Foreign Accent Syndrome

I have looked into the actual evidence for this. There’s no proven cases of anyone speaking a new language never being taught to them before. For that reason I think there’s nothing to see here. Just other curiosity being hyped up.

The Psi Encyclopedia has a good size section devoted to this topic. A great deal of case evidence is compiled and summarized, that can't all be casually dismissed. Even just one case shown to be genuine would establish the reality of the phenomenon.

From the Psi Encyclopedia: (https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/artic...ar_Sharada ):

Table of related contents:

Responsive, Recitative and Passive Xenoglossy
Xenoglossy in Spontaneous Reincarnation Cases
Uttara Huddar (Sharada)
Iris Farczády
Bongkuch Promsin
Tutkhorn Chitpricha
Nawal Daw
Simone
Wijanama Ariyawansa
Kumkum Verma
Bishen Chand Kapoor
Tomo
Stephen Stein
Bianca Battista
Swarnlata Mishra
Duminda Ratnayake
Responsive Xenoglossy during Past Life Regression
Jensen
Gretchen
Rataraju
Questions about Xenoglossy in Reincarnation Cases
Literature

Just a couple of examples from this compilation, of responsive xenoglossy:

Iris Farczády

Hungarian Iris Farczády was the subject of a case of replacement reincarnation, in which one personality leaves and is succeeded by another. Replacement reincarnation differs from the Sharada manifestations, which were more like the surfacing of an alternate personality out of Uttara Huddar’s subconscious mind, as well as from transient or temporary states of spirit possession.

Iris practiced as a Spiritualist medium. She regularly became possessed by spirits, some of whom remained in control after the séances were over. When she was fifteen, a 41-year-old Spanish charwoman who called herself Lucía Altarez de Salvio took control, but did not leave, as earlier communicators had done. Lucía spoke Spanish, understood no Hungarian, and only gradually learned German, the language spoken by Iris’s family. She said that she had died three months earlier in Madrid, leaving behind a husband and several children.

After the transformation, Iris found a new talent in cooking and enjoyed singing Spanish songs and flamenco dancing. Investigators were never able to find a record of Lucía in Madrid or elsewhere in Spain, however. Some people who came into contact with Lucía doubted that she really was from Madrid, although it was discovered that besides speaking Spanish responsively, and singing and dancing in a Spanish style, she was acquainted with devices that would have been appropriate to a Spanish woman at her putative station in life. In any event, as with Sharada, although the previous personality could not be identified, there seems to be no question about Lucía’s ability to speak Spanish responsively after she took over Iris’s body.

Bongkuch Promsin

Laos borders Thailand to the north and east and there are many ethnic Laotians living in Thailand. Bongkuch Promsin was a Thai boy who recalled the life of a murdered Laotian youth from one of these expatriate families. His memories were clear and specific enough to allow the youth to be identified. In addition to his verified memories, Bongkuch behaved in ways out of keeping with his family but in accord with Laotian practices. He ate with his hands rather than with a spoon and washed his hands by immersion in a bowl rather than running water over them. Asked to account for this behaviour, he said, ‘I am not Thai. I am Laotian’. He referred to fruits and vegetables by words his mother did not recognize but came to find out were Laotian, and used other Laotian words. He was observed to converse in Laotian with the friends of the person he believed himself to have been. He spoke Thai with a Laotian accent, an example of passive xenoglossy.

My only point was regarding foreign accent syndrome which have been scientifically studied and reported in a number of articles published in refereed journals. If you broaden the topic into anecdotal evidence and general psi related topics like reincarcation we are back in the endless loop.

My only point was regarding foreign accent syndrome which have been scientifically studied and reported in a number of articles published in refereed journals. If you broaden the topic into anecdotal evidence and general psi related topics like reincarcation we are back in the endless loop.

I was just responding to your claim, which regarded foreign language syndrome "...There’s no proven cases of anyone speaking a new language never being taught to them before."

I don't see any possibility of not getting back into the "endless loop" you mention, as long as you persist in casually and closed-mindedly dismissing a large and credible body of evidence, especially without actually engaging in detail and proposing credible plausible normal non-paranormal explanations.

I was just responding to your claim, which regarded foreign language syndrome "...There’s no proven cases of anyone speaking a new language never being taught to them before."

I don't see any possibility of not getting back into the "endless loop" you mention, as long as you persist in casually and closed-mindedly dismissing a large and credible body of evidence, especially without actually engaging in detail and proposing credible plausible normal non-paranormal explanations.

I’m not familar with any documented and published case in a peer-reviewed journal. Obviously there’s always any anecdotal accounts about everything really.

I’m not familiar with any documented and published case in a peer-reviewed journal. Obviously there’s always any anecdotal accounts about everything really

OK so it is not a major research topic.  But in terms of what is real and not real, pragmatism should prevail.  If there is one or two observations, of a unique event -ok they are outliers.  But, with such a specific signature, how many data points - might make the phenomenon worthy of study.  How many were cited above, 5 or more?  Would it take 10?  Would it take 100?

In the case of Psi - it is recorded data points as happening in all times, in all cultures and happening right now.

OK so it is not a major research topic.  But in terms of what is real and not real, pragmatism should prevail.  If there is one or two observations, of a unique event -ok they are outliers.  But, with such a specific signature, how many data points - might make the phenomenon worthy of study.  How many were cited above, 5 or more?  Would it take 10?  Would it take 100?

In the case of Psi - it is recorded data points as happening in all times, in all cultures and happening right now.

There’s plenty of Elvis sightings so by this reasoning they must be true aswell:

A witness claimed that she have seen the singer dining in a restaurant, protected by two bodyguards in August 1991. She quickly snapped two photos of him, which apparently have put the "superstar" into a shock. In the photos, he appeared to be covering his face with his hand but the striking resemblance of his signature sideburns made the witness to strongly believe that the man was indeed Elvis Presley. The bodyguards confronted her and the man disappeared through the back door due to the shocking incident.

https://www.gemtracks.com/guides/view.ph...restaurant

There’s plenty of Elvis sightings so by this reasoning they must be true aswell:


https://www.gemtracks.com/guides/view.ph...restaurant

What a cliché.   And just how many of those Elvis sightings resulted in any life changing effects in personal character or worldview?

Mountains vs molehills.  Is this a position you want to bolster-up confidence for snarking?

What a cliché.   And just how many of those Elvis sightings resulted in any life changing effects in personal character or worldview?

Mountains vs molehills.  Is this a position you want to bolster-up confidence for snarking?

I picked an extreme example of the implications of relying too much on anecdotal evidence to prove my point.

[Laird]

I was sure this topic (Foreign Accent Syndrome) must have been mentioned before somewhere on the forum but my searches have failed to find it.

Likewise, and I remembered seeing it before in our community, so I wondered whether perhaps it was prior to our split from Skeptiko, and when I searched there, I did turn up a few threads about it in the index I'd created, which presumably includes the thread in which I remember watching a 60 Minutes show about it:

https://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/i...age-accent

Unfortunately, it seems that the sub-forum in which most of those threads were located - Consciousness & Science - has been hidden, at least from public view: I am prompted to log in when I click on them, but logging in would be pointless as I've been banned for long enough as for it to effectively be a lifetime ban.

Likewise, and I remembered seeing it before in our community, so I wondered whether perhaps it was prior to our split from Skeptiko, and when I searched there, I did turn up a few threads about it in the index I'd created, which presumably includes the thread in which I remember watching a 60 Minutes show about it:

https://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/i...age-accent

Unfortunately, it seems that the sub-forum in which most of those threads were located - Consciousness & Science - has been hidden, at least from public view: I am prompted to log in when I click on them, but logging in would be pointless as I've been banned for long enough as for it to effectively be a lifetime ban.

I would not lose sleep over it. As it happens I still have a valid login over there. After logging in, when I try to access the thread I merely reach the next obstacle:

Oops! We ran into some problems.
You do not have permission to view this page or perform this action.

For practical purposes, that site is of no use in terms of archived posts.