According to the BBC News, 60-year-old school administrator Linda Walker has been afflicted by a rare neurological condition called Foreign Accent Syndrome following her recovery from a recent stroke. Walker, normally as bangers-and-mash Anglo as any Newcastle resident might be, no longer speaks as she had for much of her life and now speaks with a linguistic difference that some say sounds French Canadian and others say sounds distinctly Jamaican.

Linguistic abnormality (expressive aphasia) is fairly common with traumatic brain injury and stroke, but Foreign Accent Syndrome is something unusual.  Listen to her speak in a videotaped interview.  If she wasn't so personally upset about the situation in which she finds herself, it would be really funny.

I remember coming back to the states after living in Germany for over four years.  I found that I had some trouble speaking English occasionally, but in my case I think it was just a matter of still thinking in German.  I embarrassed myself on occasion among my friends with wacky grammar mostly, after I drank a few tasty beverages too many.

When you listen to Linda Walker speak now, with your eyes closed, you really can imagine her wearing a colorful Rastafarian knit hat.  She's a sweet lady and I hope her health continues to improve.  At the same time, if she starts smoking the ganja, growing her dreadlocks, and listening to Damian Marley, she might have some more explaining to do.