Hi everyone! I thought I would start this thread since it seems that a few members of multimadrid have been in this situation recently, or will be shortly... I suppose the newest members to the club are Euro Circle (César) and I (along with our respective spouses!
So, to start off, I thought I would post information that I have found about bilingual nursery schools (guarderías) here in Madrid. I haven't personally been in touch with any of these places. If any of you have had experience with any of them, by all means, let us know here on this thread!
Ok, if you guys come up with anymore places or have comments on the abovementioned, I would really appreciate the feedback!
well, i guess this is related so i will give you my take on raising kids bilingual here as ena and i will be following suit soon enough
i for one do not see a need for a bilingual education at school. i think that if you speak to your kids in english at home, that will be enough.
keep in mind that growing up here they will learn spanish whether they like it or not.
with the elevated cost of bilingual schools, i think it is a waste.
our plan for when the time comes is to have our kids in the normal spanish school system and speak to them/teach them english at home. the spanish they will learn as it will be their normal out of the home environment so we do not think bilingual schooling is necessary.
the english at home method combined with the exposure they will have when they are a bit older and we send them to the u.s.a. and uk for stays (short and extended) to visit grandma and uncle should be perfect.
i do however think that bilingual playgroups are a good idea when they are very small.
I have heard some good things about SEK through the playground grapevine--though I think it is pretty pricey. From what I gather, that is one of the few that start very young and go through grade school and is centrally located (it's near Atocha, right?). Most of the others are in the 'burbs. Though some of these schools have bus/van services for preschoolers who commute from the "centro."
There are some public bilingual colegios with "escuelas infantiles" (age 3 and up) in the center and more are supposed to be coming.
If you are going to try to get together an English speaking playgroup, then I recommend that you do it when they are first learning to talk or earlier. Because once they become bilingual, it's pretty much impossible to get kids to "play in English" if they are used to playing with their Spanish colegas. We go to a park where there are quite a few kids of mixed Spanish/Anglophone parentage and the kids all play in Spanish despite the best efforts of the parents to encourage them otherwise.
We use the Spanish in the outside world (including public school), and English at home method and it is working fine. In fact, I prefer to limit Oscar's exposure to non-native English speakers speaking to him in English, because it only seems to create bad linguistic habits that are hard to break.
It's amazing how much they can learn from just one or two parents reading and speaking to them consistently. They don't call it a maternal language for nothing... It takes patience to see the pay off, but it does really come together miraculously when they are about three years old.
Looking forward to meeting all of these new mm-citos.
P.S. I have a ton of children's books, DVDs and other stuff in English (and Spanish) if you are ever interested in borrowing.
Posts: 1070 | Location: Madrid | Registered: 10 December 2002
Hey there guys, well in reply to Becky Chica's comment, I did work at Brains but in the primary school. The guarderia is kind of separate, I know it's near Ventas and have heard good things about it and you can just continue right on up through Bachillerato if you want. They end up having accents TOTAL, even though they start so early but all the english teachers and english part of the day (1/2) are definitely completely native and I was amazed by my 11 year olds and how they understood literally everything I'd say. I'd say the only thing that they're lacking is just exposure to things outside of school, but if you have a mom or dad and tapes, summers in the states, etc, at home, they should be totally fine! I'm sorry I dont know more about the guarderia! Besos, Joy
Posts: 541 | Location: Madrid (but from Boston) | Registered: 16 December 2002
I agreed with Jer in the fact that the bilingual education in not cheap , but think that if the parents work (and sometimes long hours), the babies may need an "extra" exposure on their early years...
quote:
i do however think that bilingual playgroups are a good idea when they are very small
I have done a research (with little success ) up to 3 years since it is on the early years were we think it would be better to have them play, sing and listen to tales in English complemented with an English speaking environment at home (DVDs, books, tapes, TV, etc)
quote:
...with the elevated cost of bilingual schools, i think it is a waste.
You can bet! All the bilingual English/Spanish schools seem to be very expensive , and for the cost, you can either save that money or find an alternative in the Deutsche Schule or the Lycée Français but always 3 years and up.
We found Kidsco to be "in the market" in terms of price and they say that will start with English next year. Hastings School is not that fair. Numont School is other high end alternative.
We think that getting together an English speaking playgroup such as Sticky Fingers or the Story Time for kids at J&J are ("and maybe will be the") good alternative if we do not find a nursery school...
Cesar - Eurocircle Madrid _________________________ Visit www.eurocircle.com
Another posibility is befriend English speaking people and invite them over from time to time exposing your child to the language on a practical level. One of the problems I've encountered from my students is that they don't see the need to use English, but if you ask native speakers to only speak English around your child they will be more likely to use it because they need to in order to communicate. Are there a lot of families on the board? I know there are a lot of couples, but do a lot of mm-er's have children? Maybe more family friendly activities can be planned as the needs of the board members change. Will be interesting to see where this goes.
Posts: 435 | Location: Italy | Registered: 25 November 2003
Here are some for mommies to be and mommies here are websites that have may help, I will be joining the city yoga class for embarazadas. http://www.city-yoga.com/clases.html, there is also a great place for mommies to be (although a little expensive , but hey we are worth it ) calle valle 36, they take of us. http://www.valle36.com, here is the website. I hope i do not overwhelm you with all the info... uff.
sheila
Posts: 25 | Location: madrid spain | Registered: 30 September 2003
It's interesting, jer, what you say about bilingual schools. Ángel and I hadn't really considered bilingual schools either. Not from an economical aspect but from a point of practicality. I have enough flexibilty in my schedule, and he in his, to have child care pretty much covered (we think) for the first three years. If push comes to shove, my parents can spend some extended time here to help us get situated. And for crying out loud, English instruction is my field. If I am not capable enough to help my child learn English, then I am in real trouble!!!
However, I agree with what César and Sheila say. For working parents who don't have as much control over their personal schedule it is a bit more challenging...both the child care aspect as well as exposing the baby to the language(s).
Like you, I anticipate sending our child to the States (and Russia!) once it's a bit older to visit family and get language exposure.
It's a wonderful plus to have parents like mariposita and Val (Val, where are you?) participate in the forum to offer their advice as they have "been there, done that". For anyone who has met Sammy, you will know what I mean. And it looks like little Oscar is well on his way!
I´ve spent a lot of time talking to parents who are raising their kids bilingually, and also reading up on the subject. It seems that there is such a conflict between people who say it's more difficult than it seems and others who say it's really easy.
Val and mariposita, I would love to have your takes on the experience!
My comments had more to do with families who aren't native speakers but still want their children being raised bilingually, it's something that seems to be gaining popularity here in Spain especially with the well off. However I've come across several Spanish parents who aren't as financially affluent but who spent years learning English and want their children speaking English as well as Spanish at an early age. For them it's a bit trickier as they have to create opportunities for thier child to hear English with a native accent and put it into practice.
Posts: 435 | Location: Italy | Registered: 25 November 2003
I guess I've been "lurking" as Jer likes to say, as since Sammy is now nine, I can't really chip in on "baby" issues!!!
Those who know me, know that I have always been super interested in everything to do with bilingualism, raising kids in Madrid, and similar.
As I work a non-flexible 12 hour day and so does my husband and no help from family on either side we have had to hire a babysitter from day one. She is Spanish and comes only in the afternoons.
Sammy went to King's College from age 2-5. This worked out for us as they take kids from 18 months at their infant school in Chamartin. The price goes up yearly, but starts out more or less reasonable (compared to other forms of full-time daycare) at the beginning.
However, we changed Sam to Spanish school for 1st grade, age six. The change was easy socially for him, he liked it just as much and made new friends. It was a little hard in terms of catching up his reading level in Spanish. He still doesn't like to read in Spanish!
As for having a bilingual kid, the best method is for the native speaker in the family (assuming this is your case) to ALWAYS speak to the child (even when its a baby) in English. I only speak to Sammy in Spanish if we are meeting with non-English speaking friends and it would be rude otherwise. Consistency is the KEY. I have a friend who spoke to her child in a mixture of Spanish and English, sentances such as "come here cariño, ven aquí, come) and the child was still not speaking at age 4. Most kids will speak fluently in both languages if you are both always, always consistent.
It is, indeed, hard to find others to form a bilingual support group. I've never found such a thing (sticky fingers wasn't around when Sam was little enough). Here are a few suggestions:
(1) place or answer ads in In Madrid or The Broadsheet: I've done both and met a few bilingual friends with kids similar ages that way.
(2) Madrid has lots of English speaking churches. We started to go, not for the English, but to get Sam babtised (he goes to catholic school) and have met native English speaking kids that way. They have Sunday school in English.
(3) The British Council library: for 55 euros per year can take out DVDS,
Opps, my family's calling me to help Sam study for his English spelling test....
Good luck to all and I'm here if I can help with anything!
Val
Posts: 144 | Location: Chicago, USA (living in Madrid, yeah!) | Registered: 05 September 2002
Chica (and any other bloated, feeling like a whale, about to explode yet lovely pregnant ladies out there ).
off the topic of schools a bit but there is an interesting article on childbirth (the differences between practices here and abroad) in the nov. issue of the broadsheet. it is on page 24 and is entitled "Deliverance".
Fascinating thread here. I am part of an extended American/British family with a branch in Barcelona. We all get together in Summertime in Buffalo, NY, USA.
What I found very surprising this summer were the teenage cousins who were born and raised in Spain by an American mom and Spanish dad... Mom speaks first-person Castilian/Catalan with a pronounced Buffalo accent. Her kids speak among themselves in fluent Catalan. But what's most startling is how accented the kids' ENGLISH is. They grew up hearing (and during summers at Grandma's) American English, but they make English grammar and accent mistakes common among native Spanish speakers. ...interesting...
Posts: 385 | Location: a pueblo in Palencia, via Pittsburgh USA | Registered: 15 February 2003
- rent or buy a cell phone from me for your stay in spain, more info at 
- already have a cell phone, get a spanish SIM card for it at 
, but think that if the parents work (and sometimes long hours), the babies may need an "extra" exposure on their early years... 
, and for the cost, you can either save that money or find an alternative in the 
