Top 5 Reasons to become an Au Pair

Today’s world has no boundaries. People travel everywhere. Many people will work in a number of different countries, make friends or even settle down with a partner of a different nationality. The world is becoming a smaller place and being able to communicate with people from different backgrounds and cultures and to adapt to different environments has become an essential part of life.

Becoming an Au Pair is a great way to interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds. It is also a great way to see a new country, experience its culture, learn a language, meet new people and very importantly have lots of fun!

Here are the top 5 reasons to become an au pair:

1. Learn a different language and a different culture

As an Au Pair you will be immersed in your host family’s culture and you will be speaking a foreign language all the time. Being an au pair is such a brilliant way to learn a language. While you live with a family, the children will speak to you in their language. You will be bombarded with questions and requests from the children and with all this talk, it will be very hard for you to avoid learning their language! You might even learn some 'slang' too! On top of this, you’ll get a real insight of their culture and to their traditions too. You will get the chance to eat with your host family. So with any luck, you will get to taste the national dishes. They may listen to traditional music and maybe even play the national sports. It is true that you could go to language classes and study the language and study the culture of a country but it will never be a substitute for actually living with a family and experiencing the language in daily use and experiencing the culture of a country.

2. Learn new skills

Being an Au Pair will give you the opportunity to learn new skills that will be of great help to you when you want to find a job in the future. Organising yourself between language classes, doing your homework, looking after the kids, dropping and collecting the kids from school will require you to learn how to prioritize and manage your tasks. Interacting verbally and in writing with your host family, your teachers and the admin staff of your language school will improve your communication skills, not to mention your language skills. The whole experience itself is a great asset to have in your CV, as it shows that you are adaptable, flexible, willing to learn and able to deal with other people.

3. Travel to different countries

Au Pairing is not all about learning and minding children, it’s also great fun! If you’re eager to discover the world outside your own country, this is a great way to do it. Many au pairs travel to other parts of their host country when they have free time or at the weekends. You might have met other au pairs who would also like to travel and you can organise to do weekend trips together. There are also many travel companies who organise day trips or short trips. As au pairing becomes more popular all over the world, there are  more and more host countries from which to choose waiting including Spain, Italy, Ireland, UK, Australia, France, Germany, USA and many more!

4. Make new friends

If you want to become an Au Pair, you’re not compelled to attend a language course. However, we strongly recommend that you sign up for a language course, particularly if your language skills are not at a proficient level. Not only will you learn a language during these classes, it is a really good way of meeting new friends from all over the world. You will be sharing this whole experience with them and some of them might become lifetime friends. You could plan future travels together or you might go and visit them in their home country and share new adventures with them!

5. Personal development

If you’re young, still living with your parents and haven’t travelled much, you’re probably still trying to figure out who you are and what you want. It takes time to find out our true self and one of the best ways to do it is to embark on a journey on our own, literally and metaphorically. Being an Au Pair will be hard at times, especially at the start when everything and everybody is new, but here is your chance to see how you react in these situations and to find out your strengths. So don’t miss this incredible opportunity and find the au pair programme that best suits you!

For more information about being an au pair, please see http://www.kangarooaupair.com/ie/au-pair-information or feel free to sign up to our website on www.kangarooaupair.com