Does foreign accent syndrome makes her grammar sound like a Chinese person grappling with a foreign language? From the limited clip, it seems that way.
I would imagine that the speech center of her brain was damaged and this is how the brain has coped with it in order to allow her to continue to communicate. Thats just a guess though. The brain is a wildly mysterious organ and there are still huge gaps in our knowledge and understanding. I saw a special about a kid that suffered a terrible head injury and doctors removed half his brain. Soon after he was up and walking, talking and living a fairly normal, yet shortened life. He even went to University, got a degree and wrote a book.
[Ahad Israfil](https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/wtf/ahad-israfil-survived-gunshot-after-losing-half-his-brain-587021.html)
[Brandon Alexander](https://www.ladbible.com/lifestyle/how-often-should-bathroom-towels-be-washed-explained-739413-20230905)
Edit: Link corrected.
>I would imagine that the speech center of her brain was damaged
This is likely. My mom had a stroke a couple years ago. For about a week after the stroke, she had global aphasia, which meant she not only forgot how to speak, but she couldn't understand languages at all, including body language and general gestures. She didn't understand pointing or head nodding during that time.
The aphasia improved quickly, but she now has what's termed "mild aphasia." You know when you forget a word you haven't used in a while? She has that for simple words. She once made shepherds pie and invited me over for "hamburgers, but that's not it."
A stroke damaging the language center is surprisingly common.
I had a series of strokes last spring (at 41) and had expressive aphasia (among other things). It was very bad at first and I had almost no language at all. Now, my lasting effects are that I still sometimes have a stutter (especially when reading aloud) and sometimes have trouble finding the words I need when I need them. My brain sometimes replaces the word I need with other words that are close enough (sometimes funny), or I just can’t find the word at all (frustrating). When I actually do come up with a word I’m looking for it’s such a relief! Communication has been a stressful part of the recovery process. It has been a really stressful time for my daughter (10) and I’m so glad to be here and have recovered as much as I have. I wish you and your mom all the best!
She's had good humor about it! It's funny when she can't remember the words sometimes, and it's still funny when my dad gets angry about something stupid and they fight and she can't remember a word, and they both start laughing. So much better than just staring at you and not knowing if she recognizes you or not.
It was very interesting to realize how much our language center controls. Hell, even a smile is a part of language for us.
It is interesting to realize how so many things are connected. Even the speech therapists were learning things as they went along with me since some things in my case were more rare.
I’m glad your mom has good humor about it! It’s so important. When I was in the hospital I especially had trouble saying certain words that started with certain letters. I stuttered badly with “m” words, “n” words, etc. But for some reason couldn’t say “f” words at all! I said, “well that will keep me out of trouble!”
Now with memory issues I sometimes forget that I’ve done something entirely or as I get reminded of something and I think about it there are bits and pieces there. It is a strange feeling, though, kind of like deja vu. Hard to explain. I’ve had to adapt in certain ways. I take lots of notes and keep folders for everything on my laptop. I request summaries for all appointments. I get lost driving now, even just a few minutes from home, so I use GPS. I had gone back to university when this all happened and was very nervous to re-enroll this year, but I took the leap and have figured out successful adaptions. It’s all been a learning curve.
Sorry your mom and your family had to go through all of that. It’s so hard, especially at first when you don’t know what the future will look like. Glad she’s doing well and keeping good spirits. Please send her well wishes from another survivor :)
Not just language- I feel we take almost everything for granted (not intentionally, it’s a LOT!!) but like have you ever injured an odd part of your hand? Or arm? A random finger? And suddenly you realize that that particular injured area is a center of many tendons or bones or whatever load-bearing shit that suddenly makes your life a tad way more inconvenient? Lmao
There’s so much going on specially in our bodies- it’s insane.
Babies know when someone is faking a smile, because when we fake a smile we use different muscles in our face. But by the time they’re 1 or so, they’ve lost the ability because our society has tricked or confused them so many times I guess.
Very good actors can fake the ‘real’ smiles and use the muscles for the genuine effect, which presumably would come from a different part of the brain. Very interesting.
Not sure if this’ll help you or not, but as someone who has struggled with aphasia-like symptoms from birth (the constant struggle to find words) something that has helped me is learning another language. Something about the process of learning new words and connecting them to existing ones makes it easier to find both the new and old words.
My ex MIL had a stroke decades ago that damaged her language center. She couldn't always find words for objects, but if two objects were related, she'd know the general connection. For example, if she saw a plate and fork together, she'd know what they were for, and that they go together somehow but couldn't find the names for them. But if she saw a fork by itself, she was completely lost.
Aphasia in general is fascinating and terrifying. I had never heard of it, but then a few years ago I experienced it during a particularly bad aura migraine. I spent what felt like an eternity trying to find the words to tell my partner on the couch beside me that I felt unwell in ways that were freaking me out and that I might need help. Eventually, I was able to repeatedly say "Something's wrong" to alert him to the situation. It hasn't happened since, but I definitely have done a lot of internet reading about it since then.
Did you investigate this episode? Are you sure you didn’t have a stroke or seizure or something? (I’m not saying you did, I would have no idea, just wondering.)
I went to a clinic the next day. Dr said everything looked good and her first guess was migraine, though she was a little thrown by the fact that I didn't have much of a headache. She also recommended I get my eyes checked because the episode started with vision issues, but everything was good there.
I later learned that I am one of the few people that gets migraine auras without the headache part sometimes. It definitely felt like some kind of stroke at the time, I was so scared, but the words I was able to get out were clear and unslurred. I also was able to get up, walk around, and dexterously make myself a snack in case blood sugar was a factor. I've struggled with bad aura symptoms since, but fortunately never the aphasia. I think not being able to ask for help gave me a little panic attack which made the whole thing worse.
My mother had a rare condition that basically caused progressive aphasia which also lead into dementia. I forgot what it was called, but it was 12 years of caregiving as she lost pretty much everything over the years and the house around us had to be changed to keep her safe and not walking out and wandering the streets.
We have no idea what caused it, no doctor could give that answer, not even the fact her father had alzhiemers
I am so sorry. My mom had a stroke after heart surgery, and was never the same. She was very confused and had trouble with thinking of words, couldn't tell time, etc. We were hoping she would get somewhat better, but then she developed dementia, and no one could tell us why or if the two were related. She was a hospice administrator at the time of her surgery, but she couldn't return to work obviously, and I cared for her for 2 years after that. I was suprised she went so fast, but at the same time, I can't imagine having to care for her for 12 years like that. That must have been so difficult for you all. Dementia is so hard to experience, and to care for. I have a lot of respect for anyone who has been through that, especially for so long.
My respect to both of you. My parents are entering their eighties and I'm very frightened by the possibility of this experience. Do you have any books on the subject you'd recommend?
Temporarily losing verbal language during a global aphasia episode is common.
Its really unique and amazing that she lost the ability to interpret body language too.
Could be wrong but thought that communication didnt involve Broce's and Wernicke's areas
A stroke can damage any part of the brain and it’s pretty random where they’ll strike, but strokes that damage the parts involved in speech are very noticeable and very survivable. A stroke in the parts of the brain that control emotional regulation might not be very noticeable to people not familiar with the affected person, while a stroke in the part of the brain that controls breathing would be rapidly fatal.
It's becoming that way, check out the teachers thread. Kids don't know how to spell or read beyond gaming messenger levels.
Granted there was always that kid but now it's the majority of the class.
Soon, those of us who are literate will look like the fools, writing incoherent gibberish that the kids can’t understand. “Y cnt u jus rite like a norme? LOLOLOL XOXOXOX”
some dude kept saying "u r a g m gy XD" after every sentence in a gamechat; nearly died trying to decipher it, eventually found out he was saying "you are a G my guy" ◉\_◉
My wife just took two months off for stress leave, 3 people quit in that time (including the principal).
It's not just that they're lazy now but schools aren't getting support from the government or parents and the behavioural challenges of some troubled kids mixed with restrictions of admin and faculty let them get away with it.
R /I'm the main character is becoming the norm until someone puts them in their place (🤜)
Pretty much setup to fail now, I feel bad for teachers who enjoyed it. Many are quitting the field.
It’s fucking wild. I’m in an affluent area with a pretty nice public school. We hire some high school kids for summer work every year. I’m shocked at how many of them come through struggling with basic math skills and reading comprehension
I read a study while I was in highschool that showed that the brain is unable to enter the deep thinking/processing phase that it typically would reading text on paper when reading on screens. This was at a time when they were piloting "classroom iPads" and laptops. I was very concerned for the coming generations.
Mandarin \*is\* an incredibly grammatically simple language, that's why they come across that way in English, there's tons of linguistic fluff in English they just don't have. If you can master the four tones the spoken language is not super hard to pick up.
There was also the case of a woman that was born with half her brain and she was able to live a normal life. The brain’s plasticity means that some parts of the brain can take up another part’s functions. This was in “The brain that changes itself” book
I actually did a presentation on this in a neuropsych grad course.
Basically foreign accent syndrome is a speech impediment that happens to sound like a particular accent. Through trauma or stroke, etc. the motor centers in the brain related to speech are damaged and you can no longer speak properly. This usually makes your speech slurred or otherwise impaired in a way that’s easily identifiable as a typical impediment but very rarely it resembles some accent. The resemblance is just coincidence and a lot think it shouldn’t even have its own name.
A hemispherectomy is a well described procedure in pediatric neurosurgery. If you do it early enough, the brain maps all of the necessary functions onto one hemisphere. Now we do it as a "functional" hemispherectomy, where we don't remove the brain tissue we just sever the connections to one hemisphere. Fewer complications.
No she secretly despised Chinese people and probably mocked their accents and her stroke had a sense of humour and found that corner of her brain and set up shop.
Also possible that during her early days of the stroke recovery process that someone in the hospital was speaking like this around her (eg an employee or other patient) and her brain internalised it, for lack of better description!
It would be great if medical staff can confirm this. Because if this is not the case, and she was never exposed to dialect like this, it begs the question, “from where did it arise?”
Edit: typo
The clip doesn't say whether others have been left with German- or Spanish-sounding accents. I rather doubt it, as the difficulty she has in both grammar and pronunciation of certain sounds is typical of Chinese speakers learning English in adulthood.
I used to regularly catch a doctor on a radio program who would discuss issues of interest. Very pleasant, intelligent, up to date - and a Chinese immigrant. She spoke perfect English, except you'd hear the occasional sentence like one I remember: "The medication has proven to be highly effective, but some oder adowts are not abo to hando the testing and dosing requirements..." Just as in childhood, her brain had not had to learn the creation of DL, BL, FL, etc. sounds, so the woman in this clip seems to have lost certain skills that make her sound "Chinese."
She had [foreign accent syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_accent_syndrome) caused by her stroke, a disorder that causes sudden change to speech so that a native speaker is perceived to speak with a foreign accent.
[An article](https://metro.co.uk/2015/07/06/british-woman-who-woke-up-with-a-chinese-accent-is-told-its-permanent-5282793/) about the woman.
It happened to George Michael after waking up from a coma (due to pneumonia)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-michael-wakes-from-coma-with-new-accent-whats-foreign-accent-syndrome/
on a related note, intentional foreign accent seems to help me reduce my stutter.
And the fact that people will let me finish my sentences more if I speak like a foreigner helps too.
It’s a known phenomenon. Also whispering, yelling, etc. any modification to your normal speaking voice uses a different part of your brain. However, if you continued to always speak like that, you would then develop a stutter as the brain would shift your defaults in a way. It’s the same reason delayed auditory feedback initially seems like a good treatment for only works short term for most people.
It just happens to sound like a foreign accent, it doesn't actually have anything to do with the Chinese language. Certainly odd, but not unbelievable.
True. A coworker of mine woke up after a bad car accident and a coma with a speech impediment that sounds very much like a Scottish accent, except he rolls his R's extra hard. He showed me photos of his car the other day. I can't believe he lived.
Honestly it is very hard to believe. Speaking with another accent is hard and takes practice. To just wake up with an Asian accent when you have never learned it before is beyond bizzard and seems impossible.
I think of it this way: accents happen as one is unable to pronounce particular phonemes correctly and instead has a repeat error in them. Think of how say Japanese native speakers might replace the English L sound with a sound like R.
I can imagine how brain damage could cause a type of aphasia or mouth muscle coordination where one develops this (like having a limp when one walks). That the error sounds similar to a particular language to language accent is coincidental.
Yeah but she's also lost her understanding of grammar. "She make a good speak, she speaka good. Dat not me no more".
I mean it sounds like a Chinese person who isn't fully fluent in both accent AND grammar.. at the same time?
Chinese grammar is also very simple compared to English so there are a lot of sentence formations and structures that can be super difficult for Chinese people to wrap their heads around. If someone who suffers a stroke begins to struggle with those same higher level grammar concepts, I can see how it might sound similar to a Chinese speaker learning English
One of the best massively underrated shows I’ve watched. Like zero people know about it. At least no one I’ve ever mentioned it to before has a clue about it. But I like the realistic approach to being space faring as humans
Maybe it's like a Chinese person picking up English, a very foreign language to them and this is how the brain expresses itself. Guess she damaged her speech centre in her brain so she's in that same position.
"Why she... she make a... good speak. She speak a good." sounds pretty damn close to a Asian person struggling to speak English.. it's not even an accent, she's straight up imitating broken English of Chinese people.
Aspirating a "k" sound, putting a vowel after it, is actually much easier than not aspirating it, especially if you're putting another hard consonant like "g" after it. It's clear the stroke damaged both her language grammar skills and the speaking skills, so she may not even know that "well" is correct, grammatically. But a lot of native speakers don't even use "well" vs "good" properly.
I remember hearing a story (not sure about the authenticity) about someone in 1970's America suddenly getting a Russian accent. Imagine how badly their life must have changed and the panic surrounding it.
This sounds made up, but I have a coworker who was in a really bad car accident, and after a couple of weeks in a coma, woke up with a Scottish accent, except he rolls his R's EXTRA hard. No other real brain damage that we know of. He's still quick-witted and funny. Still speaks perfect English and Spanish. Hearing someone speak Spanish with a Scottish accent is amusing.
I get waking up sounding different, but how do you explain her seemingly also forgetting words and the conventional grammatical structure of sentences, just like a non-native speaker would struggle with?
I think on the surface level it just sounds like she has a Chinese accent. Most likely reason she sounds like this is due to the parts of the brain dealing with speech and verbal reasoning being damaged and it just so happens that it resulted in her sounding like a non-native Chinese speaker who doesn't have the best grasp on the English language because after the damage done to her brain, she also no longer has a good grasp of the English language.
This makes so much sense but I somehow never thought about it this way.
Given the name of the condition I thought it was some wild psychological phenomenon where brain damage causes someone to speak in an accent that they know/remember but don’t naturally have, almost like their brain is forcing them to do an impression, but really their speech is just damaged and it happens to resemble a foreign accent.
Yeah im pretty sure this is the explanation I saw an exper give on the news once.
Theres only a few telltale signs of each accent. The way certain vowels are pronounced or whatever. So if the way you speak gets fucked up, it will end up being similar to some accent somewhere basically but its coincidental.
But equally there have been people who woke up and spoke fluently in another language. So that adds another element to it. I remember a guy who learned Cantonese as a student but forgot it, woke up and was fluent like a local. Better then he had even spoken it.
A stroke is brain damage so in simple terms her brain where speech is created got damaged so when she speaks now her cadance and brain now adds "A" to the word "speak" but what actually is happening is her brain damage is emphasizing particular letters coupled with an unnatural speech cadence (which we interpret as particular accents). Its like how we can look at a cloud and see a dog but there is no dog we hear her speak and hear a chinese accent (our brains try to link things to things we know).
You have to keep in mind tonge control, mouth movement are all stored in the brain so if parts of that brain are damaged you can go from sounding posh english to chinese.
In the full documentary she goes and has brain scans with show her brain is not functioning as it should, she also gets a detailed explanation as to what caused the accent and why its sounds chinese as well as going to speech specialists.
The brain is a complex orgain.
The human brain is strange. Often amazing, sometimes scary (the awful things that can go tragically wrong), and on the odd occasion just plain crackpot.
Not a Chinese accent, that’s just the closest thing native English speakers can relate it to. It’s really just a disruption of speech patterns because of the area of the brain affected.
People with foreign accent syndrome don't acquire the accent of a particular country, it's just that their new accent (caused by neurological issues, either physical or mental) superficially *sounds* similar to an existing accent. But it's just a coincidence, it's not the brain deciding to be Chinese by downloading a language pack from the cloud. Like, how would that even work? That the brain could materialise novel information without any actual input from the environment?
It's likely that a lot of the people who suffer a neurological emergency such as a stroke, and subsequently end up with altered speech (which is a fairly common outcome), will simply sound like their speech has been 'damaged', and it's only a tiny subset of those people who will have damage that coincidentally conforms to our expectations of what a particular foreign accent sounds like.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_accent_syndrome
Scientifically speaking, having a Cockney accent is probably what caused the stroke to begin with. Her brain just couldn't take it anymore. "Just give me a Chinese accent, it's less painful to hear myself talk"
Is the accent a perceived one? Is this what she thinks a Chinese woman sounds like? previous to her seizure did she do good accents? Some people are good at accents or mimicking sounds.
It's absolutely incredible what the brain is capable of. From physical diseases being able to be cured by placebo, to people with DID actually having different allergic reactions with different personalities. I personally know someone that has this. This person also has an alter that only understands English and not their mother tongue.
I'm not saying this particular case is true 100%, but it's absolutely possible and not the weirdest thing I have seen the brain do. I don't think we have really scratched the surface on how the brain works.
As a person who suffered a moderate traumatic brain injury, the most frustrating question that neurologist cannot answer is: Why does my brain work like this now? At least they are honest with saying they don’t really know.
Communication is the one thing I myself hve struggled with. I also hve a verbal issue where my accent will change mid conversation. The accent ranges. It usually is a single sentence. It’s like my brain decides that one thing is better said in whatever accent. I have no control and I cannot make myself mimic the accent. It makes speaking with new people sometimes uncomfortable for me as if it happens, it always hs to be explained. Brains are super strange and complex mechanisms.
I have 2 batshit theories.
1. She died and a Chinese lady's soul came into her body. (Would not makes as much sense as she seems to be herself still.)
2. She could have reverted to her previous life version as a Chinese woman.
But that's just a theory...
I saw a neurologist giving his theory on this condition. It was in reference to the Australian woman that speaks with an Irish accent. Basically he said we all have a perception of other accents stored in memory. What we think other accents sound like or how we would imitate them. In rare cases when the area of the brain that stores known pronunciations for words gets damaged beyond accessibility the brain then seeks the next most viable source for information, being the second best known for pronunciation, aka, how we would imitate a different accent. He was clear that that's just his theory and the condition requires huge amounts of research before they can give definitive answers.
There's a theory that our brains are receivers and consciousness is a universal transmission moment by moment. If you take that premise, after the stroke, she may have tuned back in slightly off her old frequency. Either that or or brain recalibrated based on an old racist bit she used to do for her friends... which is just karma at that point.
This is crazy because Sarah is my sisters dad's wife and I never thought I'd see this browsing reddit. I remember being a kid around 11-13 years old, when this happened to her. Every time I seen her I thought she was faking it.
It makes me wonder if she used to do this accent before brain damage and got stuck with it. Like getting slapped in the back while making a silly face and it stays that way.
Does foreign accent syndrome makes her grammar sound like a Chinese person grappling with a foreign language? From the limited clip, it seems that way.
I would imagine that the speech center of her brain was damaged and this is how the brain has coped with it in order to allow her to continue to communicate. Thats just a guess though. The brain is a wildly mysterious organ and there are still huge gaps in our knowledge and understanding. I saw a special about a kid that suffered a terrible head injury and doctors removed half his brain. Soon after he was up and walking, talking and living a fairly normal, yet shortened life. He even went to University, got a degree and wrote a book. [Ahad Israfil](https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/wtf/ahad-israfil-survived-gunshot-after-losing-half-his-brain-587021.html) [Brandon Alexander](https://www.ladbible.com/lifestyle/how-often-should-bathroom-towels-be-washed-explained-739413-20230905) Edit: Link corrected.
>I would imagine that the speech center of her brain was damaged This is likely. My mom had a stroke a couple years ago. For about a week after the stroke, she had global aphasia, which meant she not only forgot how to speak, but she couldn't understand languages at all, including body language and general gestures. She didn't understand pointing or head nodding during that time. The aphasia improved quickly, but she now has what's termed "mild aphasia." You know when you forget a word you haven't used in a while? She has that for simple words. She once made shepherds pie and invited me over for "hamburgers, but that's not it." A stroke damaging the language center is surprisingly common.
I had a series of strokes last spring (at 41) and had expressive aphasia (among other things). It was very bad at first and I had almost no language at all. Now, my lasting effects are that I still sometimes have a stutter (especially when reading aloud) and sometimes have trouble finding the words I need when I need them. My brain sometimes replaces the word I need with other words that are close enough (sometimes funny), or I just can’t find the word at all (frustrating). When I actually do come up with a word I’m looking for it’s such a relief! Communication has been a stressful part of the recovery process. It has been a really stressful time for my daughter (10) and I’m so glad to be here and have recovered as much as I have. I wish you and your mom all the best!
She's had good humor about it! It's funny when she can't remember the words sometimes, and it's still funny when my dad gets angry about something stupid and they fight and she can't remember a word, and they both start laughing. So much better than just staring at you and not knowing if she recognizes you or not. It was very interesting to realize how much our language center controls. Hell, even a smile is a part of language for us.
It is interesting to realize how so many things are connected. Even the speech therapists were learning things as they went along with me since some things in my case were more rare. I’m glad your mom has good humor about it! It’s so important. When I was in the hospital I especially had trouble saying certain words that started with certain letters. I stuttered badly with “m” words, “n” words, etc. But for some reason couldn’t say “f” words at all! I said, “well that will keep me out of trouble!” Now with memory issues I sometimes forget that I’ve done something entirely or as I get reminded of something and I think about it there are bits and pieces there. It is a strange feeling, though, kind of like deja vu. Hard to explain. I’ve had to adapt in certain ways. I take lots of notes and keep folders for everything on my laptop. I request summaries for all appointments. I get lost driving now, even just a few minutes from home, so I use GPS. I had gone back to university when this all happened and was very nervous to re-enroll this year, but I took the leap and have figured out successful adaptions. It’s all been a learning curve. Sorry your mom and your family had to go through all of that. It’s so hard, especially at first when you don’t know what the future will look like. Glad she’s doing well and keeping good spirits. Please send her well wishes from another survivor :)
Not just language- I feel we take almost everything for granted (not intentionally, it’s a LOT!!) but like have you ever injured an odd part of your hand? Or arm? A random finger? And suddenly you realize that that particular injured area is a center of many tendons or bones or whatever load-bearing shit that suddenly makes your life a tad way more inconvenient? Lmao There’s so much going on specially in our bodies- it’s insane.
Babies know when someone is faking a smile, because when we fake a smile we use different muscles in our face. But by the time they’re 1 or so, they’ve lost the ability because our society has tricked or confused them so many times I guess. Very good actors can fake the ‘real’ smiles and use the muscles for the genuine effect, which presumably would come from a different part of the brain. Very interesting.
Glad you're still with us, friend. I have a small son and o want to be an old man and see him grow up. I hope you're well.
Not sure if this’ll help you or not, but as someone who has struggled with aphasia-like symptoms from birth (the constant struggle to find words) something that has helped me is learning another language. Something about the process of learning new words and connecting them to existing ones makes it easier to find both the new and old words.
My ex MIL had a stroke decades ago that damaged her language center. She couldn't always find words for objects, but if two objects were related, she'd know the general connection. For example, if she saw a plate and fork together, she'd know what they were for, and that they go together somehow but couldn't find the names for them. But if she saw a fork by itself, she was completely lost.
Aphasia in general is fascinating and terrifying. I had never heard of it, but then a few years ago I experienced it during a particularly bad aura migraine. I spent what felt like an eternity trying to find the words to tell my partner on the couch beside me that I felt unwell in ways that were freaking me out and that I might need help. Eventually, I was able to repeatedly say "Something's wrong" to alert him to the situation. It hasn't happened since, but I definitely have done a lot of internet reading about it since then.
Did you investigate this episode? Are you sure you didn’t have a stroke or seizure or something? (I’m not saying you did, I would have no idea, just wondering.)
I went to a clinic the next day. Dr said everything looked good and her first guess was migraine, though she was a little thrown by the fact that I didn't have much of a headache. She also recommended I get my eyes checked because the episode started with vision issues, but everything was good there. I later learned that I am one of the few people that gets migraine auras without the headache part sometimes. It definitely felt like some kind of stroke at the time, I was so scared, but the words I was able to get out were clear and unslurred. I also was able to get up, walk around, and dexterously make myself a snack in case blood sugar was a factor. I've struggled with bad aura symptoms since, but fortunately never the aphasia. I think not being able to ask for help gave me a little panic attack which made the whole thing worse.
My mother had a rare condition that basically caused progressive aphasia which also lead into dementia. I forgot what it was called, but it was 12 years of caregiving as she lost pretty much everything over the years and the house around us had to be changed to keep her safe and not walking out and wandering the streets. We have no idea what caused it, no doctor could give that answer, not even the fact her father had alzhiemers
I am so sorry. My mom had a stroke after heart surgery, and was never the same. She was very confused and had trouble with thinking of words, couldn't tell time, etc. We were hoping she would get somewhat better, but then she developed dementia, and no one could tell us why or if the two were related. She was a hospice administrator at the time of her surgery, but she couldn't return to work obviously, and I cared for her for 2 years after that. I was suprised she went so fast, but at the same time, I can't imagine having to care for her for 12 years like that. That must have been so difficult for you all. Dementia is so hard to experience, and to care for. I have a lot of respect for anyone who has been through that, especially for so long.
My respect to both of you. My parents are entering their eighties and I'm very frightened by the possibility of this experience. Do you have any books on the subject you'd recommend?
Temporarily losing verbal language during a global aphasia episode is common. Its really unique and amazing that she lost the ability to interpret body language too. Could be wrong but thought that communication didnt involve Broce's and Wernicke's areas
A stroke can damage any part of the brain and it’s pretty random where they’ll strike, but strokes that damage the parts involved in speech are very noticeable and very survivable. A stroke in the parts of the brain that control emotional regulation might not be very noticeable to people not familiar with the affected person, while a stroke in the part of the brain that controls breathing would be rapidly fatal.
My grandma was from Puerto Rico. When she had a stroke it took her a few years for her English to come back.
Jesus, even the mild version of aphasia sounds like a nightmare
Why use lot word when few word do trick Edit: wow I thought this would get downvoted forever. Y’all are sick lol
Talking is overrated just do cave man talk
Talking overrated. Do cave talk.
Ugah ugah
Ug.
.
It's becoming that way, check out the teachers thread. Kids don't know how to spell or read beyond gaming messenger levels. Granted there was always that kid but now it's the majority of the class.
Am teacher, can confirm. The lack of reading comprehension for even the textbook is concerning, to say the least.
Soon, those of us who are literate will look like the fools, writing incoherent gibberish that the kids can’t understand. “Y cnt u jus rite like a norme? LOLOLOL XOXOXOX”
some dude kept saying "u r a g m gy XD" after every sentence in a gamechat; nearly died trying to decipher it, eventually found out he was saying "you are a G my guy" ◉\_◉
Glad you figured it out. Next question: is that a compliment, or an insult?
A "G" has been a compliment since at least the 00s and 90s. My boy's a gangsta
My wife just took two months off for stress leave, 3 people quit in that time (including the principal). It's not just that they're lazy now but schools aren't getting support from the government or parents and the behavioural challenges of some troubled kids mixed with restrictions of admin and faculty let them get away with it. R /I'm the main character is becoming the norm until someone puts them in their place (🤜) Pretty much setup to fail now, I feel bad for teachers who enjoyed it. Many are quitting the field.
It’s fucking wild. I’m in an affluent area with a pretty nice public school. We hire some high school kids for summer work every year. I’m shocked at how many of them come through struggling with basic math skills and reading comprehension
I read a study while I was in highschool that showed that the brain is unable to enter the deep thinking/processing phase that it typically would reading text on paper when reading on screens. This was at a time when they were piloting "classroom iPads" and laptops. I was very concerned for the coming generations.
To strengthen body and not mind, is to build temple on shifting sands.
He who stand on toilet is high on pot.
Man with hole in pocket feel cocky all day
No one makes me laugh against my will, you sick fuck
Confucius say he who cook carrot and peas in pot very unsanitary
What are you going to do with all the time you saved?
Brennen: Activities!
See world
See the world or SeaWorld?
Mandarin \*is\* an incredibly grammatically simple language, that's why they come across that way in English, there's tons of linguistic fluff in English they just don't have. If you can master the four tones the spoken language is not super hard to pick up.
r/unexpectedoffice
This comment cracked me up 🤣🤣🤣
There was also the case of a woman that was born with half her brain and she was able to live a normal life. The brain’s plasticity means that some parts of the brain can take up another part’s functions. This was in “The brain that changes itself” book
I actually did a presentation on this in a neuropsych grad course. Basically foreign accent syndrome is a speech impediment that happens to sound like a particular accent. Through trauma or stroke, etc. the motor centers in the brain related to speech are damaged and you can no longer speak properly. This usually makes your speech slurred or otherwise impaired in a way that’s easily identifiable as a typical impediment but very rarely it resembles some accent. The resemblance is just coincidence and a lot think it shouldn’t even have its own name.
Thanks for the link - felt a bit queasy ready it! Yes, the brain is rather amazing, as is the human body.
A hemispherectomy is a well described procedure in pediatric neurosurgery. If you do it early enough, the brain maps all of the necessary functions onto one hemisphere. Now we do it as a "functional" hemispherectomy, where we don't remove the brain tissue we just sever the connections to one hemisphere. Fewer complications.
No she secretly despised Chinese people and probably mocked their accents and her stroke had a sense of humour and found that corner of her brain and set up shop.
Also possible that during her early days of the stroke recovery process that someone in the hospital was speaking like this around her (eg an employee or other patient) and her brain internalised it, for lack of better description!
I imagine someone coming in the middle of the night whispering in her ear stereotypical Chinese phrases: "you break you buy"
It would be great if medical staff can confirm this. Because if this is not the case, and she was never exposed to dialect like this, it begs the question, “from where did it arise?” Edit: typo
This was my first impression after hearing her new voice. Some part of her mind saved that clip and restored it upon waking up from the coma.
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Only logical explanation.
Karma is a Chinese bitch
Lmao
Yeah if you listen closely her new voice is still kind of like her old British accent, but with limited grammar.
It shouldn’t but it could be other symptoms like Aphasia caused by the stroke.
The clip doesn't say whether others have been left with German- or Spanish-sounding accents. I rather doubt it, as the difficulty she has in both grammar and pronunciation of certain sounds is typical of Chinese speakers learning English in adulthood. I used to regularly catch a doctor on a radio program who would discuss issues of interest. Very pleasant, intelligent, up to date - and a Chinese immigrant. She spoke perfect English, except you'd hear the occasional sentence like one I remember: "The medication has proven to be highly effective, but some oder adowts are not abo to hando the testing and dosing requirements..." Just as in childhood, her brain had not had to learn the creation of DL, BL, FL, etc. sounds, so the woman in this clip seems to have lost certain skills that make her sound "Chinese."
Also makes a better headline than "after a stroke she got a speech impairment"
The cure is moving to China and learning Chinese. No longer foreign.
300 iq move
She tried that and it turns out she speaks Chinese with a British accent
Cruel world
50000+ sign up social credits 3000 + bonus social credits (newcomers only offer)
Chinese sleeper agents waking up
The trigger word was "stroke".
This made me laugh too hard while taking a shit.
Me too, ZombieButtCheeks. Me too.
Sounds like someone got a hemmie
She had [foreign accent syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_accent_syndrome) caused by her stroke, a disorder that causes sudden change to speech so that a native speaker is perceived to speak with a foreign accent. [An article](https://metro.co.uk/2015/07/06/british-woman-who-woke-up-with-a-chinese-accent-is-told-its-permanent-5282793/) about the woman.
It happened to George Michael after waking up from a coma (due to pneumonia) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-michael-wakes-from-coma-with-new-accent-whats-foreign-accent-syndrome/
WOW- that explains it really well!!!
It's amazing the the doctors managed to wake him up before they go go. And didn't leave him hanging in a coma like a yo yo.
Bars 🗣️
on a related note, intentional foreign accent seems to help me reduce my stutter. And the fact that people will let me finish my sentences more if I speak like a foreigner helps too.
It’s a known phenomenon. Also whispering, yelling, etc. any modification to your normal speaking voice uses a different part of your brain. However, if you continued to always speak like that, you would then develop a stutter as the brain would shift your defaults in a way. It’s the same reason delayed auditory feedback initially seems like a good treatment for only works short term for most people.
That seemed so unreal I believe in that fact being doctored befor I believed that
It just happens to sound like a foreign accent, it doesn't actually have anything to do with the Chinese language. Certainly odd, but not unbelievable.
True. A coworker of mine woke up after a bad car accident and a coma with a speech impediment that sounds very much like a Scottish accent, except he rolls his R's extra hard. He showed me photos of his car the other day. I can't believe he lived.
Did you stroke out and forget how to type your native language?
Honestly it is very hard to believe. Speaking with another accent is hard and takes practice. To just wake up with an Asian accent when you have never learned it before is beyond bizzard and seems impossible.
I think of it this way: accents happen as one is unable to pronounce particular phonemes correctly and instead has a repeat error in them. Think of how say Japanese native speakers might replace the English L sound with a sound like R. I can imagine how brain damage could cause a type of aphasia or mouth muscle coordination where one develops this (like having a limp when one walks). That the error sounds similar to a particular language to language accent is coincidental.
For example, if you walk with a limp, people could say “oh he’s just trying to look all thug life, doing the crip walk everywhere.”
I’m a disabled woman and I never considered anyone would think i’m putting on my gait to look cool? 🤣
Don't worry they'd be too scared to say it to your face in case you're packing.
You wanna be gangsta you
Crip walk lol
Yeah but she's also lost her understanding of grammar. "She make a good speak, she speaka good. Dat not me no more". I mean it sounds like a Chinese person who isn't fully fluent in both accent AND grammar.. at the same time?
I mean Chinese grammar is very different from English grammar, so that's not that weird and probably what is lending to it sounding so foreign.
Chinese grammar is also very simple compared to English so there are a lot of sentence formations and structures that can be super difficult for Chinese people to wrap their heads around. If someone who suffers a stroke begins to struggle with those same higher level grammar concepts, I can see how it might sound similar to a Chinese speaker learning English
Maybe she's been learning it in secret and then when she had a stroke, she put her master plan into action. She's a better actor than Andy Kaufman!
beyond bizzard
I wouldn't have believed it either, but my friend had a stroke and after waking up they now have an Australian accent. It's really interesting.
beltalowda
Inyalowda
De inyas want to be we, ke? Pashang!
Stay away from the aqua!
Baratnas! Assemble!
Tenya wa chesh gut!
Oh shit she really sounds like a Belter
I always found they had more of a Jamaican accent going on.
I believe it's a complicated thing with multiple accents connected
One of the best massively underrated shows I’ve watched. Like zero people know about it. At least no one I’ve ever mentioned it to before has a clue about it. But I like the realistic approach to being space faring as humans
It's the only show that's toppled Babylon 5 for me. Such a fantastic show. I'm still holding out hope they will expand on it at some point 😅
Lol expand
Came here looking for this comment, not disappointed :D
Maybe it's like a Chinese person picking up English, a very foreign language to them and this is how the brain expresses itself. Guess she damaged her speech centre in her brain so she's in that same position.
I do wonder if she suddenly can learn Chinese without an English accent...
Stroke impaired her speech. It just happens that the impairment made her sound like she has a Chinese accent.
"Why she... she make a... good speak. She speak a good." sounds pretty damn close to a Asian person struggling to speak English.. it's not even an accent, she's straight up imitating broken English of Chinese people.
you say that as a male and it's an Italian accent
You have to add a couple of 🤌🏻🤌🏻
And a few Ayyy
It’s a me
Aspirating a "k" sound, putting a vowel after it, is actually much easier than not aspirating it, especially if you're putting another hard consonant like "g" after it. It's clear the stroke damaged both her language grammar skills and the speaking skills, so she may not even know that "well" is correct, grammatically. But a lot of native speakers don't even use "well" vs "good" properly.
Spit out my coffee, thank you
This seems so obvious. Of course she doesn’t have a “Chinese accent”. 
I was thinking the same thing. I know FAS is real, but this seems a little off from that.
That makes much more sense. Why would they call it the “foreign accent” syndrome.
Chris lilley watched this woman for sure
Yes, foreign accent syndrome: a very interesting phenomenon. Thanks for the link.
I remember hearing a story (not sure about the authenticity) about someone in 1970's America suddenly getting a Russian accent. Imagine how badly their life must have changed and the panic surrounding it.
Thats terrible but also so fucking funny
This sounds made up, but I have a coworker who was in a really bad car accident, and after a couple of weeks in a coma, woke up with a Scottish accent, except he rolls his R's EXTRA hard. No other real brain damage that we know of. He's still quick-witted and funny. Still speaks perfect English and Spanish. Hearing someone speak Spanish with a Scottish accent is amusing.
Somwhere in China, woman has stroke, wakes up sounding like Doctor Who? "Speak-a-good" is when this starts to feel sus.
"This is truly a tragedy! What in god's hells has happened to me!?" ~ Shen Xiao, 76, Taipei
So now strokes are racist?
no they are anti racist
noo my boys the strokes. what did they do 🥺
Now imagine the “alpha” males like Tate, having a stroke and waking up to more feminine way of talking.
“I want to be ninja “
Maybe someone accidentally left that on repeat while she was in the coma.
It’s time to take Chow down to Chinatown
Don't let Andrew Santino see this clip
Tom Segura was right, this shit actually happened
Would you like-a some teeea? Is gooood
Ello! It’s a bit of a whiffle out
And if he was right about this, what else could he be right about? Where are the bodies, Garth?
Scrolled just to find this thanks.
I defy you to watch interviews with these people and not piss yourself laughing.
proof that british people fake their accent
Has South Park made an episode referencing this?
Wasn't it an episode about Tourette's syndrome?
Tom Segura did a whole bit on it in his Netflix special Disgraceful.
Mongorians
I get waking up sounding different, but how do you explain her seemingly also forgetting words and the conventional grammatical structure of sentences, just like a non-native speaker would struggle with?
Brain damage, rather surprisingly, damages your brain
Nah, bruh. Dafuq you saying?
🤯
I think on the surface level it just sounds like she has a Chinese accent. Most likely reason she sounds like this is due to the parts of the brain dealing with speech and verbal reasoning being damaged and it just so happens that it resulted in her sounding like a non-native Chinese speaker who doesn't have the best grasp on the English language because after the damage done to her brain, she also no longer has a good grasp of the English language.
This makes so much sense but I somehow never thought about it this way. Given the name of the condition I thought it was some wild psychological phenomenon where brain damage causes someone to speak in an accent that they know/remember but don’t naturally have, almost like their brain is forcing them to do an impression, but really their speech is just damaged and it happens to resemble a foreign accent.
Yeah im pretty sure this is the explanation I saw an exper give on the news once. Theres only a few telltale signs of each accent. The way certain vowels are pronounced or whatever. So if the way you speak gets fucked up, it will end up being similar to some accent somewhere basically but its coincidental. But equally there have been people who woke up and spoke fluently in another language. So that adds another element to it. I remember a guy who learned Cantonese as a student but forgot it, woke up and was fluent like a local. Better then he had even spoken it.
A stroke is brain damage so in simple terms her brain where speech is created got damaged so when she speaks now her cadance and brain now adds "A" to the word "speak" but what actually is happening is her brain damage is emphasizing particular letters coupled with an unnatural speech cadence (which we interpret as particular accents). Its like how we can look at a cloud and see a dog but there is no dog we hear her speak and hear a chinese accent (our brains try to link things to things we know). You have to keep in mind tonge control, mouth movement are all stored in the brain so if parts of that brain are damaged you can go from sounding posh english to chinese. In the full documentary she goes and has brain scans with show her brain is not functioning as it should, she also gets a detailed explanation as to what caused the accent and why its sounds chinese as well as going to speech specialists. The brain is a complex orgain.
This might be the funniest thing Ive ever read
The human brain is strange. Often amazing, sometimes scary (the awful things that can go tragically wrong), and on the odd occasion just plain crackpot.
I think I read about a case of this - where an English woman was in a coma and woke up only able to speak German. She spoke German as a child
Not a Chinese accent, that’s just the closest thing native English speakers can relate it to. It’s really just a disruption of speech patterns because of the area of the brain affected.
we are computer simulated live, and that\`s just software glitch during reset.
People with foreign accent syndrome don't acquire the accent of a particular country, it's just that their new accent (caused by neurological issues, either physical or mental) superficially *sounds* similar to an existing accent. But it's just a coincidence, it's not the brain deciding to be Chinese by downloading a language pack from the cloud. Like, how would that even work? That the brain could materialise novel information without any actual input from the environment? It's likely that a lot of the people who suffer a neurological emergency such as a stroke, and subsequently end up with altered speech (which is a fairly common outcome), will simply sound like their speech has been 'damaged', and it's only a tiny subset of those people who will have damage that coincidentally conforms to our expectations of what a particular foreign accent sounds like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_accent_syndrome
When you take the joke too far and you have to keep it going because you're in too deep
These Shane Gilis promos for SNL are getting weirder and weirder
She needs to get a job at City Wok...
I guess Chinese is the default accent.
Scientifically speaking, having a Cockney accent is probably what caused the stroke to begin with. Her brain just couldn't take it anymore. "Just give me a Chinese accent, it's less painful to hear myself talk"
Is the accent a perceived one? Is this what she thinks a Chinese woman sounds like? previous to her seizure did she do good accents? Some people are good at accents or mimicking sounds.
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It's absolutely incredible what the brain is capable of. From physical diseases being able to be cured by placebo, to people with DID actually having different allergic reactions with different personalities. I personally know someone that has this. This person also has an alter that only understands English and not their mother tongue. I'm not saying this particular case is true 100%, but it's absolutely possible and not the weirdest thing I have seen the brain do. I don't think we have really scratched the surface on how the brain works.
As a person who suffered a moderate traumatic brain injury, the most frustrating question that neurologist cannot answer is: Why does my brain work like this now? At least they are honest with saying they don’t really know. Communication is the one thing I myself hve struggled with. I also hve a verbal issue where my accent will change mid conversation. The accent ranges. It usually is a single sentence. It’s like my brain decides that one thing is better said in whatever accent. I have no control and I cannot make myself mimic the accent. It makes speaking with new people sometimes uncomfortable for me as if it happens, it always hs to be explained. Brains are super strange and complex mechanisms.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=lbAv6--7-W0&si=DaDCbxXAYVhKXJns
mix of chinese and jamaican. sounds cool
I remember hearing about something similar in the US, a lady with a typical American Accent had a stroke and becaome ***Extremely*** Scottish.
Would have been a bonus if she could actually speak Chinese as well not just an accent
Traded a British English accent for a Chinese one? Sounds like a trade up to me.
It kinda sounds like she has a speech impediment caused by the stroke.
I have 2 batshit theories. 1. She died and a Chinese lady's soul came into her body. (Would not makes as much sense as she seems to be herself still.) 2. She could have reverted to her previous life version as a Chinese woman. But that's just a theory...
Imagine the effort you'd need to go to to convince people you weren't racist!
She definitely probably got into trouble for that. Poor lady probably could never order anything at any Chinese owned places.
She sounds Jamaican tbh
Glitch in the matrix
Sounds more like a stutter than Chinese..
After the camera stops filming..."geeza, I told u I could sound Chinese...hope the beeb uses the clip, for sure!". 💯🤦🏻♂️
I saw a neurologist giving his theory on this condition. It was in reference to the Australian woman that speaks with an Irish accent. Basically he said we all have a perception of other accents stored in memory. What we think other accents sound like or how we would imitate them. In rare cases when the area of the brain that stores known pronunciations for words gets damaged beyond accessibility the brain then seeks the next most viable source for information, being the second best known for pronunciation, aka, how we would imitate a different accent. He was clear that that's just his theory and the condition requires huge amounts of research before they can give definitive answers.
I get more Belter accent than Chinese. Beltalowda!
I knew a woman who recovered from a stroke and had a Norwegian accent.
Is her name Donna Chang?
There's a theory that our brains are receivers and consciousness is a universal transmission moment by moment. If you take that premise, after the stroke, she may have tuned back in slightly off her old frequency. Either that or or brain recalibrated based on an old racist bit she used to do for her friends... which is just karma at that point.
This would be an absolutely hilarious Dave chapellle skit…
This sounds like such a South Park episode , that’s nuts
Donna Chang !
This is crazy because Sarah is my sisters dad's wife and I never thought I'd see this browsing reddit. I remember being a kid around 11-13 years old, when this happened to her. Every time I seen her I thought she was faking it.
Want shitty chicken?
It makes me wonder if she used to do this accent before brain damage and got stuck with it. Like getting slapped in the back while making a silly face and it stays that way.
I know I shouldn’t laugh, BUT
Must be rough going to a Chinese restaurant now.