Spain has been a favourite with holidaymakers for decades, and it has become well known that in recent years Spain has been one of the top destinations worldwide for the EU Expats to retire to. The “Costas” (coastal areas) in particular are the most popular, possibly because of the warmer climate, the Mediterranean diet and generally a healthier lifestyle.

Since joining the EU and with the introduction of the Euro, Spain has seen a large increase in population with EU Expats buying more properties, moving to Spain and starting new businesses, etc. According to the census¹ office, in the Alicante province alone 57,628 EU expats are legally registered residents. Over half of these, 31,409 are British, although in reality it is probably more than double this. This expansion has brought with it a younger generation of expats, 20 years ago the average age of expats moving to Spain was around 55 - 60 years of age, this has now dropped considerably to late 30's early 40's. Younger families are now moving to the warmer climes seeking a better lifestyle in new business ventures.

Although there are some excellent international schools available to choose from (most teaching the British curriculum), some parents opt for Spanish schooling for their young ones, possibly in the hope that this will guarantee their child fluency in both English and Spanish. Spain understands the importance of the English language and children are introduced to the new language from as young as 4 – 5 years of age, this then becomes a common subject throughout the rest of their schooling. According to the Valencian Government² it is the Department of Education’s belief that the more languages a child is exposed to at a young age the better his ability will be to pick up languages later on. Unfortunately what the 2 – 3 lessons a week do not do is provide enough of any one thing e.g. grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, etc. and many Spanish parents send their children for extra tutoring with an English teacher. It is not unusual for Spanish parents to send their children away to stay with English families during the summer holidays where the child can attend English lessons during the day at a language school and spend their spare time practicing the language and taking part in the typical day to day goings on of an English family.

Aside from taking on a new language, children attending Spanish school in the Valencian and Catalonian communities come up against another obstacle, this being the different dialects being taught in the schools (Valenciano and Catalán) some schools in these regions teach only in the local dialect until the child reaches 8 – 9 years of age. In the international schools mentioned, Spanish and local dialect are both included in their curriculum although 90% of lessons are taught in English. As well as teaching English as a grammar subject it is also taught as a second language for those students with little or no knowledge of the language, Spanish students and those from other non English speaking countries need to be brought up to a high enough level of English to be able to attend the classes and sit the exams.

In conclusion, a Spanish child attending Spanish school will leave obviously fluent in their own language and with a general knowledge of the English language, those who were lucky enough to have had extra tutoring might have a better understanding than those who didn’t. A Spanish child that attends an international school will leave fluent in both Spanish and very often English also. The British expat child that attends an international school will obviously maintain their own mother tongue, English, and will have gained knowledge of another language (mainly Spanish). It’s the British expat child that attends Spanish school who appears to be losing out. Children born to British or mixed nationality parents in Spain and British children living in Spain from a very young age attending the Spanish schooling system, inevitably learn Spanish as their first language even though English may be the main, if only, language spoken at home.

Parents are often fooled as the child appears to speak fluent English at home and excels in the basic English learnt at school. Only when it comes to reading and writing English do the problems become apparent. Not only might the child lack vocabulary and grammar but as Spanish is a phonetic language, the child often starts reading and writing English in the same way, as the words sound or are spelt. Unfortunately parents sometimes just don’t have the time, knowledge or ability to tutor their children with extra English. This highlights the importance of TESOL now, not only to teach a foreign child but also to teach this new generation of children who appear to be missing out on the very basics of this universal language.

Shelley Maclachlan