Nannies 儿童保姆
Andrea: Mary Poppins is the best known one.
Jean: 随风而来的玛丽▪波平斯阿姨可以要算是最有名和最神奇的一位儿童保姆了。
Andrea: She was a typical English nanny.
Jean: 不过给家里的孩子请阿姨保姆的传统在现在的英国还普遍吗？
Andrea: Hello. I’m Andrea.
Jean: 大家好，我是董征。而我们刚才提到的这个问题就来自中国的一位听众朋友Liang Limin.
Andrea: They wanted to know if having a nanny or domestic help was the norm.
Jean: The norm.普遍常见的现象。
Andrea: Well we asked Vanessa Cooke who runs Little Ones, a nanny agency based in London.
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It's very common in Britain and Europe to have a nanny. There are about 150 thousand known nannies working in the UK, officially, but it’s growing more in popularity as more mothers go back to work part-time and choose to hire a nanny over a nursery.
Jean: Vanessa告诉我们，给家里的孩子请保姆这个现象现在在英国绝对依然普遍。现在在整个英国，所有家庭雇用的保姆一共就有15 万个。
Andrea: She also says that it’s growing in popularity.
Jean: Growing in popularity. 依然越来越流行。I wonder why that is?
Andrea: Well a lot of mums want to go back to work. Many of them work part-time.
Jean: Part-time 部分工时，就是不是做全时工。New mums prefer to work part-time rather than full-time. 尤其是刚生了孩子的新任妈妈，不想做全时工，而是更多作部分的工时。
Andrea: They also prefer having a nanny rather than sending their child to nursery.
Jean: 是的，如果有这个条件，大家当然是希望能请个阿姨，而不是把孩子这么小就送到幼儿园去。
Andrea: So what is the role of a nanny these days? What do nannies do?
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Nannies are becoming more versatile. Parents want to get more for their money so they’ll choose a nanny who has additional skills like a nanny should perhaps be able to teach a language, or tutor in maths or tutor in violin or piano or something. So parents are looking for someone who is very well-educated and can take on more of a role than just playing with children.
Jean: 看来现在要做个保姆也不简单，不光是能看孩子就行的。
Andrea: They need to be versatile.
Jean: Versatile 还要是一个多面手。
Andrea: Did you hear some of the things nannies are expected to do, Jean?
Jean: 有的阿姨还要会教孩子一门新的语言，还有的要会教孩子学数学。
Andrea: And some nannies even teach a musical instrument like the violin or piano. That’s very posh.
Jean: 现在的父母亲都是想物有所值，甚至超值才好To get more for your money.
Andrea: Because it can cost quite a lot to have a nanny, people in Britain want someone with additional or extra skills. And they must be well-educated too. Nannies need to have a good education.
Jean: 本周给我们提问的这位朋友Liang Limin 还想知道，在英国家庭中还有没有其它需要雇用人来帮忙的工作。Vanessa 给我们介绍说，现在不少家庭也都雇小时工来清洁打扫房间，不过如果家里已经请了保姆和阿姨的话，这些也都是这些阿姨份内的活儿。
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Nannies nowadays more commonly do a bit of house-keeping. Nanny housekeepers are more popular because they cost the same. Andrea: Nannies who do house-work or cleaning are particularly popular because they cost the same as a normal nanny.
Jean: 这样的保姆真的可以称得上是超级保姆了！既要能教给孩子功课，还要能里里外外的打扫房间。Wow, it must be hard work!
Andrea: Yes, it’s a very special person who can do all those things. Here’s what Vanessa has to say about the qualities she looks for in a nanny.
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Me particularly, I would definitely want someone who is bilingual because I can teach my child how to speak English but I can’t teach them another language. I would also definitely look for someone who has experience as a nanny. They should be very calm, warm-hearted and of course have a clear criminal history.
Jean: 说到理想的保姆，Vanessa 给我们罗列了她的一些征聘条件。
Andrea: She would want some bilingual–someone who speaks more than one language–so that her child could learn another language other than English.
Jean: 她说同样重要的是，这样的保姆必须已经具备了一定的阅历和经验。
Andrea: They need to be calm, warm-hearted or kind. So it seems that there is plenty of work for nannies in Britain.
Jean: 看来到英国来当保姆到可以是很多人的一个职业新选择！好，我们今天BBC Learning English 为您特别制作的《英国问答》节目就到这里了，我们下次节目再见！
Andrea: Bye!
英语单词小笔记：
1. the norm 普遍情况
2. growing in popularity 逐渐受到欢迎的
3. part-time 半日制
4. full-time 全日制
5. a nursery 一家幼儿园
6. versatile 多才多艺的