Primary Schools in Barcelona
Aufgegeben von Brian McLean in Barcelona Forum
Lucy,
Primary schools are generally very good in Catalunya. As Meritxell said a five-year-old boy will have no trouble at all picking up the language and in primary schools there are "Welcoming Courses" designed to help with integration over the first months (I don't remember exactly how many), but there is always auxillary staff to aid anybody with specific problems, including slow-learning locals.
Both my daughters, currently 14 & 16 have gone through the public school system here and my eldest is currently in the States to do what was supposed to be her first year of "Batxillerat". I think you would call it the sixth form in the UK, at least in prehistoric times when I went to school. When she arrive she was immediately place in the second year as her level was far higher than that of her American contempories.
I have lived in both Gràcia and Poble Sec and know Poble Nou very well. All three of them are areas with a concentration of immigrants, as they were, originally, some of the more economical "barris". Gràcia in particular is well known for a multi-cultural/coloured population with a, what we generally call, "squatter look" with a surfeit of rastas. Though up till some years ago it was a very Catalan Barri, that is no longer true and, in fact, I have great difficulty in making my self understood in Catalan. There is a very large South American population who, in general, refuse to learn Catalan, which often restricts them to bar work and other menial tasks.
If your boyfriend is currently in Barcelona, I would be very happy to have a coffee and chat. My mobile is:
681 201 166Cheers,
Brian