Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

Hello

Some opinions needed. My partner is Dutch and we have been considering to move to Holland for years by now. It was supposed to happen this summer, but our eldest is 10 1/2 years.

Reading some posts in this forum and others, I get the impression that this is a really bad age to move?

He's doing really well in school, always has, and I don't want to do anything that may jeopardize that.

If your children moved at this age, how long did it take them to be fluent in Dutch? How long until he can do as well in school in Dutch as he has in English?

I know it depends on the child, but average? My partner thinks it will take him 1 year, 2 max. I think it will take over 5 years at least (to be really fluent, with a language proficiency in Dutch similar to the one he has in English).

Would you move? Or it isn't worth it? I need to decide quickly and I feel terrified at the prospect!

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

I think the first question has to be "Why move to the Netherlands?"

It also depends on whether you or your partner have employment or regular income, some idea of where you are going to live/work and the fact that the cost of living and taxes are in general much higher than in UK.

It will certainly take at least 2 years to learn Dutch to a reasonable level, depending on what part of the Netherlands you are in (there are other factors like local dialects).. but that is like a 2 year slice out of your son's education at least and could end up being a disaster.

Sure there are schools that teach in English, and in general most Dutch people speak and understand quite reasonable English..which are positive aspects.

But the reasons for going will need to be pretty good.

It would be an easier choice if your son was 2 or 18...

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

We moved to the Netherlands in June with our 9 and 11 year old children. We have opted for an International school as we currently speak little Dutch. The Dutch senior school system was the main reason for opting for this as my daughter would only have a year to become fluent enough to do well in her primary school tests which dictate the level of senior school they go to and could therefore hold her back. She will have 3 Dutch lessons a week at school as well as lessons at home and as soon as her level of Dutch is good enough, she will go into the Dutch schooling system but I can't imagine this will happen for at least 2 years

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

Don't know much about International schools, but probably it won't be an alternative to us, due to location and finances :(

If we go it will have to be Dutch schools :(

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

If your child is particularly smart and fast learner and is not let to speak only with English speakers, he could get to a decent level in only 6 months. Bear in mind that a child of 10 doesn't have to speak like a Uni professor. Make sure he doesn't end up in some of these ghetto schools where they teach substandard Dutch for ethnic minorities.

He might also end up speaking better English than is some multi-culti schools back in Blighty.

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

He's smart yes, but the language at home will be English I'm afraid. I don't speak Dutch and neither do his siblings.

The school he would go to doesn't come across as the worst but I have to say I wasn't overly impressed.

I looked at the report and they were mainly given "3"'s but also some "2"'s which isn't good. Nearby there really isn't any better schools.

I don't think the Dutch taught would be sub standard for ethic minorities, as the school has virtually no foreigners. This has actually concerned us a little, because neither the head teacher nor the teachers seemed to know what to do with a child whose only language is English. I don't think there will be any extra Dutch lessons offered.

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

Gioppino is a bit optimistic, 2 years is more realistic. Besides, I have been there and done it with my kids. There is no problem with speaking English at home, you'll pick up a lot from your son anyway if he starts learning Dutch and the rewards of dual language will pay dividends for him at a later stage.

MamaDuck you don't say what region you would be moving to? Some are better than others when it comes to availability of English speaking schools/ International schools.

Of course you need to get your son's opinion too..and does he already do well at a foreign language??..

My Grandson is 3 and speaks Dutch to one set of Grandparents and English to the other..
he switches without a blink of an eye..

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

We would be moving to the outskirts of Groningen, Calman014.

I'm not sure what sort of schools there are in city centre, but close to where we would be living there isn't any English speaking or international schools (even if there were, they are bound to be more expensive than what we could afford to be honest).

Distance is also an issue, as we have 3 children and I will be alone doing the school runs for two of them, with a baby in tow.

My son has mixed feelings. Sometimes he says he would like to go, but mostly we believe he's afraid of the move, losing friends, new language.

He doesn't speak any Dutch, unfortunately, and he's much better at Maths than at languages (he only has a tiny bit of Italian at school, nothing major, so not sure how would it go with Dutch).

How old were your kids when you moved Calman?

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

My kids were 2 and 3 at the time of leaving UK, (1979) but I spent the first 2 years in Germany.

If your partner has a decent job lined up already and doesn't need to look for work once you are there it would be a big help. Otherwise, unemployment in province of Groningen is 10% at the moment, and this area is also known for problems of infrastructure and general lack of investment.

It's going to be very important to know what income will be available. Dutch Government like many EU countries is on a saving spree, meaning many "safety nets" and subsidies have been withdrawn.

Health insurance, energy costs and petrol are expensive and road tax about 3 x what it costs in the UK (even more if you have a diesel or LPG vehicle).

You will need to get your sums right beforehand especially as you are bringing children along.

Planning and preparation are essential.

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

Yes, we are aware of all those costs, that's not an issue. Finances are not a problem for those but I doubt they would extend to private education (which I presume the international school would be similar to in terms of prices).

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

A friend of mine moved over here when his daughter was 10. She's now a lawyer here, so it's possible.

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

My two are going to schools that are part subsidised by the government, primary school is 3000 euros per year and senior school is 6500 for the year, so a lot cheaper than UK private education. I don't know how common these subsidised schools are though

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

Now I'm back from a few days in the UK, I'll write a bit more.

I think it's possible, but not guaranteed.

If my maths is correct, he's got a couple of years of junior school until he goes to secondary school. If his lack of Ducth knowledge holds him back a bit, he would have to resit a year at school, but there is no real stigma attached to having to retake a year in the Netherlands.

This is my opinion of how you could help your child to quickly improve his Dutch:
I'd sign him up for a couple of sports groups which both meet twice a week during the week, but on different days. Not necessarily something he's good at, but to get him out meeting other kids and possibily making some friends - kiids don't seem to play outside nowadays. I wouldn't particularly go for football, rather something like badminton, basketball, archery, etc.

Don't sign up for the best TV package so that you get loads of UK/US stations. Keep it simple - although it will still include BBC 1 and BBC 2 - so he's forced to watch Dutch language programmes and make sure he listnes to the Dutch sound channel when watching, for example, the Disney Channel (assuming it has two language channels like we have).

Have his dad only speak Dutch to him. Don't necessarily make him reply in Dutch if doesn't want to, just as long as he starts to understand Dutch. I speak English to my kids, but they speak to me in Dutch. I've just visited my parents and they spoke faily good English to them.

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

The Dutch schools offer many after-school activities If you enroll your child in one of these, he will improve his Dutch considerably. 6 months at his age are enough. I've seen children of extra-eu immigrants learn Dutch in less than that.

Re: Moving to the Netherlands with an almost 11 year old?
 

I was 16 when I moved to the Netherlands.
Went to international school, wanted to take dutch lessons, but for my age group there were only advanced classes, so I had no dutch lessons.
Basically after two years at the international school, without dutch lessons, and the only dutch I was exposed to was all the dutch kids speaking Dutch during break and lunch at school, I could understand most things, written and spoken.
Maybe it helped that I had 5 years of German in the uk before I moved to NL, I don't know.
For the next 2 years I worked part time in a hospital kitchen where nobody spoke english.
By the end of the two years I was pretty much fluent.

As your kid is 11, and would be in an only dutch school, he may find it hard in the beginning, but he will soon pick it up. His mind at 11 should be more spongy than mine was at 16, so maybe 6 months - 1 year and he will have picked up a lot of dutch and hopefully settled quite well.

It would also help if your partner started talking to your kid in dutch