Grr! My son is copying other children's speech/accent

[Tryharder]

My DS1 is nearly 4 and speaks very well for his age. His latest best friend is a little girl aged 9 who lives over the road and who comes over most days to play with him. I'm a bit wary of the friendship as she's 9 going on 19 and I can't work out why she wants to spend time with my son who's so much younger than she is plus she's what i would call a bit of a madam and we've caught her out in a few lies (such as whether or not she's got permission to eat with us or to accompany us to the park). However, my son loves this girl to bits.

The thing is this, this little girl speaks with a very distinctive singsong voice (as little girls do) and I noticed today that my son is actually copying the way she speaks. It's not the accent and she's no more or no less 'posh' than we are so that's not the issue. It's the intonation and the pitch of her voice. If I shut my eyes, it could actually be that girl speaking and not my son!! It's quite funny I suppose but it's driving me absolutely up the wall. I've snapped at him a few times today and said I won't answer him unless he talks to me in his normal voice but bless him, he's only 3 and he might not realise he's doing it! How can I make him speak in his normal voice before I put him up for adoption???!!

[HumphreyHassock]

"I won't answer him unless he talks to me in his normal voice but bless him, he's only 3 and he might not realise he's doing it!"

Exactly!

I wouldn't mention it, tbh.

He's three - I'm sure he's not doing it to annoy you.

I tend to take on the accent of the person I'm speaking to, and I'm an effing genius!

[nappyaddict]

he probably doesn't realise. sometimes i do this. imo it's a natural defence thing. most people don't want to be singled out so they will often change their behaviour to suit others with realising.

[kbaby]

DD does this and copies her best friend in school. Dont worry about it, he just wants to imitate someone he looks up to.

Ignore it and the novelty will soon wear off

[slim22]

Mine does it too. he's 4.5

It's now hilarious as we moved to Asia and he can do indian/chinese/philipino "english" accents too.

We are not english native speakers but he is, sort of, as born and bread in the UK and he goes to a british school for expat kids.

Good news is this is a very useful ability as he is picking up the other languages as well.
(We already speak 2 more at home).
Also, that can be a good indicator of a musical ear.

So rejoice!

[oi]

yes I agree with everyone.

Also the way you describe this little girl sounds quite normal for a girl of 9!