Au-Pair Phrasebook

Being an au-pair means that you spend a lot of time telling children what to do and what not to do and asking them questions, usually about where various items of their clothing are. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation in Iceland, I have compiled this list of useful phrases, many of which I used on a daily basis. 

Universal

Hættu þessu. - Stop that.

Drífðu þig. - Hurry up.

Ekki lemja hana / hann. - Don't hit her / him.

Ekki stríða henni / honum. - Don't tease her / him.

Passaðu þig að þú dettur ekki. - Careful you don't fall.

Farðu varlega, það er sleipt. - Be careful, it's slippery.

Já bíddu aðeins, vertu svolítið þolinmóður. - Yes, wait a minute, be patient.

Þú ræður því ekki. - It's not up to you.

Vertu almennileg/ur. - Behave yourself.

Farðu í skó / peysu / úlpu. - Put your shoes / jumper / coat on.

Á ég að hjálpa þér? - Shall I help you? 

Passaðu bílinn / hjólið / manninn. - Watch out for the car / bicycle / person.

Ekki fara í götuna. - Don't go into the road.

Meiddirðu þig? - Did you hurt yourself?

Þú sullar út um allt. - You're spilling it everywhere.

Vertu góður við systur þína / bróður þinn - Be nice to your sister / brother.

Ég nenni ekki að hlusta á svona vitleysu. - I don't have time for this nonsense.

Þú verður að borða smá ávextir áður en þú færð snúð. - You have to eat a bit of fruit before you get a snúður [a round, cinnamon flavour cake].

Four-Year-Old Girls

Nei, þú matt ekki fá nammi í morgunmat. - No, you can't have sweets for breakfast.

Ekki sleikja skeiðina og þá setja hana aftur á pízzuna - Don't lick the spoon and then put it back on the pizza.

Ekki dýfa lakkrísinn þinn ofan í pollinn, þetta er ógeðslegt. - Don't dip your liquorice in the puddle, that's disgusting.

Jú víst geturðu labbað meira. - Yes, of course you can walk more.

Þú ert ekki einu sinni búin að smakka, hvernig veistu að þér finnst það ekki gott? - You haven't even tasted it, how do you know you don't like it?

Haltu áfram, við erum að drífa okkur. - Keep going, we're in a hurry.

Það skiptir ekki máli hver er á undan. - It doesn't matter who's in front.

Það skiptir engu máli, þau eru alveg eins. - It doesn't matter, they're exactly the same.

Það þýðir ekkert að gráta. - Crying won't help.

Seven-Year-Old Boys

Ef þú hoppar svona í polla þá verður þú blautur, og þá verður þér kalt - If you jump in puddles like that then you'll get wet, and then you'll get cold.

Við þurfum ekki að taka snjóboltann heim með okkur. - We don't need to take the snowball home with us.

Hvar eru vettlingarnir þínir? - Where are your mittens? (Best answer received = á þakinu / on the roof, usual answer received = ég veit ekki / I don't know)

Hvar er hinn skórinn? - Where is the other shoe?

Varstu ekki með húfu í morgun? Hvar er hún? - Didn't you have a hat this morning? Where is it?

Ekki þykjast vera heyrnarlaus. - Don't pretend to be deaf.

Af hverju eru skónir þínir rennandi blautir? - Why are your shoes sopping wet?

Ef þú hafðir verið duglegur að læra hefðir þú klárað fyrir löngu. - If you'd applied yourself to your homework, you'd have finished long ago.

Það heyrist ekkert þegar þú reynir að anda og lesa á sama tíma - I can't hear anything when you try to breathe and read at the same time.

Við förum núna, ekki eftir fimm mínútur, núna. - We're going now, not in five minutes, now.

Þú ert örugglega nógu gamall að gera þetta sjálfur - You're definitely old enough to do that yourself.

I would like to note that I also had lots of conversations with the children of a more stimulating and less adversarial nature, and they had a lot of interesting views and perspectives on the world. One time the four-year-old told me that if there were no police, there wouldn't be any baddies. Something to think about, even if probably not accurate. She also said a lot of things that were quite pretty, about things looking like gold in the sunshine and so forth. I told her she should write a poem and she replied, "I can't write." Which is fair enough.