Cyprus-Forum.com

[richard2001]

I am considering a move to cyprus and have been told that english is widely spoken there and that my children would have no problem integrating into school although they cannot speak greek, any comments or information would be appreciated.

[G.Man]

The public schools here teach in greek, but there are private schools that teach in english...

If they go to a public/municipal school they will need to learn greek..

[Bill]

Everybody speaks English - kids will integrate in to school easy sounds like estate agent talk.

I bet you have also been told that it's easy to get a well paying job too.

Depending on the age of your children depends on the degree of hell they will go through -- the younger they are the better they will cope with attending a Greek speaking state school unless of course you are going to send them to a fee paying private school in which case yes English is spoken.

It's also a problem in that Cyprus schools expect the pupils to achieve not just attend unlike the UK where it seems to be the other way round and this has caused problems with some children .

So unless you can afford a few thousand a year per child it will be a Greek speaking state school and they will have to take lessons in Greek which of course means they will be expected to speak -- write and understand Greek -- well eventually anyway.

I'd love to know who told you this load of rubbish.

Bill

[Sotos]

technically what they told richard is correct. English is widely spoken but this doesn't mean everybody speaks English or that many speak English well. Cypriot children definitely don't speak English. If your children are under 7 or maximum 8 then it will be a bit hard in the beginning for them but they will manage. If they are older than that you will have to send them to an English private school and pay for it.

[jody]

Hi there richard2001

We are moving out to cyprus at the beginning of jan and we have 3 kiddies ages 3,5,7 years.We will be sending them to a greek school as we want them to learn the language,throwing them in at the deep end but i think its the best way as they are still young and kidz pick it up easy,hopefully they will.They don't start school until the term after their 6th birthday(i hope ive got this correct?)so its gonna seem a bit strange as my middle one started school september just gone,and she was only 5 last week.
My 2 younger girls will be going to a state pre-school and my older boy to the local village school,i hope he doesnt find it hard,maybe at 1st but then they will settle,like me that are not shy!!I love speaking to everyone and they take after me so im hoping they will settle in quickly.
We looked into private schooling but its too expensive,not only that we thought as we are making the move perm we want to speak greek,(gonna take me & hubbie a while!!!!).
I will let you know how we get on,just looking forward to the move,anyway richard2001 good luck.

Merry christmas to you all and best wishes for 2007

Jody xxxxx

[twinkle]

A friend of mine has just moved her child from the village school to a school in Larnaca. She has now realised that the standard at the village school was non existent. The basic education offered at a village school is lower than that of a town school. Be warned!!! She is spending a fortune on extra lessons in order for him to catch up!

[jody]

Hi ya twinkle
Thanx for that what village was it?we are moving to oroklini or livadhia and sending them to oroklini?How old is your friends boy?don't mind me asking?

We havent actually got them in to any school yet as i have contacted the schools and they said to come and have a look around 1st???

Maybe we will have to send them to larnaca,is there loads of english little ones in the schools?
Thanx again twinkle

Jody xx

[twinkle]

Kiddie is 11. He was in Lefkara school but thankfully moved now. He moved from the UK about 3 years ago and didn't speak Greek. The Greek he picked up at the village was Cypriot. He English also suffered up there!!!!!

[zebedee]

Its a difficult decision. I guess it depends on your kid and your money situation. We move over in feb and have a 6 and 2 yr old. We made the decision to put 6 yr old in international school in paphos and bite the bullet with the cost for now (£3k /Yr) Mostly because she's unsettled about the move and leaving our small village/friends and I think its too much to expect her to deal with a whole new language/alphabet aswell. She's excited and they had her in for a day which she loved.

We'll all have Greek lessons so that we learn the language asap. We've been told by the Cypriot schoolteacher that the extra help a uk kid supposedly gets in state schools just often isn't there and that they really struggle as there's loads of homework (a lot more than in the uk). If you can't speak Greek as an adult how do you help them with homework/ letters from school?
Much as I hate private education when there's a suitable alternative like in the uk, we'll go with it for now. We'll see when the little one gets to that age - if she's fluent that will maybe make a difference.

[maidmarion]

Hi I am new to the site and just thought I would add my own experiences here as they might help or not as the case may be.
We moved out here 2 and a half years ago (Limassol) and our daughter was just approaching her 2nd birthday she attended a greek speaking nursery for the 1st year but as we spoke no greek it was hard to communicate progress and problems and of course we couldn't really help her with her language we then moved her to an English/Greek nursery last year.She speaks Greek and understands all that is said to her(bearing in mind she is only 4 and a half) but we have made the decision to send her to a private english school in Sept mainly because we will face the same problems communicating and helping with her homework as depsite the best intentions we still haven't learnt much Greek!!