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Celebrity Linguists
We have teamed up with Collins Language to bring you videos of the very best bilingual celebrities in action - thanks to everyone who entered our competition, and to our winner Zopaash Iqbal - the first to discover the linguistic brilliance of Bradley Cooper who did a French exchange to Aix-en-Provence at university.Languages and Celebrities
Dutch - Nick CleggElvish - Liv Tyler
French - Bradley Cooper | Jodie Foster | Audrey Hepburn | Freddie Highmore | Eddie Izzard | Diane Kruger | Ellen MacArthur | Kristin Scott Thomas
German - Sandra Bullock | Nick Clegg | Arsène Wenger
Hebrew - Natalie Portman
Italian - Colin Firth | Audrey Hepburn| Arsène Wenger
Russian - Mila Kunis
Spanish - Nick Clegg | Tom Daley | Audrey Hepburn | Gwyneth Paltrow
Swedish - Will Ferrell
Professions
Comedians | Film Stars | Politicians | Sports StarsHave we missed a surprisingly brilliant celebrity linguist? Have you found YouTube evidence of their fluency? If so, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the link and your comment about their skills, and we'll add them to the list!
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Kristin Scott Thomas is an English actress, most famous for her roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, the English Patient and Philippe Claudel's I've Loved You So Long. While training to become a drama teacher in London, she was told she would never be a good enough actress and so she went to work as an au pair in Paris aged 19. Speaking French fluently, she studied acting at the École nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre (ENSATT) in Paris, and her incredible career took off from there. Kristin brought up her three children in Paris with her French husband for 18 years, and she considers herself more French than British. -
Sandra Bullock is an American Actress and Producer, known for starring in films like Miss Congeniality, Speed, Two Weeks' Notice, The Proposal and The Blind Side. She has a German opera-singer mother, who Sandra frequently accompanied on opera tours across Europe. She spent time in Salzburg and Nuremberg, where she stayed with extended family and became fluent in German, which she speaks beautifully... -
Eddie Izzard is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, Executive Transvestite and Marathon runner! He regularly performs in French, in which he is fluent, and occasionally in German too. In 2003, he received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of East Anglia for his "pro-Europe campaigning", "his contribution to promoting modern languages and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles" and for having "transcended national barriers" with his humour. He is, in short, a legend. -
Nick Clegg has been the leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2007, and is currently Britain's Deputy Prime Minister and MP for Sheffield Hallam. Whatever you may think of his politics, you can't but be impressed by his linguistic skills; he speaks fluent English, French, Dutch, German, and Spanish!Tags -
Will Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. In August 2000, he married Swedish actress Viveca Paulin, whom he met in an acting class in 1995, and now he has learnt Swedish. He says, "My wife speaks it to our kids and they’re fluent so I hear it all the time, so I’ve got that under my belt."
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Arsène Wenger is the manager of English Premier League side Arsenal. He was born and raised in France, and now speaks English, German, Spanish, Italian and a little Japanese too, having briefly coached Japanese side Nagoya Grampus Eight, which won the Emperor's Cup and the Japanese Super Cup. Here he describes how he learnt the languages, his motivation to learn new languages and how important languages are in understanding different people and their cultures...Tags -
American Actress, Film Director, and Producer Jodie Foster has won two Academy Awards, three BAFTAs for two films, two Golden Globes, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a People's Choice Award. Foster attended a French-language prep school, frequently stayed and worked in France as a teenager, and now speaks French fluently. In fact because of this, Jodie has dubbed herself in French-language versions of most of her films, and also understands German, Spanish and Italian. -
Team GB diver Tom Daley received not only a bronze medal for his dazzling performance in the 10m platform diving at the London 2012 Olympics, but also an A for his Spanish A Level! That's seriously impressive. Here's a (very) tiny snippet from his first ever interview in Spanish...Tags -
Dame Ellen MacArthur is best known for breaking the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe in February 2005. In 1997, when she was 21, Ellen finished 17th in the Mini Transat solo transatlantic race after fitting out her 21 ft yacht Le Poisson herself while living in a French boatyard, where she became fluent in French. After her incredible achievement, she was presented with the insignia of the Légion d’Honneur by Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic, and she has since written two books about her experiences.Tags -
Diane Kruger is a German actress, well known for her roles in Troy, Inglourious Basterds, Mr. Nobody and the 2012 French language film Les Adieux à la Reine. As a child, she wanted to become a ballerina and she successfully auditioned for the Royal Ballet School in London. An injury ended her ballet career prematurely, so Diane moved to Paris, became a model and started learning French, which she now speaks fluently.
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