Гувернантки из Великобритании — это выгодное вложение в образование и воспитание детей

Why governesses from the UK are a profitable investment in your children's education. Recommendations from the recruitment Agency English Nanny

The British education system is a stable trend: even in the face of financial turmoil, the need for quality education, classical education, and fluency in foreign languages is growing. English Regent's University London and University College London were among the top five universities most popular among Forbes list children. So, children of Gennady Timchenko, Vladimir Lisin, Herman Khan, Leonid Fedun, Boris Rotenberg, Iskander Makhmudov, Mikhail Gutseriev, Alexander Mamut, Roman Abramovich, and others have studied in the UK.

A child should be prepared to move to another country and to study in a British school, and you should trust highly qualified British mentors with it. Moreover, it can never be just a native speaker studying part-time at some university, it will always be a professional found via trusted sources. After all, nannies and tutors from London, according to the established tradition in the Kingdom, prefer to settle in families not directly, but through an intermediary Agency. English Nanny Agency has the most complete database of candidates and their employment success stories, the agency has been operating in Russia for over 30 years. With such a mentor the child will learn the language faster, they will socialize, pass the school program that will allow entering the University on a General basis and facilitate the transition to professional education.

According to the director of the Russian and Ukrainian offices of English Nanny, Valentin Grogol, even during crisis nannies and governesses from the UK are in demand: 3 out of 10 qualified English specialists work with children in Russia and CIS countries. What else is important: large companies such as English Nanny provide all kind of services including collecting of all necessary documents for foreign educational institutions.

Time of linguistic geniuses

If the task of the nanny is not just to spend time with the child, but to provide the necessary knowledge and language environment, a professional with a special pedagogical education is needed. With well-structured training, the pupils of such nannies grow up bilinguals who are fluent in both a foreign language and their native Russian. At the same time, they do not have to make any effort to learn English because it becomes their daily life.

Russian classics who were fluent in foreign languages since childhood, such as Leo Tolstoy, wrote about the popularity of foreign tutors in aristocratic society in Russia. History repeats itself. Today, the need for a wealthy society to be fluent in foreign languages is as important as in pre-revolutionary Russia. And future success is increasingly determined by intelligence. By the way, the average level of IQ and creative abilities, according to scientists, is higher in bilingual and trilingual children than in those who grow up in a monolingual environment. In addition, according to researchers from Canada, bilinguals live much longer and suffer less from the loss of mental abilities in old age.

It may seem like the child is being forced to study too much. In fact, everything is way better. In adulthood, it is not easy to become fluent in a foreign language, it is hard to learn to think in the language and speak without an accent. This requires a lot of time, money and effort, and even these efforts do not guarantee the result. The child's capabilities in this regard are incomparably higher. After all, for children foreign language classes turn into a game. Any kid will easily get used to the situation. Moreover, the younger the child is, the better and faster we will see results. So, at the age of one the child perceives new knowledge more effectively than at the age of 7. Therefore, parents hire a foreign nanny as early as possible because they do not want to miss the moment.

Many affluent Russian families have more complex, but most effective, parenting scheme. When the baby turns one year old, an English-speaking nanny is hired to work with him. Two years later, she is joined by a French colleague who works with an English nanny in shifts. By the age of 4-5 years old the child meets new mentors: the English nanny is replaced with a governess from London, and another language is added. Traditionally, you can choose from German, Italian, and Spanish. However, as the head of English Nanny, Valentin Grogol, notes, recently the demand for Chinese governesses has increased, those who have received a prestigious education in London and speak the Beijing dialect - Mandarin.

We should not forget the educational moment as well. Foreign Tutors not only give you freedom to communicate in the language and teach you to read the classics of world literature in the original. First of all, it is immersion in a different culture and lessons of good manners, respect for yourself and your work, as well as a general expansion of horizons.

Setting accents

Sometimes parents decide to personally communicate with the child at home in a foreign language. Sometimes they overestimate their own capabilities. Even if they have the patience to comply with their idea in any situation, they do not take into account their own mistakes in speech and pronunciation. But children remember all these mistakes and make the same ones later. Changing that later will be extremely difficult, annoying errors will probably still pop up.

That is why literacy and clarity of speech is one of the top requirements for an English nanny. Let the role of teacher remain with the native speaker. Parents should focus on the teaching the child general family values and preservation of the native language, which is also of great importance in the situation of active introduction of English and other foreign languages.

Few adults can boast of the ability to easily communicate with foreign employees in several languages. This creates misunderstandings and disagreements.

"To avoid unpleasant situations, we use SMS and messengers like Viber and WhatsApp when communicating with foreign nannies," says Vladimir, who works in the banking sector.

His children, aged 6 and 11, are now fluent in English, French and Italian. Their father had only recently begun to speak English with confidence. Difficulties in communicating with nannies and governesses disappeared when we started to communicate via different messengers. In this case, you can always clarify the meaning of what was said, using electronic translators or more knowledgeable friends, correctly formulate your own thoughts, and save the history of the conversation in case there is a conflict.

"A great option is to hire a teacher who has at least basic knowledge of the Russian language, - adds Vladimir. - Of course, such specialists are more expensive, but in this case, any parent is able to convey to the nanny what they want from her."

National peculiarities

When hiring a foreign employee, you need to know and remember the difference in mentality. The British have quite strict requirements regarding the schedule. If parents are going to go out and they want their nanny to work late, they are supposed to double the payment and discuss such an event at least a week in advance. And the nanny, if it is not too convenient for her, has the right to say no.

"This is a purely English thing, - says Sergey, a businessman who develops mobile apps. – With nannies from Russia, everything is much easier, they are more ready for the spontaneity of parents. But, on the other hand, we understand that in our case, an English nanny is an important teacher. So, we have adapted to these rules and respect them."

Another nuance is the clearly defined range of tasks of the English nanny. Usually, as noted by their employers, they do not cook very well and are do not desire to help around the house (unlike Russian or Filipino ladies). However, you can be sure that within the agreed schedule and professional activities of the employee, everything will work as clearly and effectively as possible. And yes, British women are very punctual, which is also noted by parents as a definite plus.

And here is another common difference between an English nanny and an average Russian one. Such work in the UK is a certified activity and to do this, you need to take courses and get the appropriate document. In addition, you need to have an insurance and medical certificate. After all, a nanny is an extremely responsible position. Just having a good heart and loving children is not enough here – "nanny" does not just sit with children, but teaches them everything from the day they are born.

However, there are babysitters in England too. Usually, these are part-time students without any certificates. And yes, they are called babysitters.

Positive dynamics

Still, there was a slight decline in the Russian market for foreign personnel caused by lower oil prices. However, by July 2016, the demand for specialists of this kind has grown significantly. There are about 40 requests for the selection of a nanny from the UK each month. Most of them – about 30 – account for the company English Nanny.

"Moreover, the average salary of a qualified English nanny is also increasing, - says Valentin Grogol, director of the Russian and Ukrainian offices of English Nanny. - So, if in 2014 they received 900-1000 pounds a week, today the best candidates get1200-1400 pounds a week. This is when the work schedule is 5 days a week for 8-10 hours a day, with mandatory two days off." The success of the company does not allow us to question his words. Today, English Nanny has quite successful branches both in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as in the regions: another central office is located in Nizhny Novgorod, 5 more offices are located in Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Samara, as well as offices in Kiev and Astana.

In addition to nannies from the UK, the company helps in the selection of housekeepers (including Filipinos), drivers, personal assistants, security guards and other domestic staff. However, there are also Russian specialists. Russian teachers with higher pedagogical education work well alongside with English governesses. Also, as noted by Valentin Grogol, families with high incomes always have a personal chef. Before there was only one French or Italian chef among ten employed "chefs", now there are at least three foreigners.