A British Woman Who Woke Up With a Chinese Accent
A British woman who woke up with a Chinese accent says her normal accent may never return. It’s believed Sarah suffers from a rare condition called Foreign Accent Syndrome.
From the soaring skyscrapers of Shanghai to the breathtaking Himalayas, it’s easy to hear people speaking Mandarin throughout the world. But what exactly does a regional Chinese accent sound like?
Sarah Colwill’s strong Devon drawl disappeared overnight.
For Sarah Colwill, her strong Devon drawl was a key part of her identity. It was a voice that her friends and family recognized and loved – a voice they could hear over the phone without even having to glance at the caller ID. But one day, Colwill went to bed with a migraine and woke up sounding like she was from China.
Colwill was diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrome, a rare medical condition that shifts the way you speak. It typically occurs after neurological damage to the parts of your brain responsible for speech. Some people develop FAS when they travel to a different country, but others experience it from more mysterious causes such as stroke or traumatic brain injury. In some cases, the change in accent is temporary; in others it can last for a few days or years.
But it’s a rare disorder, with only 20 known cases worldwide. And it’s impossible to cure. The married IT project coordinator has already tried elocution lessons and speech therapy, but her Chinese-sounding voice is here to stay.
In addition to her new accent, Colwill has a host of other health issues, including paralysed arms and legs, blackouts, and memory loss. But despite all this, she refuses to give up hope that she might one day hear her Devon accent again.
The case of Sarah Colwill has gained international media attention and garnered global interest in FAS. The curious condition of changing accents after trauma or disease has captivated the public’s imagination and has provided endless fodder for tabloid editors seeking to create silly season news stories. But for those suffering from this bizarre disorder, it is anything but funny. FAS can be a debilitating disorder, with some people experiencing it for years before being able to get their normal voices back.
Documentary following Sarah’s life
After the accident, Sarah struggled to find a way to live with her injury. She followed her doctor’s treatment plan and kept busy with errands, chores, writing, and socializing. After about a year, she began to feel better. She was able to drive again, and she could follow conversations at restaurants. She had even started a blog to share her journey.
But it was still a difficult road to recovery. She was often dizzy, confused, and nauseous. Her balance was off, and her vestibular system needed to be rehabilitated. She took a lot of medication and underwent physical therapy, including exercises to strengthen her core and vestibular system. She also learned how to use her voice and regained her ability to read.
It was in this environment that KPRC 2 filmed Sarah’s interview. She is a good interviewer, asking questions in a calm voice and showing sympathy at appropriate moments. She seems to be very sensitive to her subject’s feelings, which is a positive. However, she hasn’t gotten any documented evidence about the existence of shadow people, so I’m not sure what the point of this documentary is.
The Bible describes Sarah as a woman of faith and devotion to God. Her courage to trust God’s promise was rewarded with blessing. She left a secure life and homeland to travel with Abraham as a nomad. She cooperated with Abraham’s risky ploy to trick the Egyptian Pharaoh and King Abimelech. She even endured the separation of her husband from his nephew Lot and lived in a dangerous and rocky land until she bore Abraham’s promised heir, Isaac.
Sarah’s story is the basis for a new BBC documentary that explores her murder in 2021. Det Ch Insp Katherine Goodwin discusses the moment she realized that the man who killed Ms Everard was a police officer in a new documentary called SARAH: The Search for Justice. The film is available to watch on the BBC’s iPlayer. For more information, click here. To learn how you can support independent documentaries with IDA’s fiscal sponsorship program, click here.
Sarah’s quest to find out what happened inside her head
The documentary explores the life of Sarah Colwill, a British woman who woke up with a Chinese accent after suffering a migraine. She has been diagnosed with a rare condition called Foreign Accent Syndrome, which affects just 150 people worldwide. The condition causes a person to lose their native speech and pick up another language instead. While the condition can occur in anyone, it usually occurs as a result of a brain injury or stroke.
In her quest to find out what happened inside her head, she learns that some of her crew members survived the crash on Cassiopea I and have been buried on a nearby planet. She asks you to visit the site and retrieve their Genetags so that she can bring them back to New Atlantis. Sarah won’t go with you, so it will be a solo mission.
Once you arrive at the crash site, follow the marker up a nearby path. You may encounter hostile aliens along the way, but they are relatively easy to kill. At the end of the path, you’ll see a house made from wreckage and a girl named Sona. After talking to the girl, Sarah will say that she will stay behind while you retrieve the genetags and return them to her.
After you have returned the Genetags, Sarah will give you a lead on a new artifact. She tells you that she has a contact who can provide you with more information, but it will be up to you to reach out and interrogate him.
If you want to develop a romantic relationship with Sarah, make sure that you choose the “flirt” option whenever possible during conversations. She also doesn’t like unneeded violence, so avoid prompts that encourage you to attack innocent people. As a former UC Navy commander, Sarah also likes to see villainous characters get their comeuppance. If you aren’t careful, you could accidentally cause her affinity to decrease. If this happens, reload your save and try again. Also, be sure to quicksave frequently before making decisions. This will ensure that you don’t accidentally do anything that will make Sarah dislike you.
Sarah’s struggle to get her voice back
When Sarah Colwill woke up in 2010 with an accent that made her sound like a Chinese citizen, she was forced to rethink her life. The woman who suffered migraines all her life was left with a strange foreign sounding voice that she could not control. It was the first time in her life that she had lost her own language, a feeling she describes as ‘terrifying’. The UK resident is one of just a few cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome and it has left doctors baffled.
The condition is usually caused by a neurological brain injury and there are few recorded instances of it ever occurring without such an event. In many cases, the foreign-sounding accent disappears as soon as the injury or stroke subsides, leaving a person sounding as if they have never had an English accent.
During the documentary, which is shown on BBC 1 in the UK, we see Sarah struggling to adjust to her new way of speaking. She experiences everything from being able to buy groceries with a Chinese cashier, to being unable to communicate with her husband by phone. Her friends and family are shocked by the change in her voice but some are able to make sense of it. Others cannot and it becomes a struggle for her to be understood.
Some of the scenes in the documentary are quite comical, such as an old lady trying to explain what she meant when a FedEx deliveryman gave her a package and spoke in Mandarin. Other times it is very distressing, like when Sarah’s speech therapist asks her to say “chopsticks” and she is unable to do so because her mouth doesn’t work properly.
For the few people that suffer from FAS, it can have a devastating effect on their lives. The documentary reveals that, for some of them, it can cause a complete breakdown in relationships and even lead to job loss and financial hardship. Some find it difficult to eat, sleep and move around because they can’t speak clearly, which can have serious health implications. Others find that they are unable to get through the day because they are too embarrassed to speak out loud, especially in public.
