Say what?

As expats living abroad in the UK, there seems to be a standard of set questions that we always get asked when we meet others in social settings.

Where are you from?

How long have you been in London?

How much longer are you here?

and...

Do your children have British accents?

The answer is Yes!  At least Olivia does.  Ashton's is in process.  Last fall when we were traveling in Italy, we sat next to an American family at breakfast one morning at our hotel.  After awhile, we struck up a conversation with them and they mentioned how confused they were by our family; Geoff and I clearly had American accents but the little 4 year old girl with us was British!  We quickly assured them that indeed, she was our child and that she's proudly American.  :)

Olivia has had her accent for awhile but it has grown stronger this past year as she was in full time British school along with them teaching her the sounds of the alphabet and her beginning to read.  Ashton is still predominately at home with me, but she repeats everything Olivia says and I hear her beginning to mimic Olivia's pronunciation in certain words.

Along with the accent, British speak has crept into their everyday language.  Here are a few common word replacements that are now a part of their vocab:

We say:  Jelly   They say:  Jam
If you dare refer to a sandwich as Peanut Butter and Jelly, Olivia will instantly correct you as it being Peanut Butter and Jam.  UK Jelly = Jell-O.

We say:  Last name   They say:  Surname

We say:  Diaper  They say:  Nappy

We say:  Flashlight   They say:  Torch

We say:  Garbage/trash and garbage/trash can  They say:  Rubbish and Rubbish bin

We say:  Mommy  They say: Mummy
This one I have a harder time deciphering if they are saying Mommy or Mummy to me in their toddler/little kid voices.  But Olivia is aware of the difference.  She has matter-of-factly told me how in America they use an O, but in London they use U.  She also brings stuff home from school like this: