Tenerife forum

[Cat]

Hiya all, so pleased i came across this forum as i really could do with all the help possible. I am going to sell my home here in the UK and make a move to Tenerife, possibly to Torvisca or los christianos. I am at the minute gathering as much info as possible before visiting for a while to look at schools and things. I wont have a lot of money possibly approx 40k so will be looking to rent long term before buying a home and since there will be quite a large number of us would appreciate your help maybe suggestions etc as to the best way to go about this.
There are 3 families consisting of the following:

Myself, my husband and 2 children aged 17 & 11 ( girls ) and my eldest daughters boyfriend & my tiny dog. i have looked at schools on the net and understand fees for english schools etc but would also consider mainstream spanish schools. My eldest daughter is curretly sixth form and wants to go on to university.

My sister and her 3 daughters aged 2, 15 & 10.

My friend and her daughter aged 11.

I have worked in bars since 14 and have a management qualification and have secretarial qualifications and have worked in banks and post offices and building society since leaving school. I am aged 36.

My friend is also ex bank staff and my sister has always worked in retail and secretarial.

My husband has construction experience although currently is manufacturing staff for a vehicle company and my daughters boyfriend is a fully qualified bricklayer.

The only aspects of this future move that really worries me is the employment and living status. I know i will have a little to keep us going until we find secure employment but so far have not really came across any properties on the internet that are large enough to house us for a while yet have normal home like status. ie everywhere i find seems to be just holiday homes for rent with swimming pool etc and they are asking large amounts of rent because of that fact. Im more into something run down or rural that we can make a home for a year or two, no swimming pool needed or fancy gadgets as its this way of life im trying to get away from! : O )

The other concern about the employment process is the fact i cannot speak spanish.,...
i will take lessons when i get there and my daughter can speak spanish so thats a help but im not so sure working in a bank or hotel reception etc would be welcomed without currently speaking the language.

Any help and advice would be welcomed on any account of this move. We are hoping to go by the end of this year.

[margaretbl]

Hi Cat and welcome to the forum, take a look at the stickies, and past posts, from what I have read for hotel/bank work you would need to speak fluent Spanish.

If you can't find what you are looking for I am sure one of the other people on the forum will help you.........we are a friendly....nosey bunch


Good luck
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[karlb]

Hi Cat

Please do not copy and paste your exact same text into different posts.

It only causes confusion. And I am not hard to confuse lol


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[Cat]

Sorry I realised too late i'd posted in wrong place and pasted it into the right place ...hopefully.. the moving thread. I promise i wont do it again still learning

[strippersrus]

Hi Cat and welcome...

Firstly I must suggest NOT waiting untill you arrive here to learn spanish. Start as soon as you can then by the time you get here you should have some spanish to start you off with.

When you say you cant find anywhere big enough.....does this mean you all want to live together???? lol just asking...

The best thing to do would be book a 2 week holiday and find a place in that time. Once you are here youwill find loads of different places to look at and rent. On the internet you tend to only find holiday rentals but theres loads in the local newspapers.

You also need to think about the area...Los cris and torviscas will be more expensive than other areas outside the tourist area. You will get more for you money, but may have to travel to work...

Theres loads and loads of information on here about areas...schools..work and everything that you would need to make the move.

Have a look about and use the search facilty up the top of page and you will find posts that will help you. If you dont find everything or you need more information then please feel free to ask.

Mary
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Stripps

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[jenny]

Hi Cat and family/friends and welcome to our forum. You have come to the right place if you want good advice.
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[Cat]

thanks for the welcome all of you x

Yes this site is very useful i've been on it reading most of today!!!

We all want to live together if possible for the first year or so until we've all got secure jobs and get to know the area and the girls settled in schools then we'd look to move seperately basically just to keep the cost down while we save and so we can babysit each others children, chip in cooking , cleaning etc until we get established. My friends father has a property in toviscas and we can with his consent come and spend as much time there as needed to look at property etc. If i take 6 month worth of spanish basic learning would you think that would be enough to get me started if we all continued to have lessons when we got there? my sis and myself could do this while here just to get us started - my eldest daughter has already taken a gcse in spanish and she could help us also.

I wish we had made the move years ago when the girls were little as the fees for school at approx 3k per term each for 5 of them is a lot of money!

[jenny]

I think if the older kids want to go to Spanish school then get them learning the Spanish too and let them try it. If they get on well (which they might well do if they are outgoing and have some basic Spanish) then it will save lots of money. If they don't then at least you can say you tried.

Lucky you having somewhere to stay while looking around. Use your time well. There are lots of places to rent, eiother advertised in local papers (Spanish and English lanuguage ones) and also "Se Alquila" signs are up everywhere.

You talk about babysitting each others kids, I think that's a great idea as you won't know anyone here in the beginning so who do you trust. Plus working hours can vary so much here and do not always coincide with school hours. Remeber most Spanish schools here finish at 2/2.30pm or if they have school dinners then at 3/3.30pm.

You say you want somewhere rural, have you any ideas on which areas?
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Who am I? Find out more here: http://www.myspacetenerife.com/index.php?page=view_profile&id=17

I will make this day a happy one for I alone can determine what kind of day it will be.

[rob]

If i take 6 month worth of spanish basic learning would you think that would be enough to get me started if we all continued to have lessons when we got there?

In a nutshell..... NO, 6 months of basic will teach you very little. Six months of intensive learning is what you need. You'll find that your daughter's gcse will not be much help to her for work or school unless she's done a lot of practicing/using Spanish.

Do you really think that you'll have more time to learn when you're here? You'll be so busy running around getting all sorts of paperwork done/searching for work etc etc that there'll be no spare time.
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[karlb]

Excellent point Rob.

It reminds me of when we first moved over, a relaxing Spanish lesson over a glass of wine watching the sunset lol

Could not be further away from the reality and it is very hard to explain to people wanting to move just how busy they will be when they get here, in fact to make a real go of it and survive you will be busy constantly and in no mood for learning Spanish during the evenings when your brain has said goodnight for the evening.


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[rob]

I wish we had made the move years ago when the girls were little as the fees for school at approx 3k per term each for 5 of them is a lot of money!

Yes, and with only 4 wage earners (allowing for 1 adult to be cook cleaner baby sitter etc) how on earth are you going to pay for everything? Will your daughters boyfriend be willing to put his wages into the pot to sustain all the other kids, rent, housekeeping etc? somehow I think that dream will quickly fade.

I'm sorry to be such a killjoy but I honestly think that you need to wait a while and get properly prepared. I.e. get your eldest into uni, get everyone speaking Spanish and learn more of what Tenerife life is all about.

After reading my articles/these posts and all the other info on here I suggest that you order one of these http://www.sun4free.com/forum/ftopic10952.html
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[JudeKen]

Hiya Cat....


You have LOTS of work to do You will find so much info of HUGE value on this site. I hope you use it... making such a big move is never going to be plain sailing but if it's what you really want then you can work as hard as it takes to make it happen..

Is your daughter that's going to Uni the one that has Spanish GCSE?? Starting A degree in another language is going to be very hard!! Even with a GCSE.. It may be useful for her to spend a year using her spanish and getting more under her belt before starting uni... i'm not sure what the funding for higher ed is here...if you had to pay course fees and books etc for the first year and she sisn't understand enough to pass to second year.

Just a thought!!
We have been here now for 8 months and prepared for the move for nearly 2 years. We all had spanish lessons before we came ( I too had a GCSE) but as Rob mentioned, basic spanish doesn't prepare you for much when you get here, other than asking where the train station is or ordering your coffee!!

PLeeeeease don't take any of this as negative!! Plan, plan, plan and plan some more..planning for contingency may seem negative but if you have thought of everything then...hey you can be confident that you have done all you can to get your new life off to a success!!

All the best
Jxxx
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[MaryJ]

Hi Cat and welcome to the forum from me.

You seem to have a lot to sort out, and I see you have already received plenty of good advice especially from the members who live on the Island already.

We are planning to move to Tenerife to retire, so do not have the amount of tasks you have to do, but I hope you will stick at it and realise your dream.

Good luck with your planning, and I hope everything works out for you.
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