Neither of her parents are British. They mention briefly in the beg. of the film moving to Columbia from London, but even if the little girl was born in London, that wouldn't give her an accent right?
Not a silly question but as I am yet to see the movie, I don't know if the parents have an accent or not.
If she were a young child, pre-schoolage and her parents did not have a British accent, then its unlikely she would have one.
IF old enough to be at school, she could very likely develop one but perhaps not as strong as it would have been had she had that accent from birth.
IF her parents had one, then yes, she would have.
For example, I was born in Toronto Canada but parents were both British. I had an accent as a child that began to get lost once i entered school.
As an adult, people still s ay that the odd word I come out with is accented but certainly I believe I sound typically Canadian which basically means I sound the same as any TV actor you see in American shows. They don't have the twangs of Texans or the typical NY accent. Watch any show made in California and there is almost not an accent at all. Which is the way most urban Canadians in cities such as Toronto sound.
You don't have an accent from birth. You learn whatever language and whatever accent you grow up in. Because kids have a natural ear and will pick up languages and accents quickly, it is not inconceivable she has a British accent having lived in London in her short life, while her adult parents never lost their American ones. In no time she's going to pick up Spanish with a Columbian accent. Mom's Spanish will improve and dad may never learn any. The parent's exposition that they lived in London for a time explains her accent. A Korean born and living in London will not know Korean naturally nor speak English with an accent other than a British one. Any child of any race will speak the language they hear.
shareMost people's accents are based on where they were raised.
I live in Texas, there are many kids here from Mexican decent that have very thick American accents, yet their parents have very thick Mexican accents.
This is true. My mother's parents were Italian and she had an American accent.
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She was probably raised in a British area by her American parents.
shareI wondered the same thing Shelly. Neither parent has a british accent yet Hannah Harriman, the daughter, who is played by Pixie Davies has a thick accent! Not a "game changer" but it was a "hmmmm moment" for me when I heard her speak.
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Her parents are American but lived in London, England. The daughter would have picked up the accent from school.
It happens all the time... in the U.S. you see children with all different backgrounds at school and yet they all speak English. Then you go to their homes and their parents have a heavy accent from whatever country the parents are from.
If the little girl spoke perfect English and her parents had a heavy Spanish accent you likely wouldn't blink, let alone post this question. The same thing happens when Americans move to foreign countries... As I'm sure the child will loose the English accent and now speak fluent Spanish in a year while her father and mother will still sound American.
Her parents are American but lived in London, England. The daughter would have picked up the accent from school
I assume when the daughter started to talk she was in living in London, regardless if the parents are American. Thus, while learning to speak she picked up the British accent and never lost it. For example, my son was 2 1/2 yrs old when we moved from the west coast to the South. Neither my husband nor I are southern and don't have a southern accent. My son was already talking and thus had his northern accent imbedded in his speech. 13years later he still talks like a Yankee and never picked up a southern accent. On the other hand, my daughter, whom was born and has lived her entire life in the South has a fairly obvious Southern accent. Despite the fact she lives with a bunch of Northerners.
shareSame with my niece but reversed. She still sounds northern while her mom has a very soft southern one. Now me, I'll pick up every accent within two weeks. Once for a while people told me I had the strangest accent. Apparently I was pronoucing different words with a new York, New Jersey, Georgia, California, Philly, and Boston accent (one individual named all the states I had worked and lived in for a short time). I tend to unconsciously mimic others' speech patterns. Now my son picked up a Californian one very quickly while it took a while to drop my new York one, annoying my mother who said I was now training to show (new Yorkers talk fast). later hearing my sister's new yawk accent was very jarring. Alas, I wish I could pick up languages as quick as accents. Now Kids they're language sponges. It's perfectly reasonable for her to pick up a British one from telly, the neighbors, hearing it on the streets of London. Given her age it would be natural for her to speak as her parents as well. Either way, natural.
shareI just assumed she had been cared for by a British nanny when they lived in London, like how they had the local woman helping out in Columbia. Don't know that such circumstances would necessarily give her such a heavy accent, but hey, she's super cute and so is her accent so I accepted it and moved on.
shareYes that makes it even more realistic.
shareBecause - as anyone who has seen "Village of the Damned" or "Madeline" knows - kids with British accents are REALLY CREEPY...
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