American Children Are Developing British Accents

[SoCalDem]

http://goodfullness.com/american-children-are-developing-british-accents-watching-too-much-peppa-pig/

American Children Are Developing British Accents Watching Too Much ‘Peppa Pig’
By Timothy Roberts

Just in case you have been completely out of the loop in recent years, it’s a good idea for you to get familiar with Peppa Pig. Preschoolers absolutely love this little pig, which is a British cartoon directed and produced by Astley Baker Davies and Entertainment One. It first aired in 2004 in the UK.

Although it got its start in the UK, it is now popular worldwide. It follows Peppa, who is a pig on their adventures along with their family and friends. Along with the popular television show, there are plenty of opportunities for parents to spend money by picking up all of the Peppa Pig merchandise.

It is now being referred to as the Peppa Effect and it seems to be relatively common. The voice that young children are mimicking is of Harley Bird, a 16-year-old voice actor in the UK. She started voicing the beloved pig when she was only five years old and considering the popularity of the show, it’s no surprise that she makes up to $1300 per hour. Harley is pocketing some $15,000 per week according to some sources.

“Harley is the most successful teenage voiceover artist in Britain right now. She is hot property and easily earns £1,000 an hour.”


snip

[pnwmom]

1. There was a time when I was told my preschooler sounded like she had a British accent,

but it wasn't because of her TV watching.

It was because she didn't say her R's yet.

[crazytown]

2. She had a Boston 'r'

[pnwmom]

3. Yes!

[SoCalDem]

4. Our oldest had issues with the "th" sound

He called thumbs ...Flumbs...

trucks were Frucks...that one caused us problems

He grew out of it...

[pnwmom]

7. They also tell you that kids will make up words for things

but they don't tell you how to understand them when they do . . .

I think I was usually weeks behind . . . finally realized, for example, that my toddler was calling me Baba. (Even though she was perfectly capable of saying m's, and said "mmm" when she wanted nursing.) And she was reversing the syllables on a friend's name, which took me a good while to figure out.

It was a stage for her, too, fortunately!

[mitch96]

10. "trucks were Frucks...that one caused us problems"

Funny, my Mom told me I had the same pronunciation... Then I realized why she would put her hand over my mouth sometimes... I loved "frucks" as a kid..
m

[mitch96]

11. "Pahk the cah in the Hahvahd Yahd" nt

[Cold War Spook]

15. People used to ak me why we didn't pronounce the Rs in fire and car.

I said it was because we used them in Asiar and Africar.

[Blues Heron]

26. The old "conservation of "r" rule

Jamaicans do the same with "H" as well

ad one to "air" so it sounds "hair" for example

drop the h on Hair so it sounds " 'air"

Marley loved working with those sounds "hungry mob is an angry mob" and vice versa

[samplegirl]

5. My grandaughter adores

Last edited Sun Apr 7, 2019, 08:04 AM - Edit history (1)

Peppa pig! You should hear her say George!

[keithbvadu2]

6. Many infomercials use British accents to avoid regional accents.

[Celerity]

21. actually is also part of an appeal to authority and/or an appeal to Anglophilia that still

resonates deep within parts of the collective American psyche. Being London raised myself, and speaking with an RP accent in most environs, (due not only to my geography and parents, but also my schooling), I definitely can attest to generally being on the end of an inherent advantage in a multiplicity of situations verbally when I am back here in the US.

[whathehell]

29. It appeals to certain people. To others, it's a turn off.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. British singsong

There have been studies akin to "Henry Higgins" that adults seeking employment fare better with Eastern Atlantic accents as they are assumed to be "educated" (meaning college and beyond). If Peppa Pig had a Cockney Accent, parents would be up in arms.

[Ilsa]

12. Would it be "Enry Iggins?" nt

[Blues Heron]

27. toddlers going "OY ya bloody wankah"! might be concerning lol

[Dorian Gray]

9. Peppa

was our household favorite when my daughter was a few years younger.

One time, while driving, my daughter shouted out of the blue: "Mummy! There's a petrol station!" I totally lost it, laughing.

(But she got older, lost interest in Peppa, and those Britishisms have been lost.)

[llmart]

14. My 3-year old granddaughter has so many Peppa Pig toys it's shocking.

She's been watching it since she was 1. She doesn't have a British accent at all, though I think it would be cute if she did.

She makes Grandma read her the Peppa Pig stories with an accent though, and I'm afraid I don't do it justice.

It really is a cute show.

[Dorian Gray]

19. Aw!

It's adorable, and your granddaughter sounds adorable, too.

[llmart]

20. Thank you!

She really is adorable and smart as a whip. She's my one and only grandchild - there won't be any more and my daughter got a late start on marriage and babies, so I'm late to the grandmother role and going to enjoy as much as I can because they grow up so fast.

[Dorian Gray]

24. My daughter

is my in-laws only grand. (My brother and his wife have four, so my own parents have five.) Having more than one wasn't in the cards for us (not our plan, but plans rarely go as expected).

My in laws spoil her rotten, but they also have a very special relationship. Enjoy the heck out of her. And peppa! (Because when they get older, the television t why watch gets less palatable to adults!)

[hunter]

13. Official YouTube channel for anyone who wants to know what this is about:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAOtE1V7Ots4DjM8JLlrYgg

[AwakeAtLast]

16. Thomas the Tank Engine, Harry Potter

Is it really an issue?

[shanti]

17. Huh...

That's funny, because I was just noticing that non-American kids seem to be developing "American" (unaccented) accents. Guess it's all down to the internet.

[dalton99a]

18. And British singers are still singing with an American accent

[Celerity]

22. far from all

[whathehell]

31. Most.

[Celerity]

32. Other than some pure toss-away pop dross, that is far from my experience having lived most of my

life in the UK across most genres of music.

[whathehell]

35. "pure pop dross"

You mean like the Beatles?...Try again.

[Celerity]

37. The Beatles? lolol I am not talking about 50, 55 years ago.

I am referring to current top 40 pop (and only the worst type would be so generic/over-produced it takes on a US accent). Also, in the UK, a LOT of the top 40 is grime and rap like Stormzy, Wiley, etc etc. Obviously there are American artists in the UK top charts too.


More examples

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/TYv9MtpnqFRMPKP7QFcYfW/the-official-uk-top-40-singles-chart

here is the current number one song in the UK

there is nothing 'American' with his singing accent, he is a pure Scottish bloke

more top 15

grime/R n B, deffo not US accent

same

same

[whathehell]

38. To their credit, after 50 years the Beatles remain respected musical icone

Somehow I doubt that, in another 50, guys like 'Stormzy - Shut Up' will enjoy the same honor.

[Celerity]

39. Maybe so but none of that is germane to my point about accents and in British music.

Also, rap has been around since the mid-70's and has many iconic, multi-decade revered artists. I am sure grime will be the same, it is already an almost 20 year old genre itself in the UK. Musical styles evolve and change and each wave and style produces its own geniuses.

[whathehell]

42. Actually, it is..

but since you seem obsessed with what strikes me as a very small point, I think I'll just let you be happy with it. Buh bye now.

[Celerity]

43. I am not 'obsessed' with anything in this discussion

I said it was not germane because we went down a rabbit hole into a qualitative discussion about genres of music and shifting forms over the passage of time. The original point you made that I replied was about UK singers using American accents, which I overall disagree with in terms of the present day(obviously there are exceptions), and I also provided multiple examples showing this to not be a pervasive occurrence in the current context of British popular music.

Even before that exchange, btw, you had already responded to my first post in this thread (on a different subject) with a bit of minor shade tossed on British accents in general.

It appeals to certain people. To others, it's a turn off.

I literally, in all my years in the US, have never had someone tell me that my accent was a turn off or annoying (which I due grant is anecdotal). Been asked if I was Australian (zero clue why) probably 100 plus times, but never had such a negative reaction as what you described. Perhaps people where just being polite, but seeing as the vast bulk of my living on this side of the pond has been in LA and NYC, I doubt it. Perhaps if a Brummie (Black Country/Birmingham area) or a Scouser (Liverpool) was the speaker, lol, then yes, I could see that.

Anyway, cheers and nice chatting

[Renew Deal]

23. What can be done to stop this cultural perversion that's being perpetrated upon our children?

Will anyone think about the children?

[ck4829]

25. This has happened with a kid in my family. It's cute.

[tymorial]

28. Dineeesaurrrr Grrrr

[whathehell]

30. It's a novelty. n/t.

[gldstwmn]

33. It's all the fault of that lady from The Real Housewives.

[malaise]

34. Interesting

Lots of our kids have US accents because of cartoons

[miyazaki]

36. Perhaps they need to go to hospital.

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[HipChick]

40. Was wrong with British accents?

[DFW]

41. For their first 15 years, our children had German accents--when they spoke English at all

They only lost their German accents (in English) after going to school in the States for a few years in a row. Now, they speak both flawless American-accented English and flawless Rheinland-accented German. They consider "propah British" to be a foreign language.