Doctors have been left baffled after a Chinese pensioner woke from a two-week coma speaking perfect English - but not a word of her native language.

Liu Jieyu, 94, had been unconscious for a fortnight after suffering a stroke, which doctors had feared she may not recover from.

When she finally awoke, the retired teacher asked in perfect English: 'Where am I? What is happening?'

Surprised doctors were left even more confused when it became clear Ms Jieyu - who used to teach English - had lost all ability to speak her native Chinese

An English-speaking doctor was brought in to talk to the pensioner, who confirmed she was speaking the language perfectly - although a little slowly.

Her shocked family say while Ms Jieyu had taught English previously, she had not spoken the language in more than 30 years.

They say said she had stopped using English after retiring to live with her family on the outskirts of the city of Changsha, in southern China's Hunan province.

Medic Tao Hou, 45, said: 'I can't ever remember having a case like this before but we anticipate with proper rehabilitation and rest she should regain the ability to speak Chinese.

'We assume that the area dealing with her ability to speak Chinese has been damaged, but brain cells to have an ability to repair themselves to a certain extent we would hope to see at least some improvement.'

Ms Jieyu was admitted to hospital after suffering a type of stroke called a cerebral infarction, where the blood supply is limited rather than instantly cut off by a blockage.

However, she is not the only person to wake up from a coma speaking another language.

Australian Ben McMahon woke up able to speak Mandarin after being involved in a car accident, while a 13-year-old Croatian girl woke up having replaced her fluency in her native language with speaking German.