Tue Apr 20, 8:09 AM
LONDON (AFP) - A British woman has suddenly started speaking with a
Chinese accent after suffering a severe migraine, she said in comments
quoted by British media Tuesday.
Sarah
Colwill believes she has Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) which has caused
her distinctive West Country drawl to be replaced with a Chinese twang,
even though she has never even visited the country.
The 35-year-old from Plymouth, southwest England, is now undergoing
speech therapy following an acute form of migraine last month which
reportedly left her with a form of brain damage.
"I moved to Plymouth when I was 18 months old so I have always spoken
like a local. But following one attack, an ambulance crew arrived and
they said I definitely sounded Chinese," she said.
"I spoke to my stepdaughter on the phone from hospital and she didn't
recognise who I was. She said I sounded Chinese. Since then, I have had
my friends hanging up on me because they think I'm a hoax caller."
Colwill added: "The first few weeks of the accent was quite funny but
to think I am stuck with this Chinese accent is getting me down. My
voice has started to annoy me now. It is not my voice."
FAS has been documented around the world and is usually linked to a
stroke or traumatic brain injury. It was first recorded in the early
20th century and there are thought to be only a couple of dozen
sufferers around the world.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100420/oddities/britain_china_health_language
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