Hi gals, My Nanny.. ( I like to call her my new Personal Assistant) is arriving on Saturday from the Philipines. She doesn't know how to cook "canadian" cuisine... We are all trying to loose weight in this house - cooking lots of things from scratch. and she is bone thin from the pictures we see.. I am just wondering how this will work with our meals.... and if you have an international Nanny... any tips? We have her mostly for cooking and cleaning.. not really for child care. Thanks in advance!

I dont have kids so no nanny for me, however I have several friends with llive ins from other countries, so I asked, they said, make sure you write everything down, recipes, schedules, all that because sometimes the English verbally isnt there, but they can read it, so there are no misunderstandings. Make lists for her, write out the recipes, they said the odds of her looking at calories, unless she has ever needed to count them, wont be high priority, so you need to tell her what to cook, and how to cook it. And what you are looking for in a meal. Good Luck several of my friends, couldnt live without their nannies they truly love them. Hope it all goes smoothly for you!

Don't assume that a "yes" means "yes." It could mean "I hear what you are saying but don't understand what you are saying, but I'm not going to tell you because that would be rude." I always follow a verbal conversation with an email explaining what I said just to make sure. I work with a lot of people of different nationalities and I've learned from experience.

Like happytx says write things down and make sure she understands she can ask you questions. Isn't English a pretty predominate language in the Phillipines? Or am I being an ugly American thinking everyone speaks English?

Sarah

Lots of people in the Philippines speak really good English, especially females.
Do ask her to cook some traditional dishes from time to time, Philippino food is great!

One thing I'd be very very clear about is how much oil/olive oil/other product to use for anything that goes in the pan or wok - stir-fry etc. I know people who make the same "low-cal" risotto I make, only they use about 4 times as much olive oil...

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.