A British woman has shared her surprise and amusement after noticing her toddler has started to speak with an American accent from watching a popular YouTuber.
Kelly Convey, who goes by the username @kelly_convey on TikTok, shared a video about the influence children’s YouTuber Ms Rachel has had on her 21-month-old daughter, Bea, earlier this month.
In the clip, Convey began by asking: “Has anybody else got a British, and I have to stress British, toddler who watches Ms Rachel, and, as they’ve started to speak, you realise that they’ve actually got an American accent?”
Ms Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, is a popular American YouTuber known for her educational toddler songs and nursery rhymes. The educator and songwriter, who has accumulated more than 4.7m subscribers on YouTube, is best known for her video series “Songs for Littles,” which teach children their first words.
In the TikTok, Convey then filmed herself conversing with her daughter, with the London-based comedian filming herself asking the toddler to say “car”.
After the child pronounced car in an American accent, Convey asked her daughter to say “more,” “ears,” and “zebra,” with the 21 month old pronouncing each word differently from her mother.
“You’re so clever,” Convey told her daughter while giggling about the toddler’s Americanised pronunciations.
In the caption of the video, which has since been viewed 5m times, Convey wrote: “Born in the USA.”
The TikTok has been met with similar amusement from viewers, with many making comparisons to the influence of Peppa Pig on American toddlers. According to many parents in the US, their children have begun speaking with British accents as a result of the popularity of the British animated children’s TV show. The video also prompted comparisons to the influence of popular Australian animated series Bluey, which has had a similar impact on the accents of its young viewers.
“This is payback for Peppa Pig,” one viewer joked, while another said: “Omg the reverse Peppa Pig effect.”
“My very American toddler developed a British accent from Peppa Pig and it’s turned Australian from Bluey,” someone else wrote.
According to another viewer, who revealed that their own children’s accents were influenced by Peppa Pig and Bluey, it’s “funny to see it with a British kid”.
“I have an American baby with a Peppa Pig accent,” someone else jokingly admitted.
The viral TikTok also prompted a response from Ms Rachel herself, who commented: “I’m sorry” along with a laughing face emoji and a heart-face emoji.
The YouTuber also dueted Convey’s video on TikTok, where she filmed herself watching the toddler and smiling. After hearing Bea’s pronunciation of “more,” Ms Rachel could be seen covering her face in surprised amusement.
Speaking to The Independent about the viral reaction to her video, Convey said the response has been “really incredible” and “mostly from Americans”.
“Clearly they relate, particularly with having so many of their children sounding like Peppa - a phenomenon I didn’t know about until the comments went wild,” she said. “I’m a comedian so hitting a relatable sweet spot is like gold to me so I’m chuffed.”
As for when she realised the influence Ms Rachel was having on her daughter, Convey said that Bea has been saying words for a while now, but “only recently putting a few words together”.
“This is when we noticed the strong R in words like door, four and more. But ZeeeeBra really takes the biscuit! Luckily she says water in the British way - not sure I could handle that!” she joked.
The TikToker also shared her daughter’s excitement to Ms Rachel’s video response, with Convey revealing the toddler “couldn’t believe it”.
“Ms Rachel has just responded with a duet video and I’ve just shown Bea and she couldn’t believe it. Really made her day (and mine),” she said.
