They say you can tell a lot about a person from their accent.
But for some, they go to sleep with one accent and wake up with another accent.
This happens to people who have a rare medical condition known as Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) – an illness that changes the way people speak.
It affects about 100 people worldwide, but the differences are almost too bizarre to believe.
Now, MailOnline has collected six fascinating stories from people who were robbed of their homeland’s voice overnight.
She is appealing for help to find a specialist or neurologist who can help her cope with the sudden change
Joe Coles
Joe Coles, who lives in Lincolnshire, lost his Northern accent six weeks ago and now fears he is ‘stuck’ with a distinct Welsh.
The pub worker, who originally developed a German accent before transitioning to Welsh, took to TikTok to detail her struggle to access medical help for FAS.
Mrs Coles, who was diagnosed last year with a functional neurological disorder (FND) which affects motor control and speech, has never been to Wales.
He says he can’t go to work and worries that ‘something has gone wrong with my brain’.
In videos shared on her TikTok account @zoecoles1, she revealed that FND leaves her in chronic pain and sometimes makes it impossible to talk and walk.
But this latest development has left him even more frustrated, saying in a video: ‘I just got this accent and it won’t go away, I think it’s stuck. I just hoped it would be a blip and I’d get over it.’
It is widely understood that FAS is an ‘abnormal consequence’ of structural neurological damage, but some studies suggest it may be a sign of FND.
Ms Coles claimed she had failed to get a referral to see a specialist, so she took to social media to beg for a specialist to help her.
Emily Egan
An Essex woman who was mute for two months after a mysterious brain injury woke up one day speaking with four different European accents.
Ms Egan, 33, lost her ability to speak in 2020, forcing her to rely on an app that read her texts in a computerized voice for two months before she regained her voice.
Emily Egan’s extremely rare condition has shut down her body, leaving her exhausted
When she regained her voice two months later, Ms. Egan could be heard speaking French, Polish, Russian and Italian at times.
Doctors thought he had suffered a stroke, but later ruled it out and concluded that he had suffered some form of brain damage.
Ms Egan said the accents were exchanged depending on how tired she was.
‘This whole experience is exhausting and completely overwhelming’, he added.
‘Not only has my accent changed – I don’t speak or think like I used to, and I can’t form sentences like I used to.’
Kath locket
The mother-of-two, proud of her Staffordshire accent, was shocked when she woke up sounding Italian.
Kath Lockett went to bed normally one night in 2006 but was later rushed to hospital unable to speak or swallow.
Initially confused, doctors diagnosed him with a rare brain disease called severe cerebral vasculitis – damage to the part of the brain that controls language.
When she regained her voice, she noticed that her accent had changed.
Despite being born and bred in Staffordshire, he was given a strong Italian accent.
Kath Lockett went to bed normally one night in 2006 but was later rushed to hospital unable to speak or swallow.
Ms Lockett said she no longer sounded like her family and friends – and locals assumed she was not from the West Midlands.
In an interview with ITV, he said: ‘I started with just a lisp and I was a bit anxious.
‘Because of the ill health, I was overtired, so I thought of that and went to bed.
‘But when I woke up, it was still there and this lisp was getting a bit weird.
‘On Tuesday, I was fine and went to work. Then I could talk.
‘By Wednesday morning, it started going like an alien.
‘And on Thursday, it was completely gone and I swallowed mine.’
Ashley Bosma
An American woman wakes up with a ‘posh’ English accent after being hit in the head during a break-in.
Ashley Bosma, 33, from Hollywood, Florida, was knocked unconscious in October 2017 after an intruder broke into her home and hit her in the head.
Ashley Bosma, 33, of Hollywood, Florida, was knocked unconscious in October 2017 after an intruder broke into her home and hit her in the head.
After hospital treatment, he returned to his normal life but suffered from memory problems and brain fog.
After a month, his thick American accent disappeared and instead, he began to speak with an English, Australian or South African twang.
The mother-of-one said: ‘I’ve never been to the UK or anywhere near it, so how it happened is a real mystery.
‘I was a Harry Potter fan when I was younger but nothing else associated with Britain. If anything, I was more influenced by French accents growing up.
‘The only exposure I had was a former work colleague who was British and I loved his accent, but I hadn’t spoken to him for about three years.
‘My friends and family think it’s really funny. They quote me lines from Monty Python or even Mrs. Doubtfire and end the conversation with ‘cheerio’ or some other British mannerism.’
Michelle Myers
A former Arizona beauty queen sounded ‘like a Spice Girl’ after waking up with an English accent.
Michelle Myers, 50, of Phoenix, suffered from ‘splitting headaches’ for four years before losing sight in her right eye one night in 2015 and struggling to speak.
He was rushed to the hospital overnight and woke up with an English accent.
Michelle Myers, 50, of Phoenix, suffered from ‘splitting headaches’ for four years before losing sight in her right eye one night in 2015 and struggling to speak.
The single mother of seven was diagnosed with FAS and had no idea why it happened.
He said: ‘I felt like I lost someone. I named my son Tyler, but I pronounce his name completely differently now.
‘I’m a writer and public speaker, so when my voice changed, I lost the person who made it all work.
‘I was Miss Black in Austin, Texas, when I was younger, but I guess I’m not that person anymore.
‘I fell into a deep depression when it first happened and for about three or four months, I only left my house to go to the doctor.’
Miss Myers has now come to terms with sounding English and realizes that it is not just her voice, her personality or achievements, that has changed.
Foreign accent syndrome: what do we know?
Foreign accent syndrome is a rare disorder that causes the patient to speak with an accent different from their normal speaking pattern.
It is usually the result of a head or brain injury, with stroke being the most common cause.
FAS can also occur after a brain injury, brain bleed, or brain tumor. Other causes have also been reported, including multiple sclerosis and conversion disorder.
Since its discovery in 1907 it has been recorded only 150 times worldwide.
FAS has been documented in many areas around the world, including pronunciation changes from Japanese to Korean, British English to French, and Spanish to Hungarian.
It can also help them pronounce vowels in different postures, move their tongue and jaw differently to make a different sound, and even substitute words for others that they might not normally use.
In some cases no obvious cause is identified.
Foreign accent syndrome can last for months or years, or sometimes it can be permanent.