Foreign Language Syndrome

[KickChick]

I was watching this show the other day and this American woman in her 40's had had a stroke and was unable to speak for some time. After speech rehab she began speaking with a profound British accent. They also showed another American woman who similarly suffered a stroke only she after rehab spoke with a French accent.


All it takes is a small brain injury in the wrong place to immediately give someone a "foreign accent." Wham! all the sudden you have English, Spanish or French accent but the symptoms usually disappear as other regions of the brain take over the functions of the injured areas.

What causes such a weird phenomenon? A stroke can do it or a brain injury. Although all this can happen, it happens very rarely.

Foreign Accent Syndrome

here's another.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2300395.stm

[booksie_girl]

I couldn't live with myself if I spoke with a Brittish acent

[Coyote]

I can't help myself when I speak with a British accent-- or an Irish brogue-- or a Scottish burr....

Can't do you Aussies, tho. I've tried.

[Kinjiro Tsukasa]

Very interesting article -- I think we all have the potential to speak with other accents -- just look at an American imitating an English accent, or an Englishman imitating an American accent. I admit I'm always startled when I watch a British television show, and a British actor is playing an American, and manages to talk "without an accent" (yeah, I know, we're the ones with the accent!)

[Coyote]

We? What's this we, kenosabe? I'm from the mid-west-- radio announcers all try to emulate my flat, accentless voice!

[Kinjiro Tsukasa]

LOL, I don't know what part of the midwest you're from, Coyote, but those Chicago folks have quite an accent!

[Coyote]

Touche! I'd even put the funny accent mark on it, if my browser would let me. I'm originally from Ann Arbor, but I moved as far south as my money would take me. Unfortunately, that was only as far as Ohio....

[Zabuza]

I kinda have a accent, but its more of a "black" accent, and sort of a french accent. Also I seem to be speaking broken english and dont notice it most of the time

[Saz]

I have a strong Welsh accent thats horrible to speak and understand.

I seem to pick up accents off others fairly quickly though. When I went to university, my Welsh accent took on an English tone to it. I was not best pleased

[David]

The brain is a wonderful thing to mess around with.

I am accent-proof but, to my own annoyance, have some curious accented phrases which I use all the time. The joke's on me because I originally started using them to make fun out of particular people. The oldest one is "cheers me dear" said in a Devonshire accent instead of saying a normal "thanks". I've done that since I was 8 Cheers me dear came from my mum... Gah!

Rgds,
David

[Aravi]

Everyone thinks I have an American accent, but I'm an Aussie and I don't watch that much TV...

Odd :P

Guess the syndrome just means we all use our speech cortex in different ways. Should replace those american speech cortex drivers with aussie ones :P.

[booksie_girl]

I have an Czech accent in my Aussie. No-one but an Aussie could pick it, but it pisses me off. I didn't really realise until this year, but in this past month, I think I've had 3 people ask me where I was from. I was born in Australia!!!

[Qis]

Disclaimer above.

I was reading on a news site the other day, that the woman does not have an english accent. It is not an accent at all, it is more a problem speaking. its just coincidence that is happens to sound close to english ( cockney i believe ) but is nothing to do with any 'accent' par se.

If someone had a stroke and it stopped you being able to pronounce the letter 't' or the 'a' sound from apple, and made you somewhat lethargic i could say you had developed a scottish ( doric perhaps) accent.

i expect she does not use words in the way a cockney would( coloquialism's etc.)

as said i have not heard her speak. so all this is based loosely on an article i read on the bbc news site ( bbc news )
but this was last week or the week before)

I am also cursed with no accent. I come from scotland, i wish i had a scots accent, then i could go to america and pull millions of lovely american women( if tv is to be believed) just by saying 'aye'.
i always feel i'm cheating wearing a kilt, cos i don't sound scottish. grr.

just my 2 cents.

-Qis

[booksie_girl]

If you went to America, then believe me, they would consider you to have an accent of some sort. It is impossible not to have an accent, each country (or eaven area) talks differently, and if you go outside that area, they will think you have an accent.

[Andy Murray]

As a New Yorker, would you know if Cyndi Lauper and Barbara Streisand were brought up in the same area of New York?

They sound so similar.