Imagine waking up one day with the ability to speak fluently in a new language. With language learning programs, classes and tools touting their success rates and often times promising the seemingly impossible ("Learn in only 10 Days" (Pimsleur), "Learn a New Language in 4 Days" (Fluency Fast), "Learn 200 Words a Day" (200wordsaday.com)), any language learner has probably dreamed once or twice about waking up fluent without doing much work. Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding one Croation girl's sudden ability with a new language were not ideal, to say the least. The 13-year-old girl suffered brain trauma and had been in a coma for 24 hours before waking up with the ability to speak in German, a language she was learning. However, she could no longer utter a word in her native tongue. Rumors suggested that she was "fluent" in German, although prior to the accident had only moderate skills in the language. A miracle? Nope, just an exaggeration. In this Discovery News article, the possibilities surrounding language and brain trauma are explained, and the results are in: the only way to learn a language is to actually learn it. So next time you are tempted to get out the Cliff's Notes and cram 500 words a day into your brain, remember - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!
Find the article here:
Coma Victim's Language Ability Explained
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