People who can taste words - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil.

And I'm Sam. Many people have

favourites - a favourite

colour, a favourite flavour,

a favourite word.

What's yours, Neil?

Hmm, my favourite colour is

green, my favourite

flavour is sweet-and-sour,

and, well, I don't know

if it's my favourite, but

there is a word I really

like saying out loud -

'nincompoop'. It means

a silly person.

For me, it's the taste

of coffee, and the

smell of lavender, or

freshly baked bread.

Our favourite tastes,

smells and colours

are controlled by our

five senses - sight,

sound, smell, taste,

and touch. For most of

us they don't mix.

We see colours and

taste flavours, but

we can't taste sounds.

But that's not how

everyone's brain works.

Imagine being able to

'taste' every word

that you hear.

In this programme,

we'll meet two sisters

from Glasgow in

Scotland who can do

just that. And as usual,

we'll learn some new

vocabulary as well.

Julie McDowall and her

younger sister, Jen McCready,

have synaesthesia, a

neurological condition

where two or more

senses mix together.

When synesthetes, as

they're called, hear

a word, their sense of

taste also becomes

activated. Words produce

specific tastes on

their tongues.

For example, when Jen

hears the name of

her daughter, Sophia,

she tastes pink

marshmallows! And the

name 'Leo' tastes

like noodles.

We'll hear more from

the unusual sisters

later, but first I have

a question for you,

Neil. We've just heard

what happens when

Jen McCready hears

the names 'Sophia',

and 'Leo', but what

does she taste when

she hears the name

'Neil'? Is It:

a) eggs and bacon?

b) spaghetti hoops? or

c) a jam sandwich?

Well, I don't know

what this says about

me, Sam, but I'm

going to guess that

it's c) a jam sandwich.

OK. Don't worry, Neil -

I'll reveal the answer

later in the programme.

Synaesthesia isn't only

about people, like

Julie and Jen, who

taste words - it can

be a mixing of any of

our senses.

A synesthete may hear

colours or see sounds.

In fact, there could

be as many as 150

different types

of synaesthesia.

For the Scottish sisters

having synaesthesia is

a gift, something Jen

explained when she

talked with BBC World

Service programme,

The Food Chain:

This is enjoyable, it's

never anything that

causes - the only thing

I would say is it's

quite hard if you're

trying to eat

healthily because

if you hear a word

that maybe tastes

like tuna, I'll be like,

'Oh, I need to get a

tune baguette now' ...

You know, it's almost

like being pregnant

and having a craving ...

words can be so vivid

that you want to eat

that - that's the

only negative I

would say about it.

For Jen, the only

drawback to

synaesthesia is that

it can be hard to

eat healthily

because hearing

certain words produces

a craving - a strong

feeling of wanting

a particular food.

That could be because,

for Jen, the sound of

the word is so

vivid - clear, detailed,

and powerful in her mind.

There's still much

doctors don't know

about why some

people experience sense

mixing while most

of us experience each

sense in isolation,

but it's clear that

for Julie and Jen,

synaesthesia makes

the world a more

interesting,

colourful place.

Someone who can

explain why so little

is known about

synaesthesia is Guy

Leschziner, consultant

neurologist at King's

College London, and

author of the book,

'The Man Who Tasted Words'.

Here he is speaking to BBC

World Service's,

The Food Chain:

One of the problems with

synaesthesia is for

many years it's been

dismissed, and it's

been viewed as

people with an

overactive imagination,

something not real

but actually what

research in recent

years has taught us

is that actually it

does have an

underlying neurological

and genetic basis.

Guy says that in the

past, synaesthesia was

often dismissed -

considered unimportant

or uninteresting.

Synesthetes were

labelled people with

overactive imaginations -

a tendency to imagine

things that are

not true.

But research is showing

that the causes of

synaesthesia could

run in the family.

Julie and Jen's brothers

don't have synaesthesia,

but Jen's daughter does.

And with an estimated

4% of the world population

having some form of

sense mixing, a world

of new and exciting

possibilities is opening

up to millions.

Exciting possibilities

like tasting someone's

name... Remember in my

question I asked what

synesthete, Jen McCready,

tastes when she hears

the name 'Neil'.

OK. Well, I guessed

that 'Neil' tastes like

a jam sandwich.

Was I right?

Well, Neil, no - you

don't taste like a jam

sandwich. In fact,

when Jen hears the

name 'Neil', she

tastes spaghetti hoops!

Oh well, it could be

worse - the name

'Robert' makes Jen

taste rotten eggs!

Sorry to any

Roberts listening.

OK, let's recap the

vocabulary we've

learned in this

programme about

synaesthesia - a

neurological condition

where two or more

senses mix together.

A nincompoop is an

informal way of saying

a silly person.

A craving for something

is the strong desire

to have it.

A vivid sensation is

clear, strong and

detailed in your mind.

When something is

dismissed, it's

considered unimportant

or uninteresting.

And finally, an

overactive imagination

is the tendency to

imagine things that

are not true. Once

again, our six minutes

are up! If you've

enjoyed this look

into the weird and

wonderful world of

synaesthesia, we hope

you'll join us again

next time for more

chat, interesting issues

and useful vocabulary

here at 6 Minute English.

Bye for now!

Goodbye!