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Dear Jagsatori,

Welcome to the Ecuador forums of expat.com ....

Anyone fluent in French should find it fun and easy to learn Spanish.

If you have a DVR function on your TV's, have family members watch at least an hour a day of your favorite English-language programs, activate the Spanish subtitles .. and use the pause button to stop the video and look up words and unfamiliar phrases in a paper dictionary or at ....

This will give them a big leg-up for your stay in Cuenca.

cccmedia

Cuenca probably offers more Expat-friendly events, meetups and field trips than any other city in South America.

They are easily googled .. or come back here for additional tips on how to find more.

cccmedia

HI,
My name is Mary and my family just moved to Cuenca for a sabbatical as well for a year.  We have just been here for 2 weeks now and are getting adjusted.  We moved here from the Seattle area.  We have 4 kids oldest 14 y/o girl, 10 y/o boy, 7 y/o girl, & 4 y/o girl.  My husband is teaching at a bi-lingual school here in Cuenca.  It is called CEDEI, from what he has heard it is the best duo language school in all Ecuador.  They have 60-70% in spanish and the rest in english and there are 2 teachers in each class (native Ecuadorian & native english speaker.)  I don't have many words of wisdom right now being so new, but by January I may be a little smarter in terms of Ecuadorian living.  This is my first time on this website so not sure how it all works.  If you would like to reach out my email address is *** please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to give you some direction.  My daughter is new and may be a good friendship in the makings.  Hope all your plans come together smoothly, ours did for the most part...

Mary

Dear Mary,

We welcome you and your family to expat.com's Ecuador forum and our South American communities.

Posters,

On this site, remember to give out your personal email via PM messaging .. and not on public forum(s).

cccmedia
expat.com experts-team member

Hi Mary,

Thanks for this great information and I hope you're settling into life in Cuenca. I would definitely like to hear more about the school. Are there also Ecuadorian children or only expats? What are the grades? My daughter just started 7th grade. We're hoping that she'll be in Spanish school--whether it's an Ecuadorian school or an expat one--and we'll most likely have to supplement some of her education by homeschooling so she doesn't fall behind when we return home.

Unfortunately, your email was blocked. You can reach me at ***

I hope to hear from you to continue the discussion offline.

Best,
Julia

Hi Mary,
Checking in again to see how your transition is going. I reached out to you a few weeks ago with my direct email but not sure if it went through. I'll try again--just in case. It's ***. We are still looking into schools and are undecided if a local school or an international school makes more sense. I plan to reach out to CEDEI this week but would love an update on your experience there to date. Also, are they able to transfer grades back to U.S. schools?
Thanks,
Julia

Hi!
So, did you move?
We have 3 daughters in a public school since April where we live in Yunguilla. My girls are almost 11,13, 15.
Private schools in Cuenca can be pricey but they give excellent educations. There is IB school for high school students available. I home schooled my kids for five years.
I have been around and travelled, enrolled my kids in Europe too. If you have questions I may have the answers.
Regards,
Evi

Hello Evi,
Thank you for your reply. We are actually living in Cuenca now (since January) and my daughter has been attending Bell Academy which has been a great experience for her. We're actually getting ready to move back to the U.S. soon however I will be sure to reach out to you if we move back here. We're currently looking at Alborada and also the French International School as possibilities for high school if we return to Cuenca in 2020.

Best,
Julia