Spanish au pairs???

[UnCertainAge]

Sorry, I know you shouldn't generalise about these things, but has anyone had a Spanish au pair? Good / bad experiences???

We have previously had lovely Eastern European girls but am having to make a quick decision as our current au pair is leaving early and I'm being offered only Spanish candidates....

I've had 2. The first one left within 2 weeks because she missed home. She was from a very small village and couldn't cope with life if Reading. Plus she hated the weather, even though she arrived on a very hot September.

The second one was from Northern Spain. She had no issues with the weather, but she was definitely not a child friendly person. She was an excellent cleaner though. She stayed 9 months.

I think the younger ones are very used to having their mums do everything for them, so it is difficult. If I were you I would go for one who has had to study away from home, so that at least she has a bit of "living away" experience.

Otherwise they tend to be very friendly, speak terrible English and love going out until early hours in the morning. None of those things was a problem for me.

I would look into their motivation carefully. The economic situation in Spain is terrible and I would be wary of those who just can't think of anything better to do. I'd want proof that they like children or have a clear plan to learn English and back that up with a good work ethic so they'll knuckle down and do the job.

OUr friends had one who was fab - yes English much worse than our au pair who'd been through the Arbitur in Germany but played an instrument, was very engaged etc. She was a little bit older, like 25. SHe still lives here, moved on to a nanny role.

FUnnily enough the generalisations we heard were that they were 'great with kids.'

The sheer volumes of the candidates from Spain is intimidating- very hard to work out who 'really' wants the role. it is sad the economic situation is so bad there.

If you want to gaurantee strong English, it will probably take less time for you to find someone if you start in northern Europe and work down...

Issues like 'their mothers do everything for them' are definitely something to screen for but can be found in teenagers across Europe. partially because of the way the school system works which means that many mums who do work do it part time and pick up the housekeeping slack in the afternoon.

i am seriously tempted to include in my interview process: What does YOUR DAD do around the house?

OP are you going through an agency?

You could try AP World, think you could find someone quickly and you wouldn't have to commit to any particular nationality!!!

Thanks for all the info. I am being offered some other nationalities now (we are using an agency, but I will def. check out AP World, thanks for that suggestion LadyHarriet). However, there do seem to be a lot of Spanish girls looking for AP jobs!! Will proceed with caution...

Hi,
I have a Spanish au-pair from Malaga, she cooks and can do everything around house (she hates ironing though :)). She likes going out until early morning, but then again when she is with my DS she is very responsible. Her English was very poor when she arrived a year ago, but she picked it up very quickly. I wouldn't generalise. My experience with Eastern European au-pairs was much worse to be honest...

I have had 3 Spanish Aupairs via agencies and all have been brilliant. Very different characters but all were overy good with kids and where lovely to have around.

we have just sacked our second au pair - who was spanish. She did the absolute minimum, never studied for her english lessons, didnt talk to anyone - even us, and let our son run wild around the house whilst she sat with her headphones on playing on her computer. We had to have serious chats 3 times with her - to no avail. Her manners were attrocious and most offers were met with a grunt or a shrug. After having struggled for 9weeks we through in the towel and are awaiting our second german au pair to arrive in two weeks. It would be wrong to categorise all people the same - but i would not hire another spanish au pair after this experience, but would highly recommend German au pairs.

Our first AP was Spanish and she was wonderful. I mistakenly thought all APs were like her and would have her same cheerful, can-do attitude and be great with the children. I soon learnt this was not the case however!

In my experience, I don't think nationality is a reliable indicator of whether an AP will be any good or not. It depends very much on their own personality, family background, and general outlook.

HOwever, I have had the same experience as LadyHarriet and found that the economic situation in Spain has resulted in a marked increase of Spanish applicants. Recently the Spanish applicants I have seen seem to indicate that they want any job, and/or a way into the UK to get another job, and don't have any childcare or babysitting experience even - so this maybe something to bear in mind.

Don't you think there is good and bad whatever nationality you pick?