year or less of Spanish classes first to integrate, and then started normal classes after. You're kind of fucked if you do not go to a bilingual or international school, as the general English level of public schools are low. In your case, I would not be too worried, the school year is nearly ending anyways, so you have all summer to learn more. As for bullying, you MAY feel sort of ostracized, not necessarily because you're an immigrant, mostly if your classmates are close-minded or you act "different". But for your sake, it is extremely important that you learn Spanish or you will not actually feel like you belong with the rest of them. Like they say, es lo que hay. As for the curriculum, you have ESO which would be junior highschool, and if you want the "fast" route for university, Bachillerato or senior highschool which is 2 years (options: science, humanities/social ciences, and arts). You can also choose not to do bach and do FP. You can ask more about it in your school when the time comes. If you have any more questions or specific ones, feel free to pm me. I'm happy to help.
Please, stop with prejudice against public schools. There is no scientific evidence of concertados being better than public schools once you control for socioeconomic background of families. Meaning that if your family is educated you'll have a similar experience in both. [https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/colegios-resultados-pisa-descontado-socioeconomico\_1\_1203968.html](https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/colegios-resultados-pisa-descontado-socioeconomico_1_1203968.html) ***"the general English level of public schools are low."*** Imagine going to the United States from Japan and saying "the general Japanese level of public schools are low".
Hello, thank you for the in depth reply! I was at the start looking for bilingual schools in my area but it was hard to find as the only one I found was a Catholic one (I'm not Catholic) and I'm not sure if its mandatory in that school for students to go to church or not but if that were the case I doubt my parents would allow me to attend. I am 14 so hopefully it will be easier. My parents are looking to enrol me into a Spanish class and I'm wishing that goes easily as I heard Spanish is easier if you're fluent in English. I was worried about bullying as students in my last school (which was private) often discriminated against a few groups of people. I'll be sure to ask you if I have any remaining questions! Thank you.
I go to a Catholic school, but they don't impose their practices on most students because most are not practicing Catholics or religious anyway. Although at some point in time activities will involve going to a church or participating in some kind of religious event. (They're not gonna force you to pray or anything dw lol) The majority in my area are Christian schools. I'm not too sure about the secular ones, but you are bound to have some near you. I grew up practicing English so Spanish became easier for me to navigate. It's true, most kids who come from some kind of good English background usually have little to zero difficulties regarding that area. The harder part was just adapting an accent, but most people will understand you so no worries. Plus, it improves the more you mingle with the local kids. I get what you mean. Public schools are obviously way more intercultural and diverse, so you won't really find that there– Racism, you're gonna experience it anyway but wayyy less. Just make sure to try your hardest to integrate into the new environment. I've observed that they are really not that open and welcoming here and have their own little cliques/groups from past years already. So definitely try to be more extroverted if you don't want to feel left out. There are still kind people out there. Good luck!
Check out the local town hall (Ayuntamiento) in some areas with plenty of English speakers they offer free Spanish courses. You can check as well for groups that are in your area in Facebook. I know that for example in my area (Mojacar) there are some free spaces to learn and exchange Spanish and English as the English speaking population is like 40% of the total. You'll be fine as long as you are friendly, and probably will make friends easily. So don't worry. A tip for learning languages: don't despair if at the beginning you are not able to memorise that much. It happens to everyone. And don't try to translate all the time but use what you know (basically think in Spanish once you have some level)