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Video Response
1057 Au Pair
Layla talks about her life as an au pair in the United States and about her routine of taking care of kids.
- Transcript
- Audio Slide Show
- Vocabulary
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Layla
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Todd
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MP3 Link
Layla: So, every day I wake in the morning at seven and I take care of the kids, and get them dressed. I drop them at school. After that I go to my class. I take a class, and English class, and then I pick them at 12:30 at school. And he come back at home, the kid, and he take his nap. After that we go to the park by car, go to the library or until the parents come back from their work.
Todd: That's a pretty full-day. So what's the best thing about being an au pair?
Layla: The best think for me I think is to meet new people and new culture, new lifestyle, and I think for me it's a very good experience.
Todd: Is there anything difficult about being an au pair?
Layla: The most difficult I think it to be far from our family because for me it's the first time so it's a little bit hard, but just one year, it's gonna be OK.
Todd: So, for an au pair is it your job to like cook and clean and things like that?
Layla: Most of the au pairs cooks for the kids and do the laundry. I don't. But, yeah, usually the au pairs have to clean up after the kids. Do their laundry. Clean up their bedroom, and yeah, taking care of the kids. Yeah.
What is the daily routine of an au pair?
An au pair is a young person, usually a woman, who moves to another country to live with a family to take care of their children usually only for a year. Au pair is a French word. The English word is nanny, but that often refers to an older person. Notice the following:
- We have an au pair from Belgium.
- She was an au pair for a year in Holland.
I take care of the kids.
When you take care of someone, you look after then. You watch over them and make sure they are protected and in good condition. For example, parents usually take care of their kids, but some bad parents don't. Here are a few examples:
- I took care of my father as he got older.
- Most people like to be taken care of when they are sick.
He takes his nap in the afternoon.
A nap is a short sleep in the daytime. Naps usually last only a few hours. Children and older people often like to take naps in the afternoon. Notice the following:
- He was fired for taking a nap at his desk.
- As a kid, I hated taking naps, but now I love them.
That is a pretty full-day.
When something is full, that means there is no space left in it, so a full-day means a day that has no free time in the schedule. Here are a few other uses using the prefix full-:
- He has a full-day planned for his day off.
- He has a full-schedule all month.
I do the laundry and clean the rooms.
Laundry is dirty clothes, so when you do the laundry you wash the clothes. However, people usually say 'do the laundry' more often than they say 'wash the clothes'. Notice the following:
- I love doing the laundry, but I hate ironing.
- I usually do my laundry at the laundromat.
