Language Nanny 101

by Adelaide Olguin

In the video above, we share how we help our children learn languages that we don’t know or are learning and sure 14 tips that will help your language nanny.

Getting a Language Nanny on ANY Budget

If you’re interested in teaching your child a new language, which I am so excited you are, here are the options for getting one in the Unnited States and their costs. I also added the cost of a nanny for where we currently live in Brazil.

Options	Weekly Rate	Hourly Rate
Another Mom	Free / 2 -10 hours	Free
Teenage Babysitter	$50 – $70 / 10 hours	$5 – $7 / hour
Nanny	$200 – $280 / 20 hours	$10 – $14 / hour
Au Pair	$344 / 40 hours	$7.65 / hour**
For us in Brazil*	$75 for 30 hours	$2.50 / hour

*This is the going rate.

** There are fees for locating an Au Pair and for the paperwork included in this price, but they must be paid up front, so it’s really not $344 a week. It’s 195.75 per week with $7,900 paid up front for the 51 weeks. http://mkto.aupaircare.com/ProgramCosts.html?gclid=CNm-uOvPksECFQMT7AodWRUAEA has “the most affordable prices in the industry.”

Another Mom – Free

Tandem language partners are awesome! I did this in Germany. Having another mom as your child’s tandem language partner is so good for both of you. What you do is switch off watching each other’s children. For 2 hours, you have all the kids, and for 2 hours, she has all the kids. If you’re stretched on time, you can switch off every other day Monday – Thursday. During that time, you each speak your native language while taking care of the kids.

The other mom will be so grateful that someone is speaking English to their child at home (this exposes them to a lot of vocabulary that they might not hear outside the home), and you will be so happy that your child is learning their language, plus you get some extra time to run some errands or go to a doctor’s appointment. (Well, that’s what we do when we switch off with another mom.)

If you don’t know of any ESL moms or moms learning English, check with your local moms organization and the ESL department at a school near by you. I love this option. And what’s even better is you’ll make a lifelong friend.

Teenage Babysitter – $5 – 7 / hour

I love the teenage babysitters from my church. They are so nice and fun. I often put babysitters on a pay scale, depending on how much they do. For example, if they play with the kids, they get $5. If they teach the child songs and play games while they are with us, they get $6. If they do lots of planned activities, they get $7. I like doing this because, for us, it motivates the babysitter, and when we pay her, she feels like she did a great job.

Nanny – $10 – $14 / hour

We had a German-speaking nanny in Texas. She was awesome. We found her through care.com where we searched for anyone who spoke German in our area. We arranged for paid 5 interviews over the course of a week where they played with the kids for an hour each. 2 of the people were flakey, so we obviously didn’t want them. And she jumped in doing crafts and singing with the kids.

Au Pair – $7.65 / hour**

Au Pairs can be awesome or a disaster. They are awesome because they are super dedicated, and your child gets the most language exposure. Be sure to let them know before they come that you want them to speak their native language with your kids.

I was an Au Pair in Germany, and it was fun to play and sing with the kids in English, go to the zoo with them, and do other activities. The little boy started speaking English quickly, and the older sister continued to improve. But their Au Pair before me gave the children TB! This would be the disaster part. I had to take a TB test before working with them… It’s important to do those things to make sure your kids are safe.

Outside the US

The price of a caretaker outside the US varies greatly. The best way to find out the price is to ask another mom what the going rate is. If she doesn’t know, she will probably know someone who knows.

Free Download – 14 Ways You can Help my Child Learn your Language

I made a free download for you to give to your caretaker (if s/he speaks English). Often caretakers want to help, but they don’t quite know what to do. Once they know, in my experience, they do such a great job.

Foreign-Speaking-Nanny-14