I had the most adorable experience in 2010 when I met my husband’s cousin’s daughter. She was about 4 years old when I first met her. I said hi to her and her eyes about popped out of her head because she was so excited that I was American. Until me, she hadn’t really met an American, but she loved Dora the Explorer and the Disney princesses. She kept her eyes on me the whole night. I felt like a rock star.
Being in the UK, I’ve noticed that people seem completely unfazed by my accent. Newsflash: no one gets excited about American accents like they do British accents. No one clamors around me and says, “Oo. You have an accent. Say something!” How devastating is that?!? In fact, I stood in front of a class full of 8-9 year old kids and they understood me just fine thanks to TV and movies. And I, on occasion, had to look to the teacher for translation as to what they said.
As I was walking out of the classroom, a 5 year-old saw me and said “Wut’s yawr nehm?” Instead of answering her question, I copied her accent and asked her the question back. She said, “I’m Holly. And this is Florence and Luke and Woody.” My husband cracked up at my accent so I switched back because I can only carry on in it for so long before I lose it. And when she heard my accent, she stared at me and smiled. I couldn’t stay and chat, but I’ve realized that if I want to be cool with my American accent, it will have to be with children because the adults flat out don’t care.
