Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Englishman wakes from stroke speaking Welsh

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
12 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>
rolf
Senior Member
United Kingdom
improvingmydutch.blo
Joined 6007 days ago
107 posts - 134 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Dutch

 
 Message 1 of 12
28 December 2012 at 3:08am | IP Logged 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9767 789/Englishman-wakes-from-
stroke-speaking-fluent-Welsh.html

Very interesting! I don't know if he really is fluent in Welsh but, if he is, this
supports the idea that even though he never actively learned the language, it was still
stored in his brain somehow!

What do you all think?

Edited by rolf on 28 December 2012 at 3:09am
1 person has voted this message useful



ling
Diglot
Groupie
Taiwan
Joined 4586 days ago
61 posts - 94 votes 
Speaks: English*, Mandarin
Studies: Indonesian, Thai

 
 Message 2 of 12
28 December 2012 at 6:54am | IP Logged 
He must have had some background or exposure to it. No way you can suddenly speak a wildly
different language with zero exposure to it.
1 person has voted this message useful



Teango
Triglot
Winner TAC 2010 & 2012
Senior Member
United States
teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5556 days ago
2210 posts - 3734 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Russian
Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona

 
 Message 3 of 12
28 December 2012 at 7:08am | IP Logged 
This is a fascinating account of aphasia, but we should be careful when reading anything by The Telegraph:

'Englishman Alun Morgan bemused doctors after he woke up speaking fluent Welsh and no English following a severe stroke. He was soon diagnosed with aphasia. Alun Morgan, 81, was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War but left 70 years ago. During his time there he was surrounded by Welsh speakers but never learned the language himself...It is thought that the Welsh Mr Morgan heard as a boy had sunk in without him knowing and was unlocked after he suffered the stroke.'

Here's an extract now from a more detailed and referenced account of the same story given by BBC news:

'An 81-year-old man from Somerset who had a stroke woke up speaking Welsh. Alun Morgan was taken ill while he was at his home in Bath. A few days later, he was speaking the language he had not spoken since childhood. Mr Morgan was diagnosed with aphasia, a condition which affects a person's ability to communicate...Mr Morgan said he had spoken "a bit of both" languages as a child. "We were London Welsh and I learned a bit of Welsh when I was in London. Then, when I was evacuated to Wales during the war, we spoke it virtually all the time because my aunt didn't speak much English, so I had to pick it up very quickly." He lived in Aberaeron, in mid Wales, for four years from the age of nine.'

I love sensational stories like these, but it's always good to shop around to find out more of the facts. :)

Edited by Teango on 28 December 2012 at 8:51am
17 persons have voted this message useful



Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4909 days ago
2151 posts - 3960 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 4 of 12
28 December 2012 at 11:52am | IP Logged 
As Mark Twain said, "Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story."
3 persons have voted this message useful



Darklight1216
Diglot
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5100 days ago
411 posts - 639 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: German

 
 Message 5 of 12
28 December 2012 at 2:05pm | IP Logged 
The devil's in the details...


1 person has voted this message useful



blas blas
Newbie
Italy
Joined 4669 days ago
14 posts - 29 votes
Studies: English

 
 Message 6 of 12
28 December 2012 at 2:18pm | IP Logged 
Teango wrote:
This is a fascinating account of aphasia, but we should be careful when reading anything by The Telegraph:

'Englishman Alun Morgan bemused doctors after he woke up speaking fluent Welsh and no English following a severe stroke. He was soon diagnosed with aphasia. Alun Morgan, 81, was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War but left 70 years ago. During his time there he was surrounded by Welsh speakers but never learned the language himself...It is thought that the Welsh Mr Morgan heard as a boy had sunk in without him knowing and was unlocked after he suffered the stroke.'

Here's an extract now from a more detailed and referenced account of the same story given by BBC news:

'An 81-year-old man from Somerset who had a stroke woke up speaking Welsh. Alun Morgan was taken ill while he was at his home in Bath. A few days later, he was speaking the language he had not spoken since childhood. Mr Morgan was diagnosed with aphasia, a condition which affects a person's ability to communicate...Mr Morgan said he had spoken "a bit of both" languages as a child. "We were London Welsh and I learned a bit of Welsh when I was in London. Then, when I was evacuated to Wales during the war, we spoke it virtually all the time because my aunt didn't speak much English, so I had to pick it up very quickly." He lived in Aberaeron, in mid Wales, for four years from the age of nine.'

I love sensational stories like these, but it's always good to shop around to find out more of the facts. :)


Okay, let's put aside The Telegraph, but this doesn't mean that the news isn't interesting anyway.
Mr Morgan's brain suffered a hard blow but it still managed to cope with it so that Mr Morgan could still speak: not English anymore, yes, but better speak Welsh than complete aphasia, no?
1 person has voted this message useful



Presidio
Triglot
Newbie
United States
Joined 4581 days ago
39 posts - 150 votes 
Speaks: English*, Russian, German
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Gulf)

 
 Message 7 of 12
29 December 2012 at 7:39am | IP Logged 
Hmmmm...

Reminds me of the story of the drunk American tourist in London.

He heard two rather large women speaking in a heavy accent so he went over to them and said, "I love your accent! Are you two ladies from Scotland?"

This prompted one of the women to angrily reply, "Wales, you idiot. Wales!"

To that the drunk American replied, "Okay, are you two whales from Scotland?"



Must be true. I read it on the Internet.




.

Edited by Presidio on 29 December 2012 at 7:41am
3 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6597 days ago
9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 8 of 12
29 December 2012 at 2:07pm | IP Logged 
reminds me on Melnikov...


2 persons have voted this message useful



This discussion contains 12 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.5635 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.