Torn on schooling. Local school for real integration and the language, or international for an easier landing? What did you choose and how did the kids actually take it?
Local school threw ours in at the deep end and they were fluent scarily fast — but the first term was genuinely hard and there were tears. Worth it in the end, but go in eyes open.
We did local school + weekend mother-tongue classes to keep the home language alive. Kids code-switch beautifully now; the extra Saturday effort was worth it.
International school eased the landing, no question — but the cost and the expat bubble were real trade-offs. Great transition, less integration. Depends what you're optimising for.
Age mattered most for us: the little one absorbed the language effortlessly, the teenager struggled far more with both language and the social side. Factor in where each kid is.
"Local for integration, international for a soft landing, age changes everything." That's the clearest summary I've read. Thank you all.