CHILDREN of English-speaking diplomats or those who can’t speak Spanish at all troop to international schools here in Madrid. They have to be here for the four years in high school if their family live here. But they have to take elective Spanish classes though as later on after about six months in staying here, they are expected to adjust in the educational system of Spain.

Spain is not that bad as a country. For example, if you’re coming from the Philippines because your dad is an ambassador to Spain, then it’s nice to learn a few things about your country’s former colonizer. You may want to enroll in a curriculum which espouses English as the main medium of instruction but later on, you may be encouraged to learn Spanish as well.

But this must only be for elective subjects such as the Spanish language or Spanish history or European history. For practical purposes, you must continue insisting that you learn such subjects as algebra, geometry, biology and astronomy in English. That is for practical purposes, I must stress. No one in the international world will go for you if all you have is a degree in mechanical engineering but only learned in Spanish.

Spanish though is not a language to be cursed. In fact, it is one of the official languages of the United Nations as it is used by 21 countries all over the world with a total population of 400 million. It is a Romance language as its etymology originates from Rome. Since it is a Romance language, one can deduce that Spanish can also be called as the tongue of lovers (no pun intended there).

Here in Spain, you may want to enroll in a school which is not located in Madrid but rather elsewhere. You can have your choice between Barcelona, Benidorm or even in the Balearic or Canary islands. Just like academic years all over the world, school year in Spain starts after summer in early September.

If you are the son or the daughter of a diplomat, think of yourself as one who has undergone a student exchange program. You will be having friends with other people of other nations who are also children of ambassadors just like your dad. Right now that winter is approaching; it tends to get cold here in Spain but not as cold as the rest of mainland Europe. The temperature here may be from 3 to 18 degrees Celsius during winter and that’s tolerable enough.

While the holidays are still approaching, concentrate much on your studies. It may be a different learning environment but the curriculum is still similar to the rest of the world. Emphasis is still being focused on the academic side of things although international schools also send in their varsity and various extra-curricular groups to competitions with other schools here in Spain.

International schools here in Spain are mostly run by Catholic religious orders such as the Jesuits, the Montessori and others. They abound mostly here in the country and it’s not surprising to see that since Spain has strong and devout Catholic roots.