Hey Everyone!
Conforme prometido anteriormente, hoje vou postar e contar como fiz a famosa carta para a host family. Antes de fazer a minha letter eu pesquisei bastante em blogs tutoriais de como fazer a letter, li inúmeras também e fui pegando algumas dicas que achava interessante. Feito isso, escrevi minha letter e fui acrescentando as dicas que achei e colocando de acordo comigo. Ah, a letter tem que ter o mínimo de 600 palavras ok? Vejo muitas meninas dizendo que não conseguem as 600 palavras, nesse caso leia sua carta quantas vezes for necessário para não ficar a sensação depois de que “eu poderia ter escrito isso ou aquilo” (muitas agências não permitem que faça alterações depois de submeter o application, então, be careful!) claro que você não vai deixar sua carta cansativa e nem repetitiva, mas há muito que escrever.
Por exemplo: conte com detalhes sua experiência com crianças (que é o que a família quer saber, afinal, você está indo para os USA pra que mesmo?), o que você fazia com elas, o que elas gostavam de fazer, porque fazer esse trabalho com crianças foi importante pra você... Fale sobre seu relacionamento com sua família, amigos, o que você gosta de fazer, quais seus objetivos para o futuro e porque ser Au Pair vai ser importante para você.
Abaixo minha letter, mas não copiem, por favor, só se inspirem hahaha
Dear Host Family,
My name is Alice, I am 24 years old, I was born in Rio Claro which is in the interior part of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I have lived here my whole life. I like living here, although it is a rural city, we have everything that we need. There are many beautiful places to visit, like country clubs, restaurants, and malls.
I live with my parents, Cosmo and Zilda, and my 2 siblings. My father works as a maintenance mechanic and is a great person. He is very smart, competent and hard-working. My mom is a house wife and is always taking care of everything including me and my siblings. She really is a loving mom, communicative, and good-humored. We are all very close and have a strong relationship. They are wonderful and set an example for me in my life by teaching me to be responsible, polite, and honest. Aline is my oldest sister, and she is married and lives with her husband, Jonas and their beautiful daughter Isabella, who is my first niece. Amanda, Danilo, and I live at home with our parents. Amanda graduated in Chemistry and currently is working as an intern in that area. She is very dedicated to her studies and I am very happy that things are working out for her. Danilo is a great kid. He works in the morning at the same company as my dad as an electrical apprentice. In the afternoon he does a technical course in electricity, and at night he goes to high school. Also, we have another member of the family who is no less important. That member is our cat named Branca. My family is very hard-working. All of us started working early by choice and we were encouraged by my parents to have a better quality of life and have a better future. I am very proud of my family! I thank God every day for having their unconditional support.
One of my favorite things is to be surrounded by my family and friends. I love talking to people and learning new things. In my free time I like to try new restaurants and cook. Truthfully, my specialty is desserts. I like to go to the movies, the theater, to listen to music, go out with my friends, swim, and read. I love to read! I like to read everything. The thing I love most is to travel. There is nothing better than going to a new place, meeting new people and cultures. That will enrich me as a person. I am very determined, flexible, patient, responsible, and I have an open mind.
I recently graduated in business administration. During the time that I was studying, I worked in a big store that sold various products. My principle responsibilities were sales of products and services, customer service, after-sale service, technical assistance, and billing. Although it was a great company, I wanted more than the company could offer. I wanted to work at place where I can build my career, so I left the company and graduated and that is when I dedicated myself to the au pair program. Since then, I discovered my love of working with children.
During 2010, I found a volunteer job working with needy children in a social program where the government gives funding to underprivileged kids so that they can have some opportunities that they would not normally have. The program is called Escola da Familia which means Family School. It was held on weekends, and the proposal was to encourage family participation in school in order to connect students with the community. Since the institution was open to the public, the number of kids changed varying from 15 to 40 kids with ages from 4-12 years. The program offered activities related to social behavior, manners, citizenship, recycling, cooking courses, art classes, physical education, infant recreation, and tutoring. I had the opportunity to work in all those areas. We had a lot of activities with music, art, and games that developed ability to know right from wrong, and games with educational themes like nature, animals, and hygiene. We also participated in recreational activities and sports which the children loved, like jump rope, kick ball, checkers, crossword, puzzles, etc… For me it was a great learning experience because I matured a lot. During this job in particular, I saw how much care and love children need. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
In 2011, I worked again as a volunteer in a daycare with children from 0-6 years. I took care of kids 2 years old and younger. I liked trying to stimulate them to learn by using songs that teach the colors, alphabet and numbers. We played with clay, painted, jumped on the trampoline, and went to the play ground. I changed diapers, gave baths, and helped with feeding. It was a great and fun experience and each hug and kiss that they gave was simply gratifying.
In July, 2011 my first niece was born. Her name is Isabella and she is my passion! She is so beautiful! Since she was born, I helped my sister take care of her. I take her to the park near her house, help with feeding, give her baths, and change her diapers. It is simply marvelous to accompany her growth and to see her learn something new every day.
I believe that the au pair program is a great opportunity, and I feel secure taking care of kids. I have experience taking care of them, I love learning English and being more fluent will help open doors for me in the future. I want to see the USA, see snow, see places from movies and tv shows, travel, become a better person, and have opportunities in the future so that I can repay my parents for all that they have done for me. When I come back to Brazil, I intend to start a special course in my area. You can be sure that I will do my best for your kids and I want you to have a great year with me as your family’s au pair. I have a lot to offer and I hope you will like me!
Kind Regards,
Alice Ferreira.
Bom, a letter assim como nosso application é nosso cartão de visita. É através da letter que a family vai conhecer melhor você e consequentemente ver se você se encaixa no perfil que eles estão procurando. Portanto, capriche!
See you guys…
