Foreign accent syndrome: These conditions can change your accent overnight

Picture this, you are a typical East Londoner with a stereotypically Cockney accent. One day, you receive an unexpected blow to your head, you pass out and when you eventually come around in the emergency ward, you call out for a nurse. That’s when you realize something different in the way you speak; you sound French!

Foreign accent syndrome

The scenario above illustrates an extremely rare, but real condition called the foreign accent syndrome (FAS). It is a speech impediment, most common after a head injury, stroke or any other type of damage to the parts of the brain responsible for coordinating speech. Multiple sclerosis can also trigger this condition. Any of these can cause a person to sound as if they’re speaking with a foreign accent.

It is estimated that only about 100 people have been diagnosed with this condition since the first known case came to light in 1907.

According to research, the recorded occurrences of change in accent related to FAS include Japanese to Korean, British English to French, American English to British English, and Spanish to Hungarian.

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Symptoms

An obvious sign of FAS is speaking in an accent associated with a country where the person has never lived or a language they have never spoken.

For instance, a 2018 case report, noted how a 65-year-old Spanish-speaking woman with multiple sclerosis (MS) began speaking in Spanish with an English accent.

Most people with this condition may also present with other psychological or neurological conditions such as schizophrenia, depression, dementia or a recent brain injury.

A person whose foreign accent changes slightly or who develops a new accent after living abroad does not have foreign accent syndrome.

Treatment

Treatment of foreign accent syndrome depends on the underlying cause. If the condition was brought on by an existing medical condition such as stroke, MS and brain injuries, doctors may suggest treatment for those. Otherwise, they could propose treatments like:

• Speech therapy: Through vocal exercises targeted at pronouncing sounds deliberately in one’s regular accent, they can learn how to recreate their previous accent.
• Counselling, therapy, or support groups to help you cope with any issues in your life that result from FAS. These may include people thinking that you’re faking your new accent, or feelings that you’ve lost a part of your identity.