Hi.
I live in Ibiza and yes it is hard and with 3 kids it will be really hard but you know what if the kids are up for it and you are willing to do any job you can then it could just work. It won't be easy But i'm sure you know that.
As for your 17 year old, there are many jobs he/she could get for the summer and they wouldn't have to speak Spanish but Spanish will come and the other 2 will learn, kids pick stuff up a lot quicker than adults do.
You are coming at the start of the busy time so you will get a feel for it but it only stays like that for max 4 months. So you have to make it in these 4 months or you will fall on hard times.
I'm sure you have put a lot of thought into this move? You haven't just come on holiday and thought oh I like it lets move right?
You should check out sites on facebook. Ibiza Chat, Wanted Ibiza, For Sale Ibiza, Expats Ibiza.....it goes on. ask on there for advise there are loads of people ready to give it, they will help find you somewhere to live Etcetera.
Good luck

It could work, but odds on it wont work.

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Many thanks

Many thanks for your quote but i will have Spanish before we go and i hope to have employment sorted.

Cheers thanks for the help.

You understand why we want to move to Ibiza we love it as well, but i will not be moving my family until i have Spanish and work sorted.

We shall be over in June on holidays, and also looking for a holiday home / family home to use until we are happy with the big move, it might be next year or the year after but not until were all happy.

cheers john

Cheers that for the hope

Without wanting to put a damper on your enthusiasm, I think you need to rethink.

If you are talking about another year or 2 then you children will be at a worse time in their lives for schooling than they are now.

Also I think you are underestimating the time you need to learn Spainsh to a decent level, enough to be able to find work in your line of work.

An online course or night school for a couple of hours a week will not get you anywhere near the required standard in one to 2 years.

In your shoes I would not even consider the move, but we are all at the rudder of our own vessel.

I'm with you, I think too many people believe these "Learn a language in 3 months" adverts. Two years seems a long time, but as you say, I don't think you'll be that great at Spanish in that time, unless you were to study full time somewhere. Friend of mine teaches Spanish and the take up for first year is always great, but as the years go on, so more and more drop out, they find out it's a lot harder than they ever thought it would be. As the other thread says, many have been in Spain for years and can hardly string two words of Spanish together.

Then don`t take the piss, give them some of your undoubted excellence in español and help them out.

My marida has tried teaching Spanish to friends who were thinking of living in Spain, she grew up for birth hearing Spanish and learnt in the natural home environment way.

She found that she needed grammrr to further her skill, and studied herself.

When she tried to tell her friends that the needed to learn English and Spanish grammar to be able to compare and make sense of it all, most of them did not want to learn anymore.

They wanted to learn a few phrases which they would use everyday like learning a song, but that is not too helpful, as it puts a limit on expression.

I know a guy who learned "la cuenta por favour, and cannot ask for "the bill" in any other manner.

It is OK in lots of situations, but not quite righ at a chiringuito on market day.

But as he knows it, that is it as far as he is concered, so it will always be La cuenta por favor.

Yes, heard similar before, "I only wanted to learn how to chat in Spanish, not conjugate bloody verbs!" I had a guy that used to drill us in all the verb structures, especially all the irregular verbs and subjunctive, essential stuff but quite heavy going. Now we have a Spanish girl from Valladolid (lovely accent) and we have told her we want conversational stuff, so we discuss sex, drugs, rock and roll, gays, you name she's happy to talk about it. She picks the subjects mind, these youngsters have no hang ups about any subject.

all courses are exactly the same. talk to an evening or day class tutor in the UK, they actually expect around 50% fallout before halfway through.
people's level of commitment has to be balanced against their ability not just in learning the language or whatever, but also their ability to get to the course, other things in their life changing, where it is easier to dump the course, even when paid for.

many expats who have retired are more able to make that long term commitment, its built in to the day/week/month/year, in the same way as bowls, golf etc etc.

as to those who move to any foreign country and refuse to string together a couple of words after years - I have no time for them ! It is rude, ignorant and arrogant and I won't go on about it because I have already made my feelings known elsewhere on this forum.

I'm afraid my OH is one of those. He dropped out of classes after our initial intensive 4 week course, claiming he couldn't get his head around grammar and didn't need it anyway. I have got fed up of banging my head against a brick wall trying to convince him that you have zero chance of being able to learn a foreign language properly without understanding the grammar, even if it's only stringing a coherent sentence together in the present tense.

I often hear British pensioners saying they gave up on learning Spanish as they are too old to learn, but on enquiring further what they mean is that they went to a couple of lessons but found it boring and hard work so gave up. "You're lucky" they say, and I say luck had nothing to do with it. Spending a lot of time, money and effort for the best part of two years did.

If they want to leave it at that, fine if they choose to live in an area where there is so much British tourism or a huge expat (sorry resident alien) community that they don't need much or any Spanish to get by. But that doesn't work here where there is not much English spoken, and what happens is that the few Brits who have learned get pestered to accompany people to medical appointments, the Ayuntamiento, utility company offices, the ITV centre, you name it. No payment involved of course, they think they are being very generous by offering to buy you a 1€ coffee afterwards! I usually decline unless it's likely to be just a two-minute thing. If people have just moved here or are genuinely making an effort to learn but struggling with it, then I will help if I can.