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An English woman who suddenly woke up with a Welsh accent says she wants her old voice back.
The problem is so bad that Zoe Coles, 36, now feels anxious leaving her own home in Stamford, Lincolnshire, because she ‘doesn’t fit in any more’.
When she does venture out, Zoe is asked whether she is from Wales after she developed the accent overnight in June 2023, despite never visiting the country.
While she hoped it would wear off, the mum-of-two still has the accent nine months later and has been diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS).
This is a condition where people develop speech patterns that are perceived as a foreign accent.
Zoe also says she was never able to do a Welsh accent or roll her R’s before she woke up with the new accent.
She said: ‘I am struggling a lot, you are born with a voice, you grow up and develop a way of speaking. That has been taken away from me.
‘I would love everything to go away and life to go back to normal.’
Zoe said she is still getting used to having a different accent nine months on (Picture: Zoe Coles/SWNS)
Zoe was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) in January 2022.
This means there is a problem with how the brain sends and receives signals.
Because of this, Zoe has ticks, memory problems, slurred speech and pain in her legs.
She said when she has a bad FND flare up her old accent comes back but her speech is slurred and stuttered.
‘I would love my old accent back but there is a concern that my FND will get worse if it returns.
‘I was a full-time working mum, I could get up and clean the house in two hours, have a shower, get ready, go shopping, go to work and come home.
‘Now I have to be assisted in the shower in case my legs go on me, I can’t do the house work in two hours it is more like two days.
‘I get so tired so quickly, I can do the shopping because I can hold the trolley but I can’t do much more.
‘It completely wipes me out.’
What is Foreign Accent Syndrome?
Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) is a condition which patients develop speech patterns that are perceived as a foreign accent.
It usually results from a stroke but is also caused by migraines, head trauma, or developmental problems.
The condition was first reported in 1907 and it is rare, with only 62 cases recorded between 1941 and 2009.
A person’s foreign language skills do not improve when they develop FAS.
Symptoms of FAS include the following:
Talking more slowly or with varying speeds.
More or longer pauses mid-word or mid-sentence.
Drawing out certain sounds longer than necessary.
Dropping or substituting sounds (like using an F sound in place of a TH sound to say ‘fumb’ instead of ‘thumb,’ or dropping the H in so ‘house’ sounds like ‘ouse’).
Slurring or having trouble clearly pronouncing certain sounds.
Switching sounds or making them in the wrong order.
Zoe developed Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) nine months ago and has been told by her neurologist there is nothing they can do for her (Picture: Zoe Coles/SWNS)
Zoe added: ‘Part of me has learned to get on with it but I have come across a few Welsh people who asked me where I am from.
‘That is really difficult, I don’t want to lie and say I am from somewhere in Wales.
‘I have no clue about Wales, I have never been.’
Even though Zoe has visited a neurologist, there is nothing they can do for her.
She said: ‘I want to raise awareness and show that this is real life.
‘I am speaking out because I want people to see that these things really do happen.
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‘This is a reality for me as much as I don’t like it, I love the accent and I have adapted to it.
‘However it still causes problems for me, I still get head pains and tingling in the face.
‘It isn’t just the accent, it is so hard for me.’
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