Foreign Accent Syndrome

By: Bella Dalba

A teenage girl from the southern town of Knin, Croatia, began studying German at her high school, supplementing the curriculum by reading German books and watching German television programs to familiarize herself with the language. According to her parents, she was by no means fluent; however, after falling into a brief coma, the girl is now able to speak flawless German, but can no longer communicate in Croatian.
Doctors at Split's KB Hospital claim that the case is so unusual, various experts have examined the girl as they try to find out what triggered the change. But she isn’t the only one: Sarah Colwill, 35, picked up a Chinese accent after being treated in a hospital for a severe migraine. At the age of 18, George Harris suffered a brain hemorrhage and woke up with a Russian accent. When Karen Butler went in for dental surgery, she left with more than numb gums: she also picked up a strange European accent.
Each of these people developed an exceedingly rare neurological condition called Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS), which is caused by an injury to the part of the brain that controls and processes syntax. Essentially, this damage results in a peculiar condition where patients develop what appears to be a foreign accent. Most frequently caused by strokes, this disease can also develop from head trauma, migraines, or developmental abnormalities.
The first case was reported in 1907, and only sixty-two cases were recorded between 1941 and 2009. Because this syndrome is so astronomically rare, it takes several specialists to evaluate the syndrome and diagnosis it, including speech-language pathologists, neurologists, neuropsychologists, and psychologists. Psychological evaluations may be performed in order to rule out any psychiatric condition that may be causing the change in speech, as well as tests to assess reading, writing, and language comprehension. One of the symptoms of this syndrome is that the patient moves their tongue or jaw differently while speaking, which creates a different sound, so a recording is done of the speech pattern in order to analyze it. In addition to these psychological tests, images of the brain are taken with a magnetic resonance imaging test (MRI) or computed tomography scans (CT scans), in order to determine if any damage has been done to the areas of the brain that control rhythm and melody of speech. Brain activity is also measured with an electroencephalogram (EEG) to evaluate the activity of these parts of the brain during speech.
Psychiatric expert Dr. Mijo Milas added: "In earlier times this would have been referred to as a miracle, we prefer to think that there must be a logical explanation – it’s just that we haven't found it yet. There are references to cases where people who have been seriously ill and perhaps in a coma have woken up being able to speak other languages – sometimes even the Biblical languages such as that spoken in old Babylon or Egypt – though, at the moment, any speculation would remain just that, so it's better to continue tests until we actually know something."
For Sarah Colwill, the loss of her West Country drawl is detrimental. “I moved to Plymouth aged 18 months, so I have always spoken like a local. But when I had my attack last month, the ambulance crew told me that I sounded Chinese. I have never even been to China. I've had friends hang up on me, thinking I'm a hoax caller. I speak in a much higher tone, my voice is squeaky. It is very frustrating. I'm having speech therapy, but don’t know if the Chinese accent will ever go away."
Kay Russell from Gloucestershire says FAS completely shattered her confidence, and forced her to quit her career. She went to lie down while suffering a chronic migraine, only to find that she woke up speaking in a French accent. "A lot of people come up and say: 'What a lovely voice you have!’ But you lose your identity and an awful lot about yourself. I feel like I come across as a different person. It's not just my voice I miss. I would love to have my old voice back obviously. But it goes way, way beyond that. It's the person I was – the person I want to be.”
Professor Nick Miller, an expert on FAS at Newcastle University, said: "A lot of people with foreign accent syndrome speak of a loss of their former accent or speak in terms of bereavement as though they have lost a bit of the their former selves. They say part of their personality has died almost or been lost to them."
At the age of 18, George Harris vividly recalls his experience: “I remember being elated about finishing my A-levels, so I went InterRailing through Europe with two friends. About halfway through the trip we stayed at a hostel in Bratislava, and that night I started stumbling around our room. My friends called an ambulance, and as the doctors wheeled me into surgery they said I'd had a brain hemorrhage. I was in an induced coma for a week, and, when I came out, I couldn't speak.
“Within a few weeks my speech had progressed - but the voice still wasn't mine. The grunts had, inexplicably, developed into a thick Russian accent. In my head my voice was normal, but the words came out strangely. I would even structure sentences in a Russian way: instead of saying, "Can you put the kettle on?" I would say, "Put kettle on." I would also get simple words confused - "coffee seeds" instead of "coffee beans". But at that point I was just glad I could talk at all.
“After I had speech therapy for a year, which involved repeating a lot of limericks in an English accent, I bought a Dictaphone and recorded myself reciting them over and over. Now I listen to those tapes and laugh, but you can hear the Russian getting fainter with each tape. Looking back, I still can't quite believe what happened to me. The Russian accent still comes out occasionally, but only when requested.”
On the other hand, Karen Butler, who was born and raised in Bloomington, Illinois, now speaks in a hodgepodge of English, Irish, and a mix of other Western European accents. It is remotely possible that Butler could get her American accent back through intensive speech therapy. But unlike other people with FAS, Butler quite likes her new one. She says it has made her more outgoing and is a good conversation starter.
Claire Kinkead, a senior at Seckman High School, agrees: “I think that randomly adopting an accent would be an interesting experience. It would make everyday life much more engaging, seeing as Americans are so fascinated with foreign accents.”
“I think it would be terrifying,” argues Sarah Dempsey, another senior at SHS. “People typically don’t think of a plain American accent as anything unique, but it’s an integral part of your identity. Losing it would change you completely.”