There’s An Actual Scientific Reason Your Kid Talks Like Peppa The Pig
As far as kid’s shows go, Peppa the Pig is one of the few kid’s shows that legit don’t make me insane when it’s on TV. But, when my niece busted out her straight up British Peppa impersonation, I have to admit I was a little perplexed.
Well, it turns out there’s science behind why kids can rock a sweet Peppa accent.
It’s actually happening so often that it’s called the “The Peppa Effect.”
What Is The Peppa Effect?
The Peppa Effect is when toddlers who live nowhere the UK, know nobody who speaks with an English accent or hear it in any other place other than Peppa the Pig speak with an accent, or pick up other English habits from the show.
When language is developing for young children, this is also the time when the brain is doing a ton of developing, too. It’s actually easier for a toddler to learn a second language than it is for an adult.
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Basically, their little brains are like sponges, soaking up all the words and phrases all around them.
Their brains are super susceptible to language of all kinds during this time. It’s also why, if they do know two languages, it’s way easier to learn a third later.
So, not only can they learn languages easier, they can learn accents as well. If you think about it, really… they don’t have any sort of accent to begin with.
This is the time when their little language center is deciding how it’s going to sound.
It’s funny, because the same part of the brain that learns accents is ALSO the same part of the brain that learns languages. It’s MUCH easier to learn a third language if you already know a second one, and that holds true for accents, too.
So if your kid sounds like an extra from Mary Poppins, that’s a good thing. It just makes them smarter.
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