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View Full Version : Relocation Moving to Tenerife. Advice welcome



sammytowes
07-09-2014, 14:43
Hello,

I have just joined up to the forum today, not sure if I am posting correctly, but giving it ago.

I have recently just come back from another holiday in Tenerife. I have been wanting to move out there for a few years now and I have decided I am definitely going to give it ago once I have finished my last year in uni nexr year. I will be almost 26 and will be moving out there on my own.
I am wanting to make a life out there not just go out there and party for a while and then have to come home. I am looking in all different places at the moment trying to find information. I will be keeping up to date with the Tenerife Forum and try get all information I need within the next year and hopefully not have to come back home after my holiday there next year.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

LUCKY
07-09-2014, 18:06
1. Speak spanish.:flatcap: If you don't already . Learn it . It will help.:flatcap:

sammytowes
07-09-2014, 18:31
Yes learning Spanish is on my list, I was hoping to do some basic Spanish and then do some classes over there maybe xx

pdu83
07-09-2014, 21:48
Good luck, I'm doing something similar myself! I do enjoy learning languages and have played with quite a few over the years, what I'd say if you don't speak a second language is first and foremost find a method of learning that really suits you. Everyone has 'the best method ever' and can make you fluent in 30 minutes, from Rosetta Stone to a million smartphone apps. The key thing at first is to experiment with a fair few of them and see which seems to help the most.

As an example I personally find learning the first 50 words of vocab and then being dumped into grammar hell is a complete nightmare, and I actually like grammar. Others may find it invaluable as a method of learning, but you may or may not - if you find you don't make any progress, it's not that you can't do it, it's that you haven't found your method yet!

mike in chayofa
08-09-2014, 12:00
Yes learning Spanish is on my list, I was hoping to do some basic Spanish and then do some classes over there maybe xx

Basic Spanish will not be enough. You have almost a year to get to grips with the language.

I realise that you will have university work to do, but do try to find the time to get someone/some people to teach you.

It has taken you 26 years to master your current knowledge of English. Do not expect to pick up a foreign language to the same degree in 5 minutes.

You will probably start of with ... hello .... my name is ..... I'm from ..... etc etc. Whilst essential, it's not going to help holding a conversation for long.

I learned Spanish at college for 3 years which gave me an understanding of how the grammar works. Nowadays, I don't know my 'present continuous' from my 'conditional', but I do know what sounds correct - this does take a while,

Try to get help from a native Spanish speaker face-to-face. I did this and we emailed each other every day too. It helped a lot.

Another important thing to remember is that if you don't know the Spanish for a word, learn to describe the item.

I have lived on the island for many years and there are still many, many areas where my knowledge of the language fails me. This is usually when you are face with a new situation.

A few years ago I had to take my car to the garage for repairs, as I was driving there, I realised that I didn't have the vocabulory to explain the problem. It was at that point that I also realised that I wouldn't have the vocabulory in English either. Did it matter ... No :lol:

sammytowes
08-09-2014, 12:29
Thank you, I am hoping to attend college part time and/or have private tuition over the next year to help me with learning Spanish. I do not expect to pick the language up straight away and I realise it is going to be hard work. I have met a lot of people over the years when visiting Tenerife who have just picked odd words up here and there. As I want to make a life for myself over there and not just work in bars and get drunk and party, I am trying to make sure I do what I can to help make it over there.

mike in chayofa
08-09-2014, 17:16
.... I am hoping to attend college part time and/or have private tuition over the next year to help me with learning Spanish.

That's a good idea, but do both if possible.

Learning Spanish at college will give you the basis for grammar, tenses and limited vocabulory, but remember, their main aim is to get you to PASS EXAMS. This worked for me because I could attack the language in a 'mathematical' way.

However, my native Spanish speaker taught me how to say things in Spanish to pass exams and also what Spanish people would actually say.

Good luck

sammytowes
08-09-2014, 17:38
yes I understand what you mean. What I was thinking was to do the couple of courses and then once I have done that then have some one to one sessions once I have completed the courses. Like I say I know I will not be fluent but at least it will give me a good start in which I can continue when I am over there
Thanks

Westminster
08-09-2014, 19:08
It seems incredulous that you have been to University, and are considering moving to an island with 35% unemployment, low wages, and a very poor standard of living for most working people.
Why do you not wish to pursue a career in the UK, Europe's richest country with falling unemployment, and numerous well paid jobs for graduates.
Tenerife is fine for rich pensioners like me, but for the have-nots, forget it.

sammytowes
08-09-2014, 19:31
Very true.. but moving to Tenerife.. taking a year out and been able to live that life is something I want to do. Not saying I will stay there forever but it is something I want to try. Yes rich pensioners are able to go ahead and do it but I do not want to wait until I am a pensioner. Thanks

It seems incredulous that you have been to University, and are considering moving to an island with 35% unemployment, low wages, and a very poor standard of living for most working people.
Why do you not wish to pursue a career in the UK, Europe's richest country with falling unemployment, and numerous well paid jobs for graduates.
Tenerife is fine for rich pensioners like me, but for the have-nots, forget it.

bulldog
08-09-2014, 21:21
Sadly,there,s not much work here my Spanish son-in-law,s sister who went to uni in Madrid and is well trained as some sort of
medical therapist has just got a job in La laguna after 4 years of having to do shop ,bar work or leave the island and she,s a native.
think long and hard about it on saying that she who dares wins, good luck!!

Tom & Sharon
09-09-2014, 08:51
Hi Sammy, and welcome to the forum.

In your opening posts, you said you wanted to "make a life out there", and then further on mention "taking a year out". Which of those did you mean?

If you mean the second, then that's absolutely understandable, to take a year out after your degree, experience living abroad. You'll have a good time, just make sure you bring plenty of money. You'll probably pick up a job of some sort, but in all reality, it will be low paid, working in a bar or telesales, something like that. It'll give you a good insight into whether living abroad is for you, the reality of it. Have a good time, gain the experience, but don't expect to stop.

If you mean the first, that you're coming out to Tenerife to get a career, and start to build a life, then I'd seriously think again. What are you studying at University? Even if you learn Spanish, you're just not likely to get a job at graduate level.

I'm not saying you should stay in the UK, just take your degree to a country where you can use it to build a life. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US if possible, mainland Europe. All countries with a sound economic structure. I absolutely understand the feeling that you want to move abroad, and if you do, I think you should do it. But choose your destination wisely. Tenerife is a holiday island. It has no real economy. As previously stated, it's great for pensioners, but really not a place to build a life when you're young.

princessmonika
09-09-2014, 08:58
sharon you hit the nail on the head -- yes it is a great island , if you have some income -- but to make a life and make lots of money, there are as you say ,better countries for a career --

sammytowes
09-09-2014, 13:47
Thanks all for the latest comments.
I know I will not be out there for the rest of my life, and moving somewhere that I can use my Business Management degree is something that I want to do eventually. Even coming back to the UK.
Although moving to Tenerife for like I say at least a year just to try it and have that experience of living there is something I want to do. I do not expect to be making mega money out there. I know I will not be able to use my degree there and will end up with bar work/ shop work.
I am 25 years old and at the moment do not want to settle down, I want to have experienced different things in life, other than the life I have now. Tenerife been one of them.
By making a life out there what I meant was I do not want to come out there and get drunk constantly and not live a life that I want to.

Tom & Sharon
09-09-2014, 17:54
Thanks all for the latest comments.
I know I will not be out there for the rest of my life, and moving somewhere that I can use my Business Management degree is something that I want to do eventually. Even coming back to the UK.
Although moving to Tenerife for like I say at least a year just to try it and have that experience of living there is something I want to do. I do not expect to be making mega money out there. I know I will not be able to use my degree there and will end up with bar work/ shop work.
I am 25 years old and at the moment do not want to settle down, I want to have experienced different things in life, other than the life I have now. Tenerife been one of them.
By making a life out there what I meant was I do not want to come out there and get drunk constantly and not live a life that I want to.

That's all good then Sammy. Look at it as a gap year, have a good time, experience living outside the UK, and then go where your experience and degree take you.

sammytowes
09-09-2014, 18:26
Thank you, I will do.