MANY of us have heard of the fascinating phenomenon that is foreign accent syndrome, but one recent case in Australia has left scientists...well, speechless.
Goulburn woman Kim, who was born in Sydney and grew up in rural Australia, has spoken with a thick Yorkshire accent for the last four years - despite never even visiting England.
Unlike typical cases of foreign accent syndrome, Kim's British inflexion didn't follow a brain injury or stroke; it emerged after multiple surgeries to remove and rebuild her lower jaw following a stage-four skin cancer diagnosis inside her mouth.
When Kim learnt to talk again, she discovered that she'd lost her normal Aussie twang.
"My sister said 'mum, she sounds posh'," Kim said.
"I was just a normal Aussie gal that spoke Australian, now I don't."
Speech pathologist Dr Emma Charter, who is assisting Kim in her rehabilitation, said medical experts had been left baffled by Kim's case of foreign accent syndrome, and have been unable to determine a cause.
"It's never something that's been encountered before in documented or in my clinical history of working as a speech pathologist," Charter said.
The speech expert believes it's unlikely Kim will be able to recover her Aussie accent, given accents are harder to change after four years, but said she will continue to work with her.
As for Kim, she said she is just happy to be alive.
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