But last month, Mr Birt said his wife had not achieved that yet despite intensive therapy.
While Dr Scott could now say a lot more than the 50 words mastered by earlier in the year, the progress had been painstakingly slow, Mr Birt said.
"Jo has been working really hard on acquiring useful phrases so that words are in clumps rather than individual, because it's still so hard to formulate a sentence or find the right sounds to make the words go together."
She spent the year doing up to six speech lessons a week through Auckland University's speech therapy training programme, and private care.
About a third of the $30,000 raised for Dr Scott on Givealittle has gone towards the treatment costs.
Her writing ability, which was also affected, has steadily improved to a point where Dr Scott can put together short emails, but she still struggles to read bedtime stories to son Connor, now 2.
The couple's fears that Connor would miss out on crucial language interaction with his mother were unfounded. Mr Birt said the aphasia had had the opposite effect on the little boy, whose language skills were advanced.
However, the 38-year-old St Cuthbert's College teacher said his wife could not be the parent she would have liked and daily life was difficult.
"To pull out, 'Wash your hands, Connor', at the right time is still such a struggle for her.
"With something as big as this in your life, there isn't much else."
Dr Scott told the Herald she was very frustrated and felt "trapped".
She said her goal of becoming a doctor again was driving her to re-learn to talk and write.
"I want to speak, yes. I want to be a doctor."
She said the stroke had ripped her life in two but she was taking it one day at a time.
