A Woman Who Woke Up With a Chinese Accent
From the sprawling megacities of Shanghai and Beijing to the awe-inspiring Himalaya Mountains, China is home to an incredible diversity of dialects.
In the 2010 documentary ‘The Woman Who Woke Up Chinese‘, Sarah Colwill describes life with Foreign Accent Syndrome – a rare condition that makes your Glaswegian or West Country accent disappear and be replaced by a Chinese one.
Sarah Colwill
When 38-year-old Sarah Colwill woke up from a migraine in 2010, she discovered something startling. Her distinctive Devonshire drawl was gone, replaced with a Chinese accent that left doctors and friends completely baffled. The strange phenomenon is known as Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS), and it’s incredibly rare. There are only 20 known cases of the condition, which is triggered by some type of neurological damage or trauma to the brain.
FAS is a mysterious and confusing disorder that can cause the sufferer to lose their own accent, develop a new one, or even speak a different language altogether. It can be caused by stroke, traumatic brain injury, or some other neurological problem. But it can also occur due to a variety of other reasons, including stress and certain medications. In some cases, the sufferer may even have a condition like multiple sclerosis that causes symptoms such as speech changes and muscle weakness.
For some people, the experience is a little less dramatic than others. It can be as simple as waking up to discover their Scottish or West Country accent has vanished and been replaced by a Danish or French accent, which is what happened to Kay Russell. In some cases, the change in voice can be permanent, and the sufferer will never have their original voice back.
The BBC documentary titled “The Woman Who Woke Up Chinese” follows Sarah Colwill, whose life changed dramatically when she lost her Plymouth accent and started sounding like a native of Beijing. The film shows Sarah dealing with the various challenges of living with this bizarre condition. From being asked to say her name in Chinese, to being pressured to order fried rice at restaurants, the film is not only funny, but also offers some insight into what it’s like to live with FAS.
Despite Sarah’s enduring struggles with her voice, she remains positive and hopeful that she will be able to get her own accent back eventually. She is currently working with a speech therapist to regain her normal voice and to learn how to speak Chinese. She hopes that one day she will be able to go back to being the person who everyone knows and loves.
Judi Roberts
Judith Roberts was an accomplished pianist and singer who performed for audiences across the United States and abroad. She was known for her fun-loving approach to a wide range of genres, from hard-swinging jazz to traditional standards and pop music. She was also an active community member, participating in church and civic activities.
On a Sunday morning four years ago, Judi Roberts was attempting to solve a crossword puzzle when she suffered a stroke that temporarily paralyzed her right side and left her without the ability to speak. After months of physical therapy, she began to recover her speaking abilities. But when she did, her voice sounded strange and foreign. She no longer had the deep, northern accent of her childhood, but instead a higher-pitched British accent.
It’s a condition known as foreign accent syndrome. It’s a rare disorder that causes people to develop an accent that sounds like that of a native speaker of another language. The condition is usually triggered by brain trauma or a stroke, and can affect men and women equally. It’s also not contagious.
Judi was one of fewer than 20 people to suffer from the condition since it was first reported in 1919, according to UCF’s Jack Ryalls, an expert in communication disorders and speech therapist who treated Roberts. The 57-year-old Sarasota County resident had no idea what was happening to her, and friends and acquaintances accused her of faking the accent.
Despite the odd sound of her voice, she was able to perform in various stage productions and film appearances. Her most notable role was as Mary Shaw in the supernatural horror film Dead Silence (2007). She has also appeared in Fred Won’t Move Out (2012) and You Were Never Really Here (2017). Most recently, she starred as Erica Taslitz in the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black (2014).
Judith’s rehabilitation journey was nothing short of remarkable. Arriving at Lakes of Sylvania with a determination to regain her strength, she set a clear goal – to walk again and be able to return home to Florida for the winter. The tireless support and encouragement of the Synchrony team allowed her to surpass even her most ambitious goals.
George Michael
Despite having been born in the United Kingdom, George Michael made his name around the world as a singer-songwriter and performer. He is one of the best-selling artists in pop history, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide. He also earned a reputation as a philanthropist, donating much of his time and money to charities and helping the homeless and elderly.
Known professionally as George Michael, Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley, London, England. His parents were Greek Cypriots, and he grew up listening to traditional Greek music and pop songs. He later formed a band with high school classmate Andrew Ridgeley called the Executive, which was short-lived. In 1982, he teamed up with producer Kenny Goss to form the group Wham! The band’s catchy pop tunes and youthful good looks won them a devoted following among teenage girls.
In 1984, the duo scored their first hit with the up-tempo single Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and the ballad Everything She Wants, which reached number one in the United States. The year also saw them perform at the Live Aid charity concert to benefit Ethiopian famine relief. Michael went on to have a successful career as a solo artist, releasing the album Faith in 1988 and then the album Twenty Five in 1996.
Michael’s career began to decline in the early 2000s, but he resurrected it in 2008 with a series of appearances on television and the release of his greatest hits album Twenty Five Stateside. He also guest-starred on the television show Eli Stone as a musical guardian angel, performing several of his classic hits.
In 2011, he joined James Corden for a Comic Relief sketch that inspired the popular Carpool Karaoke feature on Corden’s talk show, which has seen stars such as Madonna and Michelle Obama appear. Michael also starred in the 2013 documentary film Freedom, about his life as a musician and philanthropist. In the final years of his life, he became increasingly concerned with the state of the world and donated much of his time to charitable causes. He was reportedly close to his long-time partner and personal assistant, Fadi Fawaz.
Matt Walsh
In today’s post-truth era, a man who asks simple questions can find himself at the center of controversy. Such is the case for Matt Walsh, host of the widely popular Matt Walsh Show podcast and a columnist for the conservative news site The Daily Wire. He has also starred in the 2022 documentary film What Is a Woman and is the author of four books.
A self-described “theocratic fascist,” Walsh has a long history of promoting anti-transgender pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. He has also advocated violence and political intimidation against transgender people and medical providers that provide gender-affirming care. While Walsh claims his most extreme comments are satire or in jest, these statements have real-world consequences for marginalized communities.
In the latest documentary he’s releasing in theaters, Walsh takes on the anti-racism industry, which has proliferated since the Black Lives Matter movement and is now everywhere from corporate America to the entertainment business. The film, “Am I Racist?” tries to expose the shameless grifting of well-paid, high-profile white activists like Robin DiAngelo, author of the best-selling book on “White Fragility.” During her interview with Walsh, she is asked to role play a conversation in which she tries to get her white co-worker to give her cash as reparations for a perceived slight.
While Walsh’s film does a good job of showing the nefarious underbelly of the anti-racism industry, it falls short in its attempt to expose racism in its most basic forms. While he argues that the “structural racism” in his hometown of Nashville is not the same as “de facto” racist discrimination, there is no denying that he is playing to a small audience of mostly white professionals who work at the same corporation or selective university and follow the same Twitter accounts.
Walsh’s approach is similar to that of English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays the character Borat in his films about the United States. While Cohen’s films are meant to put his subjects, and often their audiences, in uncomfortable situations, Walsh is just as willing to misrepresent himself or his film in order to advance his agenda.
