Hi,
I am relocating to Zurich/Zug from a foreign country for a period of 2~ years (could change based on how it goes). I have 2 small daughters (3 and 5) which do not speak nor understand any English/German/Italian/French, just our own language. We are obviously worried regarding which school is best for them. International schools seem to be the straightforward option, however, it's not clear whether there is a place at all and it's a heavy burden cost-wise.
Can anyone provide some info about the other alternatives? I.e., are they fit to handle 3 years old girl, who does not speak and understand any relevant language? Anyone who has such an experience with their children is warmly welcome to assist.

Thanks

In order for people to help you, the often need to know a little bit about you. You seem to want to conceal the country you are coming from, and the language your children speak. Your profile also contains no information to shed any light on this.

I would think that this type of information could have a bearing on the answers you get. If you'd like people to help you, help them out with a bit more info. You might not think it is important, but others might.

I'm guessing that your children's language is English? If so, this may widen your options somewhat.

A post in the introductions forum probably wouldn't go astray either.

There is already a thread about this here.

I am sorry for the missing information, indeed didn't regard it important and the messege was already too long...
So, we are coming from Israel (updated the profile as well) and the girls' native language is Hebrew (they do not speak English).
I hope that will allow people to better help.
Thanks.

kids pick up languages remarkably well. Don't underestimate how quickly they will be understanding and speaking another language.

I would say that an international school, predominately teaching in English but a couple of German and Japanese schools around, would be the least favourable option. As the children will have to learn a new langauge anyway, why not bung them into the Swiss school system. They will learn German without even knowing they are doing it. Ours were late starters at 11 but after 6 months they were both fluent in German and proficient in the local version of Swiss German.

I agree with swissbob. My kids were 3 and 6 and rather than put them in the International school mine went to the local school. They intergrated into the local community, made loads of local friends and were both fluent within a few months. I also made new friends too.

School usually starts when kids are 6 or 7 years old.

The Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich has a playgroup for 3 years olds and a kindergarten for 4-5 years olds. (There's also the more progressive Jüdische Liberale Gemeinde, but apparently they don't offer anything for this age group.) Playgroup and kindergarten probably are in German, but the custodians might speak Hebrew. Maybe this is a good environment to get familiar with a new language?

I'd also let the kids learn the local language first and forget about English for the moment.

I agree with Swissbob here.

When we first came to Switzerland in 2005, we put or three children (aged 7,7 and 9) into a local international school. This was very expensive but it enabled them to get used to living away from our home country and remain with their native tongue. Then last year we took the decision to move them into the local school in our village. This has been a major success. They have friends who live in the local area and who will be here for longer (unlike many kids in the international schools who get moved out to another country after a few years.

Now, where are they after less than one year? The Twins are now both fluent French and my eldest recently had to do a 20 minute presentation in French at her school - she did a fantastic job and she also has to learn German. We don't look back and my wife and I agree that it has been worth the change. I recommended the local schools totally.

Thanks for the many replies. My concern is that there is a difference between a 3 year old and a 5-7 year old. While a local school might be an option for my "older" (5...) daughter, I don't see how a 3 year old can grasp the situation at all (of a different language). Moreover, in an English speaking environment (teachers, parents, children) it is possible for me and my wife to assist the kids, while in a German speaking environment there is not too much we can do.
Does anyone experienced/knows of success stories for these young ages as well?

Many thanks again.

The younger the better.

That is your problem, not your child's problem. Try reading some of the research available on language for young children - of course they will make mistakes, sometimes they will mix their languages, but you will be amazed at how quickly they sort it out.

At home, speak your native language. the school will ask you to do that and it is important in order to help the children differentiate.

Yes, lots. Go to the local schools and you will see for yourself.

If you've been to Switzerland you'll probably have noticed that the proportion of non-Swiss nationals is huge. Their children (for the most part) all go to Swiss schools and learn to speak the local language. The older a child is when confronted with a new language, the more difficult it gets.
My parents were German and I was born in the UK but couldn't speak a word of English before entering Kindergarten. Both my sister and I learned within a matter of weeks or months (can't really remember) - it was totally painless, and growing up bilingual is a huge asset, no matter what your native language is. You probably won't need to assist your children, that's what the teachers are there for and they'll go about it in a very gentle and understanding way. Young children as a rule are much less inhibited than we adults are, so they won't mind making mistakes and being nudged in the right direction.

My daughter is 4 and was introduced to German at around 2, she was introduced to French at around 3 and she goes to a German Kindergarten. She speaks fluently English, Turkish, German, French and can understand Italian from our neighbour opposite and Kurdish to boot.

Children and multiple languages is rather like butter on bread they spread much easier than you can imagine.

You say you do not understand how a 3 year old can grasp the language. My son went to a local garderie (do not know the word for Swiss german)at 3 without speaking a word of french and he had speech problems in his mother tongue to contend with also. It was not long before he understood everything that was said to him. His sister went to the local Ecole Enfantine and she did not speak french either. As I said before they will benefit greatly and integrate into the local community a lot quicker.

I absolutely agree with everything said.
Even though I'm bilingual I used only Italian with my kids (my husband's mother tongue) till we hired an aussie au pair and she spoke only English with them. At the beginning it was akward and they complained (they were 4 and 2 by then) alot, but eventually we ended up talking English full time.

So, don't worry about it and good luck for everything

Hi there,

I totally understand why are you so worried but as all these Mothers (I think the word "mother" should be always be write with capital letters!!....) had told you , kids learn very fast and adapt better than us to new situations/environment .I been working in multicultural day care centers for 5 years and I have seen this situation several times.My centers (UK, USA) were part of the university so new kids from all over the world started attending classes in our school every month.
This little problem with languages happened a lot with kids coming from Asiatic countries(It Was difficult as well to understand the parents, but they were able to write and understand us very well in English).Any teacher could speak or understand any Japanese but we asked the parents to write for us some lines like for example how to say "I want water or to go the toilet" and It worked pretty well. In two months they were starting to speak English (better than me because I'm from Spain and my pronunciation is quite bad) !!!
The smaller they are the faster they learn.They will make friends very quick.The only thing that I'd recommend you is to not change them from one school to another very often because some kids are very shy or need certain time to adapt to a new teacher/environment .So give them a little time, invited over her new friends and ask for help to the teacher if things are not working very well.Usually a good teacher can make the change a little bit smoother.So go to visit the teacher before enrolling your girls in a new school.


Best wishes,
Blanca.

Hi there,

I totally understand why are you so worried but as all these Mothers (I think the word "mother" should be always be write with capital letters!!....) had told you , kids learn very fast and adapt better than us to new situations/environment .I been working in multicultural day care centers for 5 years and I have seen this situation several times.My centers (UK, USA) were part of the university so new kids from all over the world started attending classes in our school every month.
This little problem with languages happened a lot with kids coming from Asiatic countries(It Was difficult as well to understand the parents, but they were able to write and understand us very well in English).Any teacher could speak or understand any Japanese but we asked the parents to write for us some lines like for example how to say "I want water or to go the toilet" and It worked pretty well. In two months they were starting to speak English (better than me because I'm from Spain and my pronunciation is quite bad) !!!
The smaller they are the faster they learn.They will make friends very quick.The only thing that I'd recommend you is to not change them from one school to another very often because some kids are very shy or need certain time to adapt to a new teacher/environment .So give them a little time, invited over her new friends and ask for help to the teacher if things are not working very well.Usually a good teacher can make the change a little bit smoother.So go to visit the teacher before enrolling your girls in a new school.


Best wishes,
Blanca.

I'd say that before you make any decision you need some idea of your future plans. If you know that you will only be here for a year or so then that may well have an impact on your decision. If you think you will be moving back to Israel soon then do you want them to learn German/French (can't remember where you are) or will English be more use. However if your are going to be here for a number of years then a local school that will help them learn the local language is probably a good move.

Remember that in an international school there are a huge number of mother tongues and there will probably be other children (and possibly staff) who speak Hebrew. This can be comforting to a child who needs that support.

Hi,

I recently accepted a job offer in the Zurich area and will be moving over from London in a couple of months time. My wife's and my biggest concern is what to do with our 14 yr old who's currently in a very academic pvt school here in London. We were initially only considering int'l schools, thinking it'd be awfully cruel to dump him into the Swiss school system at 14. This is largely based on the threads I've read in this forum about the the difficulties older kids have had in adjusting to the Swiss system.

Has anyone had experiences to the contrary -- tales of how their teenager swiftly adjusted to Swiss schools and now couldn't be happier?

Failing that, we're looking into 3 int'l schools:
Zurich Int'l School
Inter-Community School
SIS Swiss International School at Institut Minerva

Does anyone have any direct or indirect experience with any of these schools?

Many, many thanks for any advice you can offer.

JW

Hi,

I gather the administrator replaced my post about 14 year olds and Swiss schools. Would it be possible to have back up there for a bit? I saw the thread below, but it deals mainly with young kids. We're really keen to learn about the experiences of parents with teenagers, which is a much different issue.

Many thanks for your kind consideration.

JW