Tenerife forum

[archie]

hello everone
firstly let me introduce myself my name is jase i'm married with one nine year old girl i'm 33 years old and a forklift driver.
my wife is registeried disabled so i bring in the sole income.
we have just come back from tenerife and have been thinking about moving abrord for a couple of years and after coming back home tenerife is perfect as playa de las americas is so flat and disabled frendly and the climate of course.
does anyone know the best trade for me to get trained in i thought about doing a plastering or tilling course or conctruction to give me more chance out there. me and the wife are going to start learning spainsh to.
i need to look into if she could claim any disabillity allowance out there or if you have to have lived out there for x amount of time.
we want to be out there in 18 months at the most so the main thing is for me to be able to bring in a income.
any advice would be most appreciated.

jase

[rob]

Hi Archie and welcome to our forum. There's always work for good tilers (self employed) and there aren't many really good plasterers (I think plastering is the most difficult building trade).

If you mean can you get disability allowance from the local government, the answer is no way.

Your other priority is to learn Spanish, it makes such a huge difference to life here and your ability to earn a living. Please don't say, as many do, that you'll learn when you get here, you won't have time!

Read the articles under the jobs section, where it says READ THIS BEFORE POSTING
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[karlb]

Hi Archie, also think long and hard about the education you plan for your 9 year old. English schools are not cheap and I would not recommend putting her in a Spanish school at that age.

Being in Playa de las Amercias for a hoilday or even working holiday may be all well and good, after a few months though it would loose its appeal to you of that I am sure.

You mentioned it is good that Americas is flat, is your wife wheel chair bound ? When you were over it may have been a good idea to visit one of the local disability shops that offer mostly motorised chairs etc for a chat. I am sure they could advise on most of your questions when it comes to disability, you may have even bumped into a few people in the shop that you could have gone for a coffee with to express your concerns and have a general chat about disability in Tenerife.

Good luck and stay in touch, if we can help we will.
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[archie]

thanks for your advice guys. we are going to learn spanish before we go i don't want to leave anythink to chance that might help me getting work. as you would understand it's a big risk to take but we don't want to be just one of these couples that just talk about it.
we would live out of the tourist area. i know what your saying about lossing the appeal after a while. the wife wants to work part time when we are over there she is so much healthyier and would be able to do some work. she isn't wheelchair bound but suffers with her back as she has spina-bifida and has morfine to control the pain. with the heat over there she can walk for miles.
if tiling is a good trade to have over there i'm going to look into some courses this week and some spanish cd's or books
some english women we got talking to recommended putting our little girl into a spanish school saying at that age they pick it up so quick. we heard the english schools are very expencive.
some think i don't know if it's any good over there is gym or nutrition consultant as i've done bodybuilding for 15 years. i haven't got any qualifications in it though.

[karlb]

In my opinion Archie, others will disagree, the ladies that told you there would be no problem in putting your 9 year old straight into Spanish school are talking nonsense. I have heard and seen loads of sad stories where at best the child comes out and is sent to an to English school, they cannot communicate they cannot learn and just as importantly not make friends at school. It can have dire effects and children can become very withdrawn.

My son started at 3, he was and is the only English boy in his class. He did pick it up quite quickly but then all the other 3 year old were still learning their own language and words as well. I would say it took about just over a year before he could quite comfortably hold a conversation. That was going to school everyday for 4 or 5 hours. If your 9 year old is going to have Spanish lessons how many hours per day and per week will it be?

Did these women put their 9 year olds straight into Spanish school I wonder?
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[rob]

I agree with Karl. Just think back to when you were 9 How would you have coped if you were put into a school that didn't speak English? Just imagine if YOU were made to go into work day after day after day where no one spoke English, how would you cope? How would you know what people were saying? I know kids that were put into Spanish school at 7 and 9 and they tell harrowing stories of months of tears and being shouted at by the teachers because they couldn't understand what was being said to them.

If you have 18 months in which to learn you'll need private tution for all the family preferably on a daily basis. Are you prepared to make that commitment? Financially as well as the work involved.
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[archie]

true i can understand what your saying. the last thing i want is to see my little girl upset like that. i think i need to start thinking about her learning spanish as much as us because the main thing is she gets into the best school. it was just the money it takes to send your kids to a english school. but if thats the best we just need to save harder and i need to get the best job i can.
we've hit another problem because the wife has alot of medication to help the pain in her back if we had to pay for it they would cost in the region of £400 per month.
i might just say she still lives hear and comes over to visit me that way we wouldn't lose out to much.

[karlb]

Hope you understand we are not just giving you problem after problem, we just tell it as it is that way there are no surprises when you arrive.

A lot of people put things into the back of their mind and hope it all works out when they arrive and 9 times out of 10 it does not and they are back in the UK after a number of months.

It would look into what you could earn minimum (realistically) NOT maximum in your trade. Rob can probably throw some light on to it. And do not forget to take off social and tax if you are going to be legal and self employed. Not forgetting accountancy fees as well.

Best of luck and ask away if you need anything. Karl.
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[rob]

If you came here and registered as self employed (you're very unlikely to get a job working for a company) after you had paid your first monthly social security payment of about 250 E completed your residencia, registered at the town hall and then at the doctors you and your family would be entitled to medical treatment and cheap prescriptions.
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[rob]

You ought to go to the section Moving to/living in Tenerife and order one of the new books that gives the answers to thousands of questions.
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[archie]

thank you for your advice guys. i would rather know the truth than have it suger coatted haha. i at least then can put into place what i need to do to make sure it works out. i'm willing to put the work in to be fully prepared for when the time comes. going upto the training centre near me next week to ask about what i need to do to apply to do a palstering and tilling course. then i can look into learning spanish.
i've got a bodybilding show next april so a busy year for me.haha.
thank again .
jase