The short link for this post is https://dadbase.co/mtsL
As an Aussie, I obviously love this.
It’s not often that Australian products dominate the market, so the massive popularity of Bluey in the US is really cool – but even cooler is the phenomenon of American kids speaking like Aussies!
As Dr Erica Brozovsky says in the PBS clip above, Bluey’s 2019 debut in America (apart from being perfectly timed as an uplifting show for families that would soon be stuck at home), parents were about to get a bit of a shock, as kids started picking up Aussie slang like “brekky” and “rubbish.”
Brozovsky explains that kids naturally imitate what they hear, testing out new words and accents. But, as she notes, these changes are generally temporary, as kids eventually align their speech with the people around them.
TV can still play a big role in language development, obviously.
Shows like Sesame Street have long helped kids build vocabulary by pairing clear visuals with simple language – and that’s especially useful for immigrant families, where the parents can’t easily help their kids pick up the local language.
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