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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It also sounds like she may be going through culture shock and is retreating to her bedroom so she can talk with her family and friends from home. Def get your LCC involved asap. That's your LCC"s job and she would want to know sooner rather than later[/quote]

Thanks so much for this advice. Our family is also going through a bit of a shock because it's been such a change to have someone we don't know in our home!
Any idea how long it might take her to improve her English? She's smart, and she's trying, but I think that's a big part of the challenge.

She can't drive, but then she also can't really communicate with my kids who are 8 and 10. My daughter likes to hang with her a bit but then gets frustrated because they don't understand each other. [/quote]

Culture shock can happen both ways, and if you're feeling uncomfortable having her in your home, she is probably picking up on those feelings. Plus it looks like she has a lot of free time on her hands without many ideas on how to fill up those hours. She needs to practice English in order to improve it, so she should be talking to your kids, making friends with other au pairs who don't speak her language, going to her ESL class, signing up for free ESL conversation groups at the library, watching American shows on Netflix/Amazon (Glee, The Royals, Younger, The Arrangement, anything the WB produces) etc. If she's staying in her room talking with her family and friends in her native language then she isn't giving herself a chance to truly switch to English. Once she is saturated with the language, she will start thinking in English, dreaming in English etc. I'm a LCC in another state and I can't overemphasize the importance of getting your LCC involved. This is her job and you are not the first host family who has reached out to her about this issue. As an LCC, I can tell you I prefer to know about these issues ASAP when there is still time to fix them. [/quote]

Thank you, I will call our LCC tomorrow [/quote]

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