Mysterious cases of people suddenly mastering foreign languages have attracted the attention of both scientists and the public. However, despite scientific research and evidence, such a phenomenon still remains a mystery. Xenoglossia, or the spontaneous acquisition of the ability to communicate in a language foreign to oneself, arouses interest and misunderstanding at the same time.
The first mention of such cases can be found even in the Bible. It describes how the 12 Holy Apostles gained the ability to preach in foreign languages previously unknown to them. In the Middle Ages, however, such anomalies were viewed with skepticism and considered undesirable.
One of the prominent scholars involved in the study of xenoglossia, Dr. Ian Stevenson, has collected many examples of the phenomenon. His scientific writings, published in a book, describe cases of people suddenly beginning to speak foreign languages that had long been forgotten. One such case refers to a Pennsylvania resident who suddenly spoke Swedish and claimed to be a man named Jensen Jacobi who lived in the 17th century.
There have been known cases of people acquiring the ability to speak more than one language at a time. In the XIX century in America, the case of Laura Edmons caused a wide resonance. The girl suddenly began to speak Italian, Greek, Indian, Polish, Latin and other languages. And some of these languages have never been identified. Laura was preceded by the appearance of a poltergeist in her house, and after that she became a talking medium at Ouija sessions.
An unusual case also happened to twin children living in New York. They spoke in ancient Aramaic, which no one could teach them. Similar phenomena have been observed in young children who freely pass on details of their previous lives.
In 1953, Prof. P. Palom of East Bengal studied the phenomenon of four-year-old Swarnlata Mishra, who spoke Bengali and claimed to have once lived in that country. The girl’s family was amazed at her ability to perform amazing dances and songs which she could not learn at home. The girl claimed that a former friend had taught her all these things in a past life.
Another mysterious case is the story of prisoner Mulligan of Ohio. He had a strange split personality, and one of his “personalities” spoke Arabic and the other spoke Serbo-Croatian. At the same time, Mulligan never left the United States.
Xenoglossia remains a mystery to scientists, and there is still no clear explanation for the phenomenon. Some scientists speculate that it may be related to reincarnation and memories of past lives. However, so far this remains only a hypothesis.
