Al and Jacque

Hi we are moving to Melbourne at the end of April, one of the major concerns are how will my boys cope, they are 7 and 4. Will it be very difficult for them fitting in, and how did you find your children settled into their new school. Also being form Ireland they have a strong accent, will they have trouble being understood at school, and will they lose their accent?

Thanks
Al and Jacque

bananalana

We came over from NZ with our then 9 year old daughter and she fit right in.

Its really multicultural over here (assuming Melbourne is similar to Sydney) so your kids wont be the only ones with accents.

Thjey probably will lose it eventually. We have been here a year and our daughters kiwi accent is already disappearing and she says some ozzy things like the stupid way they pronounce h (lol) and their a's but its to be expected considering she goes to school with ozzy children and teachers

moneypenny20

They'll be fine and make stacks of friends if that's how they are, they'll be chilled and maybe only have a few mates if that's how they are I think that the stronger the accent the longer it lasts. Southerners seem to lose the accent after a few years, Northerners, Scots, Irish, Welsh seem to hang on to theirs. I know a woman who's 70 and been here since she was 18, she still sounds like she left Newcastle a few weeks ago Kids do tend to 'suck up' accents easily though, so they'll probably sound Irish but do the upward query thing at the end of sentences.

If you stay relaxed and don't worry about them, they won't worry or think there is anything to worry about.

Betty Boot

I think the younger you are the easier you lose your accent. Not sure if it is true but after the age of 8 years old it is harder to lose your accent I moved from Ireland to Lancashire when i was 15 and still have an Irish accent. My daughter was 4 when we moved from Aus to Uk and she lost the aussie accent she was born with about 6 weeks after landing here! Again, I lived in Australia for 6 years and never developed the accent, although as someone mentioned you do tend to raise the pitch of your voice at the end of a sentence and come out with a lot of the phrases! We are hoping to move back to Aus soon and my husband cant wait for the kids to lose the Lancashire accento

Australia_bound?

You'll have to get used to repeating yourself a few times . Kids could lose their accent, depends on how much they talk to you and how much time they spend with you. Aussie kids are very used to having new kids from overseas in their classes, so wouldn't worry about it.

Kids will be fine our 5 year old carried on like we'd not moved. 11 year old seems to be ok after some initial moods and tears.

Nu-Shooz

I think kids under 10 fit in well better.

fairwayskid

Mine were 9 and 6 when we moved.

Teacher said the eldest made moving to a new country and starting in a new school look easy. 6 year old just went with the flow. Kids are kids and will cope with what they have to. Mine are settled in super quick and have great friends.
They are now picking up on the Aussie lingo after 8 months.

So dont worry kids will be fine its the grown ups that have the problems.

Good Luck Paddy

mohogony

At that age it would be easy they would soon lose their accent anyway and Melbourne is very Multicultural theres will probably be lots of other kids from overseas countries at their school.

swigski

MIne are 11 and 9. Both had strong Welsh accents. Year later and no longer. When they are with us they still have their accents. When with friends or in school they sound as Ozzy as the next kid! It's quite amazing as I cant even do an Ozzy accent.

They have settled really well in school and made loads of friends but we want to move and they are really settled and dont want to.

We dont think it's fair after moving them from the UK to put them through all of that again so will have to fork out for the increased rent I think!

Make sure you research your areas well 1st and agree on affordable areas with good rail and school access.

Al and Jacque

Hi all and thanks for the replies, glad your kids are doing so well, we were thinking of renting in Nunawading or surrounding areas, also Wantirna, what do you think of these areas?

Thanks
Al

Zenshin

Funny thing about accents. I have live in the Uk for the past 12 years and everyone here reckons I am as Aussie sounding as you can get but all the family in Australia reckon I sound like a "pom". I know I am more a mixture and it depends on who I am talking to with which way I sound.

Our daughter has basically been brought up in the UK and started school here yet everyone is amazed that she has an Aussie accent. Up until she went to school she spent most of her time with us so obviously she has picked up our accent. We are in the West Midlands so perhaps we have also tried to persuade her to pick up the Aussie accent more so than the Black Country one (shudder at the thought). I think if anything the other children at school will consider your children more interesting because of their accent and provided your children are sociable they should have no problems.

mohogony

l think the important thing is that you choose a good school, there are some really good schools out there and some really dreadful ones, it doesn't matter if your kids are Aussie, Irish or from any country if they go to a dreadful school they will probably be unhappy if they go to a good school they will probably go well.

spartacus

At 7 and 4, probably better than the parents.

DoubleCabbage

Do you mean choose a good school within the Public Schooling system, or between Public versus Private?

paularn

I just moved my 9yr old daughter from Canada, she has been in school for a couple of weeks and she has fit right in, doing well and has adjusted nicely. She hasn't complained or whinged about wanting to go back home or missing friends.

Honestly, I think it depends on the child and how well they do with change. Kids are pretty resilient and some just go with the flow while others put up a bit of a fight.