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Au Pairs From Brazil!

We just published our article on Brazil.  Here are a few highlights from the article:

Potential Strength When Hiring an Au Pair from Brazil:

1.  Most au pairs are highly motivated to successfully complete their cultural exchange year.  They understand this experience will boost their resume and chances of a better job once they return home.  As a result, they really desire to do a good job and work hard at taking care of your children.

There are two more good reasons to host an au pair from Brazil...

Potential Weaknesses of the Brazilian Au Pair

1. Their oral skills in English may be weak and if they are not motivated to work on their English lessons, they will not improve.  Communicating with them can pose real challenges for you and your children. 

Tip: make sure your au pair understands you expect them to take English classes once they arrive and that you expect them to improve their English if you hire them.

2.  There are a small percentage of Brazilians au pairs who are motivated to come to the USA to travel and have a fun year abroad - and these girls may not have a keen desire to care for children all day, but instead their main focus is sightseeing, meeting American youth and making friends.   You may find your Brazilian au pair likes to party and keep late hours compared to other nationalities. 

Tip:  Read our article on "Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing an Au Pair" and our advice on how to avoid matching with a Party Girl (Mistake #3)! 

Read the entire article on Brazil and au pairs from the country they call the Land of Happiness.

Brazilian au pairs - warm personality and cheerfulness

I had a wonderful experience with my Brazilian au pairs. They are very loving and caring with the family and kids. Organized, clean, giving and cheerful. Mine were very respectful but won’t tolerate disrespect or deal well with coldness and rudeness... They are very social, and they do like to make friends, my Brazilian au pairs didn't party or drunk a lot (very little), just what is expected for their age I guess... I liked that they had a social circle of friends so we could have some "us" time and be more free. The only thing is that they have difficulty saying no to parents, and that can be a problem… but other than that I loved my Brazilian au pairs and I have always heard that they are one of the most requested nationalities because of their warm personality and cheerfulness.

  • By Jane at 07/18/2009 - 20:23
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Au Pairs from Brazil

Hi Jane,

Thank you for the comments - and yes, I had very good experiences with au pairs from Brazil - they really are warm and cheerful and the life of any party!  They are very social indeed.

Yes, I agree with you - many of them, despite their open personality and ability to converse, had trouble discussing issues with host parents and they would do things for them and then complain to their counselors.  Then, when the counselors spoke to the host parents - to intervene on the part of the au pair, they always denied they said anything! 

A lot of trouble arose in these situations - and the best way to handle this, we found, for the counselors, was to tell the au pair to speak to the host parent and really stay out of it unless the host parents were breaking the rules in a significant way.

It did take a few years for American host families to begin to warm up to girls from Brazil and now, as you say, they remain one of the more popular nationalities for host parents.

Best,

Edina

  • By Edina Stone at 07/18/2009 - 22:24
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Love the Article on Au Pairs from Brazil

Edina - love your article on Brazil and the au pairs that come from that country. We have heard about brazilian au pairs 'gone wild!" It is funny that you mention it here - I guess they (or some) have this reputation! Some of the girls from Brazil in our development are quite attractive and dress somewhat inappropriately for a nanny. They show way too much skin and it is not a healthy role modeling for children!

Sometimes these girls look very good during the interview process, then they get here, with no parents, no restrictions on their personal lives and time - and they do go a little wild.

We have been to Brazil two times and we just loved the place, the weather, the beaches and the food! not sure if it is the right country for hiring au pairs though!

Thanks again for such great writing and insights for host parents!

Chinagirl

  • By Jake at 07/01/2009 - 22:19
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Au Pairs Gone Wild

Dear Jake,

Yes, sometimes, due to the strict Catholic upbringing girls have in Brazil, these young au pairs can go a bit wild when they are finally on their own, away from the scrutiny of their parents.  They do have this reputation, as "wild party girls" but it is not a major problem.  If you interview them carefully, and let them know before they arrive, what your expectations are, and keep the channels of communication open during their year with you, they often do very well.

Brazil is one of the countries that I plan to visit soon - it sounds wonderful! 

Jane is correct, many host parents do ask for Brazilian au pairs because of their warm, cheery personalities and they love children and it really shows.

Best,

Edina

  • By Edina Stone at 07/18/2009 - 22:31
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wow, that was not our

wow, that was not our experience at all.

  • By Jane at 07/18/2009 - 20:25
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