Man wakes after stroke speaking a language he did

not formally learn

BY MAKINI BRICE | DEC 31, 2012 01:43 PM EST

An 81-year-old Englishman woke up after a stroke speaking only

Welsh. So why is that odd? He never formally learned Welsh,
and was last in that country 70 years ago.

Alun Morgan grew up speaking only English. However, during

World War II, he went to live with his grandmother in Wales. He
spoke Welsh then. He has not used the Welsh language since his
childhood.
Luckily, his wife Yvonne speaks Welsh. He thought everything
was fine following his stroke. She was able to understand and
translate for him.
After three days, his English came back. In a video, he speaks
both languages - he says that the Welsh has faded away as he
recovered.

Doctors diagnosed Alun with aphasia.

Aphasia is "an acquired

communication disorder that impairs a person's ability to process

language, but does not affect intelligence". Up to a million
Americans suffer from aphasia. About 10,000 Americans develop
it each year. It is most commonly caused by strokes, but it can
also be caused by other brain injuries.
Alun says that he has recovered a lot since his stroke. He still
has some problems with his speech. He does not worry any
longer about whether he will be able to find the right word. He
says that his recovery has been helped by a support group.
Another communication problem that can happen after a stroke is
foreign accent syndrome this means a person speaks in a
different accent. In one case a woman began speaking with a
French accent; another woman spoke with a Chinese accent.