TV Accent

Obviously, people here can tell as soon as I open my mouth that I do not speak like a Kiwi. Adults quickly ask me where I'm from, and children often give me curious looks, or ask why I talk so funny. As you may recall, one child was thrilled to figure out that I am from the same place as Alex the Lion (from the movie Madagascar). After that conversation, I was curious to see what other ways children might make the connection between movies or shows they may have seen and my different accent.

I have been thinking about it even more in the past week or so, following a conversation I had with Mom. She was remembering how I'd said that I had a hard time understanding Kiwis when we first moved here, and she wondered if they (especially the children) ever had a hard time understanding me. As I thought back, trying to answer her question, I realized that I have not had one person seem to have trouble understanding my accent! Mom and I reasoned that Kiwis are probably a lot more familiar with American accents than vice versa, due the the inundation of American media here. A Kansan could easily go her whole life without hearing a Kiwi accent more than once or twice, but a Kiwi would be hard pressed to lack experience with American accents. Just to make sure, I asked Jonathon about it, and he confirmed that our accent is not difficult to understand at all, and that it's likely because he's used to hearing it in the media. Interesting, don't you think?

With this on my mind, I headed to an early learning centre to visit, and was, as always, warmly greeted by the teachers. One teacher said, "I'm glad you came back. The children have been asking about "the girl who talks like the TV" so they'll be happy to see you." How cool is that that they put that together as a way to understand me?! Kids are so smart.

At Noah's Ark, one of the teachers told me that several of the children really like different accents, and that she won't be surprised if they start picking up mine after I work there for a while. We'll have to see what happens!