First, how could you not teach them your native tongue??? Ok, I won’t guilt you anymore. I am still mad at my mother, who was fluent in French and conversational in German, but didn’t raise me bilingual (English is my only language, sadly).

Although, if my knowledge of European education isn’t completely obsolete, don’t all students learn 3 languages in school? When I worked with a European team 20 years ago, people from Denmark, Netherlands, France and Italy all said they learned their native language and English, or another European language, from a young age, and then did a third language later on. I was so jealous! Has that changed? I guess it’s been an entire generation since then…I’m old! But if your kids are already multilingual, they can pick up other languages easier than kids who didn’t study languages at a young age. And there are international schools as well.

Ok, back to your situation =). 11 & 12 means middle school, yes? If your kids are happy and thriving with close friendships, and looking forward to “high school” (I know it’s structured a little different over there), maybe discuss with them the possibility of moving back home and see how they feel.

A relative of mine took a year off of work (her company at the time had a sabbatical program where you could take 6 months unpaid off after 10 years and get your same job back, or take a year off, and get the same level of job back, but the position was not guaranteed). She took her two middle school aged kids and hubby and they traveled around the world, doing online school while they went so the kids didn’t fall behind. The kids grumped and were middle schoolers, of course, but it was an amazing experience for them - to see the world first hand, to study history in the places instead of just reading about them, to tour and see the artwork up close and not just in a book. Admittedly, that’s different from what you’re thinking about doing, but maybe you could look at it as an experiment. Plan to go for a year and see how it is, have a plan to return if the kids are miserable, or it’s not what you expected either. Lots of people who leave the U.S. (where I’m from), are homesick, but when they come home, they find they no longer fit in here anymore either, and they end up leaving again.

Whatever you do, life is meant to be lived. There is this movie, a goofy, but poignant romantic comedy, called Strictly Ballroom, from decades ago. The theme running through the movie is “a life lived in fear, is a life half-lived.” Don’t let fear stop you from being bold. If the experiment fails, pick yourself back up, and try something else. Don’t let yourself be stuck in a life you’re not living fully because you fear failure. Fail boldly and with abandon - it’s the only way to find the life you truly want to be living =).

Good luck to you and your family!