Au pairs arriving in America are dealing with cultural differences and, yes, language differences!  Their primary reason for joining the cultural exchange program is to improve their English. 

As your au pair struggles with her English, be patient and support her efforts.  Your au pair may find her English is not as good as she thought and she may be upset about this, even embarrassed!  Encourage her when she tries to pronounce words and finds new words she has not encountered before. 

Your au pair will find that Americans speak very fast and that we do not always pronounce our words clearly.  We may speak in different dialects (Southern dialects are very different compared to Northern) and that we use a lot of slang that she may not have heard before.  Many au pairs don’t understand a lot of words and phrases in America, even though their English is pretty good and they come from countries where English is either the national language (South Africa, Australia) or a very common language (Germany).

Most host families are under the impression that their au pair will speak good, fluent English.  However, this is often not the case.  Au pair agencies often misrepresent the English skills of their au pairs.  Why?  Au pair agencies understand good English ranks number one on their host family’s wish list and therefore they promote their au pairs as having good English.  They do not always provide full disclosure regarding the difficulties your au pair may have expressing herself in English! 

Once your au pair arrives and you are surprised or even dismayed at her struggling English, it is not uncommon to feel annoyed with the au pair.  You may even consider rematching.  However, you should be patient with your au pair if she has the desire to improve her English.  Have a conversation with her about this to assess how motivated she is to learn! 

Many au pairs will quickly adapt and speak better English.  If your au pair is highly motivated to improve her English, she will want to sign up for an English as Second Language course (ESL).  Sign her up right away!  Your local support counselor will assist you in finding the local colleges that offer ESL courses.  

Keep in mind your au pair is now in an "immersion" English program, where all she hears is English and she is "forced" to speak the language.  As a result, her English skills will dramatically improve!  Her pronunciation will also improve, and don't be surprised if your children are quick to correct her.  Just make sure the children are correcting her in a supportive and helpful way, and not making fun of her or making her feel inadequate. 

There are American words that she will not understand because she is unfamiliar with them. We have different words for a whole slew of  terms (usually British) that international youth incorporate when they learned English in their countries.

Here is a list of some common words and phrases to help you and your au pair deal with some of these language differences: