Hermosillo, Sonora is an easy place to adapt to. From your post I am not sure why you are coming here and if any members of the family already have any work lined up. There are several private schools that teach in english and spanish. Those people who have come here with families have no issues getting the kids in a school that can teach them. Since I have no kids I cannot tell what the prices are for this. Pay for any type of labor job whether it is plumbing, painting, car repairs, or nail technician is very low compared to the rest of North America. Rent is expensive, interest rates are if you want to buy a house. When I arrived I had zero spanish and I survived. I am sure that anyone can get by because Hermosillo is close to the U.S. so a lot of people have enough english that you can get your point across.

Good luck

Graeme

graeme could you please write your experience there at forst. I would like to here it.

yes in order to start the life in Hermosillo you need to have a good job, at least both of adults. The pay in mexico is not good. We are talking about $500 a month and thats a good job pay rate. It baffles me why would someone leave a job in USA and come live in Mexico?! But people got their own dreams. I like to visit mexico but thats about it, after few weeks I get tired of everything there and go back to USA until I have desire again.

Hello, pinkmamid. Have you completed your move yet? I live in Rancho Bonito -- a small, semi-gated community close to the airport.

In case you are still investigating: there are quite a few schools that are either bilingual or even teach the curriculum in English, although I would recommend that you don't deny them the experience of full immersion. Private schools are pricey. I have two brothers-in-law who are involved in the public school system: if you have specific questions perhaps I can pass them along.

Curious: what is the motivation for moving to Hermosillo?

-Joel

"Curious: what is the motivation for moving to Hermosillo?"

Ha ha ha ha, it is not curiousness it is just common sense question, why would someone move to hermosillo from united states, you know that there is nothing in hermosillo that will atract foreign to live there.

BSDandEspresso, are you saying you can put English speaking children in the government schools? I would love to run this idea past any of your relatives that work for the school system. The last thing I want to do is move there and have my kids in private English speaking schools. How would they learn Spanish? Which public school(s) would you suggest living close to? For all of you wondering why anyone would want to move to Hermosillo, I want to move there to learn Spanish. I don't need a job, and would love to have a cook...

Becky,

Yes, you can put English-speaking children in public schools. One of my relatives had two Chinese students--they learned Spanish by the "sink or swim" method. :)

As I mentioned in my reply to you in the other thread, a private school still may be the best option. I don't mean an English-speaking school; rather, any one of the many fine "normal" private schools that exist in Hermosillo. They are generally smaller, more flexible, and possibly less intimidating for you and your kids.

Again, feel free to contact me off-board and we can discuss more.

The public schools in Mexico typically have no support for bilingual students, and especially not for non-Spanish speaking students. Even though most teachers are university graduates, and after a certain time had to pass English to graduate, many are not fluent in English.

For example I have a friend who teaches second grade in the public schools in Hermosillo. He will have 40 children in his classroom this year, which is typical. He has no classroom aide. He speaks no English. Now that would be learning by immersion! He agrees that it would be a bad idea to send children who speak no Spanish to public school unless there is outside support for language instruction. Schools are on double shifts (6-12 and 12-6 is typical), so there is time for the extra instruction.

You might be surprised to learn that public schools in Mexico are academically equal to ours, and by the end of high school better. 30 years ago they were much inferior. You will see computers, and not old out of date ones, in classrooms, even in rural areas. However, as I said, there is no formal support for bilingual instruction.

As a former education professional with doctoral degree in education, I would advise that your children would have a miserable experience going to a public school. The other children would be kind and help them learn Spanish, but the teacher would not have the time to give them extra time. The teacher is closely held to prescribed curriculum and activities.

There are many very good private schools in Hermosillo which do have bilingual instruction. Some have been mentioned. I do not know enough about them to make recommendations. School starts in Hermosillo August 29, so if you plan to do this, you need to start looking seriously. It also often happens that children who attend school in Mexico and return to the US find themselves ahead of their peers in many areas. I would not expect that to happen in one year.