roobleh Posted November 2, 2008 Brain injury gives local mom a "foreign" accent By Marc Ramirez Seattle Times staff reporter At the hospital, all the doctors and nurses asked her the same questions: Where are you from? Port Angeles, she said. No — we mean, where were you born? Well — Crescent City, California. But you have an accent. That's why I'm here. After a serious accident in 1981, life had become fairly normal for CindyLou Romberg, a caregiver and motorcycle enthusiast living in Washington's Olympic Peninsula. All that changed last year, when out of nowhere, she began talking like someone who'd grown up on the European continent. Ever since, Romberg, 51, who has never studied a foreign language or been to any other country but Canada, has spoken in markedly accented English that sounds to some like German, French or Russian. On the phone, she's had to convince family and friends of her identity; in person, she's stopped trying to convince strangers who find her accent adorable that she's not from elsewhere. source Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
