KIDS IN THE US ARE YOUTUBING SO MUCH PEPPA PIG, THEY’RE TALKING WITH ENGLISH ACCENTS
So this whole pandemic situation has just been absurdly weird from the get-go. We’ve all confronted this in ways we never expected. Some of them fairly benign, some really challenging. But this? Who would ever have thought that our kids accents would change to another country’s? Because that’s exactly what’s been happening to some US kids. And how? Why from watching a show on YouTube! Well, watching Peppa Pig while YouTubing, that is. No, really. Kids have been watching so much Peppa Pig on YouTube that some of them now are talking with English accents! And, of course, that means they’re using English vernacular, too.
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PEPPA PIG WAS ALWAYS POPULAR, BUT THE PANDEMIC TAKING IT TO NEW LEVELS
So more than a few US parents are hearing some unexpected things from their kids. I imagine it’s somewhat odd as a parent myself! But kids soak up language like a sponge dropped in the ocean, which is totally normal. It’s not too hard to imagine, I suppose. But because the pandemic has changed just how much media we all have been consuming, kids are soaking in even more. And Peppa Pig has been all the more popular as a result. “Turn on the telly” is one thing some parents are hearing. But what about a water closet? You know, a WC? Mommy, I need to go to the water closet? That would be a little jarring for me!
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CHINA RECENTLY BANNED PEPPA PIG AS IMPERIALIST, BUT LOCAL DEMAND WAS TOO STRONG
And sure, the English accent sounds kind of cool and refined, too. But it’s not something you expect to hear from your kids out of the blue when they’re under 5 years of age and have never even been to England. But Peppa Pig has been in a national spotlight before. Just 3 years ago in 2018 the national media in China banned Peppa Pig! But why? Well, because they thought it was imperialist propaganda! Well, there is all that complicated stuff with Hong Kong, right? But demand for the show quickly changed things and Peppa Pig was back in China only months later.
Hmmm. Peppa Pig maybe does have quite the influence, eh? Maybe I’ll have some proper chips for lunch!
