Starting young

US: Not only is New York the city that never sleeps. America’s largest city is also one of the most ethnically diverse in the world. Small wonder, then, that more and more working parents are taking advantage of the chance to hire nannies who speak languages other than English.

“I thought I would have to speak English with the families,” says Elena Alarcón, a nanny born in Mexico. “I was surprised they wanted me to speak only Spanish,” Alarcón told The New York Times.

Parents give several reasons for employing nannies who speak other languages. Some parents have had trouble learning second languages themselves, and want to make it easier for their children. Others come from immigrant families and see the benefits of multilingualism.

Simona D’Souza’s parents came from Goa, in India, and spoke the local language, Kokanese, to each other. They spoke only English to their children, however. “They didn’t realize it would be beneficial to us to learn another language,” D’Souza says. Married to a German, she is doing things differently with her three children. She speaks English to them, while her husband speaks German. Their nanny speaks Spanish to the children. “We would not have hired her if it wasn’t for the Spanish.”

"We view it as a gift we're giving him." Nir Liberboim

Now D’Souza is considering placing the children in a French immersion programme. “Once you are trilingual, your brain can break down new languages [and] make it so much easier to learn your fourth, fifth and sixth languages,” she says.

One area in which bilingualism does not help young New Yorkers is the complicated kindergarten admission process. “It doesn’t give you a leg up on the admission process,” says Victoria Goldman, author of The Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools. “Speaking another language is indicative that you are verbal, but you have to be behaved.”

Once children go to school, many parents let their nannies go. But Nir Liberboim hopes that the Peruvian nanny who looks after his 18-month-old son will continue to work for the family even after the child starts school. That way, the little boy will still be able to speak Spanish. “We view it as a gift we are giving him,” Liberboim says. “There’s a financial implication to that, but we don’t want him to lose it.”