Meet the Tajik/German Babysitter Julia!
Time to meet the babysitter in Utrecht, Julia! Every month, we interview one of our Näppsitters, to share their stories with our community. This month, we interviewed Julia, a Näppsitter from the country of Tajikistan. This is also the first time ever that we meet a babysitter who is also willing to work as an online tutor, so enjoy reading all about Julia’s story and experience as a babysitter as well as a tutor for Näpp!
Introduce Yourself!
My name is Julia and I’m 23 years old. I was born in Tajikistan but my parents raised me in Germany and taught me the Russian language. Today, I live in Utrecht because of my Creative Business study at the HU Utrecht. Before I moved to Utrecht, I lived in America for my Au Pair year in a family’s house
and took care of the children. In my free time, I enjoy dancing Latin American dances and meeting my friends. Next to my free time activities and college schedule I would like to help some families by taking care of their children or give tutor lessons.
How did you find out about Näpp?
I found out about Näpp in university because the Näpp founder Loviisa was part of the same study program.
What is your favourite thing about Näpp?
My favorite thing about Näpp is the element of connecting international babysitters with international families. I feel directly welcome to be part of this community.
What is your favourite thing about babysitting?
My favorite thing about babysitting is that children give you such a positive open-minded attitude, most of the time, which I really enjoy and appreciate. Moreover, babysitting creates a nice change in my everyday life.
What is your favourite thing about children?
My favorite thing about children is their positive and open-minded attitude as I mentioned earlier. Children learn so fast but at the same time, I also learn a lot from them. For example, children explore new things with such a big curiosity. I should do that more often, too!
Why is it important to babysit a child from your culture?
It is not a decisive criteria to only babysit for families from the same culture but the benefit I see is that you can easier adapt to the way of how the parents raise their child. Furthermore, if the parents would like that the child learns German, for example, while living in the Netherlands, a German babysitter can support those language skills.
What are your favourite activities when babysitting?
My favorite activities are painting, playing games/cards, cooking together, reading and many more while babysitting.
Why did you become a Näpptutor?
I became a Näpptutor because I always enjoyed giving tutor lessons to my neighbor children in the past. I love to see the positive changes and achievements of the children. I can tutor kids in the English and German languages.
What are your biggest tips for other Näpptutors?
My biggest tips for other Näpptutors are to get an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of a student. By having those, it’s easier to work focused on the student’s needs. Moreover, sometimes students have a hard time concentrating on school stuff. That’s normal. Just plan in longer breaks, for example.
What do you like most about tutoring?
What I like the most about tutoring is the comfortable environment where students can communicate about their issues in subjects with the tutor privately. In addition, as a tutor, I’m able to point out specific weaknesses of students and can support those for better achievements in school.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading all about Julia in this “Meet the Näppsitter” series. You can find Julia’s Näppsitter profile to schedule a babysitting/tutoring appointment with her here!
